The "Can You Send Me Some Literature?" Blow-off

“One of the push backs I get when calling and trying to set initial appointments is “Can you send me some literature?” Can you share how you handle that response and what success you have had?”

The best way I’ve found to handle the “Can you send me some literature” response is to realize that WHAT I SAID PRIOR TO THAT caused the prospect to respond the way they did.
So instead of accepting that response as part of “sales”, investigate why you got that response, to begin with. What you’ll find is that your actual sales process/game plan was off the mark right from the start.
Not something you may want to hear but the good news is this, those who accept responsibility for their failures often succeed and outperform those who don’t.
If you hear “Can you send me some literature” on a daily or weekly basis, try the following:

1. Take a step back and ask yourself “what was the goal that I was trying to accomplish on that call?” You may have been trying to accomplish too much.
2. After adjusting your goal for the next call you make, change your opening value statement (opener = what you say after, “Hello, this is…) to fit the goal of what you are attempting to do.

Example: If you want to set an appointment, first you need to make sure its worth your time and theirs to do so. And you need to make sure you are meeting with the right person. In order to accomplish those tasks, you’ll need to be able to ask your prospect some questions.
Well, that isn’t going to happen unless their interest is PIQUED. And we already know that the current opener being used is causing resistance (send me some literature) and not interest. That is because most openers are “data dumps” about what you do.
So instead, try something short, sweet and has a WIIFT (WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM) message.
Example:

“Hi (PROSPECTS NAME), this is (YOUR NAME) with (YOUR COMPANY). Reason for my call is we recently helped (known name in industry) cut/reduce/lower their annual corporate meeting expenses by an average of 30%…” 

Starting with an opener like that over the standard (bad) common opener of:

“Hi (PROSPECTS NAME), this is (YOUR NAME) with (YOUR COMPANY) I know you weren’t expecting my call, do you have a moment? We are a buying consortium for corporations and associations that plan meetings and conventions BLAH BLAH BLAH.”

When you compare the two openers, you can see that one is going to invite more engaged conversations and the other is going to encourage the “Can you send me some literature?”
Salespeople actually have more power than they think when it comes to controlling their sales calls and the results they get.
We just need to realize that prospects respond to what we say first.
If we don’t like their reactions/responses, we need to change what we say. And we control what we decide to say. Hence, we have more power than we realize.