Selling in the business-to-business environment has changed dramatically from the old days when we were trained in the ABC’s of selling….Always Be Closing. Today, the ABC’s of selling are “Always Be Connecting”.
Remember when we were trained to not allow the prospect any escape hatches? We were to “always be closing!”  I can’t believe that ever really worked. Intelligent business owners can’t be manipulated.
Nowhere is the “always be connecting” mantra more important than on the phone. In old school sales training, we were trained to introduce ourselves and jump into our “elevator pitch”, not allowing any escape for our would-be prospect.
Today, our goal is to always get permission to continue by asking, “Is this a good time to connect?”
The old ABC closers would never allow such an escape, believing that as long as they didn’t hear “click…bzzzz” in their receiver, the prospect was listening to their blah, blah, blah. Are you kidding me?
When you don’t get permission or determine if this is an appropriate time for your call, your prospect may not hang up on you physically, but they certainly have mentally.
There is no point in trying to connect with someone who is preoccupied with other problems or who is texting or reading their emails while you’re babbling. Be courteous, be professional, and get permission to deliver your message. If you don’t get permission to continue, don’t think for a minute that just because you delivered your message, that it was received.
Busy business owners appreciate it when you respect their time enough to ask permission to talk to them.

P.S. don’t forget to ask when it would be an appropriate time to connect and make an appointment to do so.