Ryan Dohrn advises Terry from Trinidad on selling into the US during COVID. Keep messaging simple and empathetic. Skip the "I respect your time" opener and lead with value instead, like "real quick, quick idea."
Hey friends, Ryan Dohrn, your sales coach, here answering your questions sent to me at ryan@ryandohrn.com. International question here, Terry from Trinidad. Ryan, I sell internationally. What are some thoughts on selling into the US during this crisis? Any messaging ideas? Terry, thanks for listening. Thanks for being a part of what we do here. Whether you're coming into the United States or coming out, from a sales perspective, I think no matter where we're calling, we still want to be simple, empathetic and understanding to the greater scheme of things and how COVID-19 has impacted all of us around the world. As I've mentioned in one of my earlier tips though, Terry, I think it's important for you not to lead the conversation into the negative right away. So calling somebody and saying, hey, how are things going there in the US? It's very common that someone's going to take you down potentially a negative path. I think international or not, I think appropriate is introducing yourself. Hey, Ryan, It's Terry from such-and-such. I've got a real quick idea for you. I emailed you, just wanted to run it by you real quick. Saying things like real quick, quick idea. But what I also don't do is say, I want to be respectful of your time. I think that's also pretty overused. Calling to check in with people, I think that's overused. So Terry, I think you want to be sympathetic, but then also recognize that some people, regardless of COVID-19, are just nasty when you call them. And so just recognize, hey, sorry about that. I thought this would be an idea that you'd want to hear from. Be cool, be sympathetic, be understanding as it relates. But international or not, I think that if you have a good idea, I'm willing to hear it, whether you're calling from Trinidad, London, or you're calling from Davenport, Iowa. So Terry, thanks for your question, and best of luck all of you to Trinidad— in Trinidad as well. I'm your sales coach, Ryan Dohrn. You can find out more about me online over at ryandohrn.com. Remember, friends, if sales was easy, everybody'd be doing it. We'll see you next time.
