Chapter Twenty-Three
“Never manage numbers – manage behavior.”
– David Sandler
We have Liftoff!
From this point forward, any time you encounter something that seems a little uncomfortable to you, consider that to be a good sign…and a reason to put whatever you’ve just learned into action!
After all, discomfort simply means you’re learning something new. Like any process you haven’t followed before, reaching out directly to VITO by phone will take a little time to get used to. At first, it may feel a little strange. So did riding a bicycle the first time you tried that. With actual practice, you got better at riding the bike.
It’s going to be exactly the same when it comes to calling VITO. You have to put the plan into action. Don’t analyze it – do it.
Reading this chapter, or thinking about it, won’t change your behavior on the phone, implementing what it contains, over time, is what will get the rocket off the ground.
Three Questions
As you ponder the first-call guidelines that follow, remember that they are meant for VITO. If you run across anything that seems a little unorthodox to you now, just ask yourself these three questions:
• “Does this fit in with what I now know about VITO’s leadership style?”
• “Does this fit in with what I now know about VITO’s values?”
• “If VITO were communicating with another VITO, would this be appropriate?”
In all cases, the answer is going to be “Yes.” So let’s get started.
“What’s Going To Happen When I Dial The Number?”
A well-defined and consistently followed process will always yield predictable results, and the process you’re about to learn is no exception. Direct experience with tens of thousands of calls to VITOs have given us some benchmarks on what you can expect to happen when you start dialing the phone to follow up on your correspondence and waves.
Let’s start with the basics. You should make as many VITO calls as possible in any given day. We suggest that you plan to make twenty calls to the VITO prospects in your territory (every half-hour on the hour) the first day you do this. We suggest that you devote one full day of your working week to making those twenty calls and recording what happens when you make them. We can tell you that those twenty calls are going to play more or less as follows:
• Twenty percent of the time (about four of your twenty calls), VITO will actually pick up the telephone. This is a considerably higher number than most people expect, and it’s the reason we’re sharing the “road map” for the VITO call with you now. These four calls are what you’ve been doing all this work for, so make the most of them, and follow the instructions that you’re about to read…no exceptions! Of the remaining sixteen or so calls…
• VITO’s private assistant Tommie will pick up the phone about eight times. (You’ll be learning about interactions with Tommie in a later chapter.)
• The remaining eight calls will go to VITO’s voice mail. (That, too, is the topic of a later chapter.)
Your Opening Statement
Picture VITO behind his or her desk. Did you picture a busy, active, engaged, and perhaps even preoccupied person? Of course you did. Now, with that picture firmly in your mind, ask yourself: What kind of opening statement would effectively invite VITO to drop everything and engage in a conversation with you?
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