Chapter 25

THE WORD “MISS” VERSUS THE WORD “MRS.”

(Tested Selling over Telephones)

One little word that was worth a thousand dollars. The voice with a smile wins over the telephone. Handling the maid. Your first ten telephone words are more important than your next ten thousand.

THE CHARLES MITCHELL'S, father and son, are owners of the Regal Laundry in Baltimore and members of the Baltimore Advertising Club. I had talked before this group and inspired Charles Mitchell Jr., to ask that a survey be made of the sales language employed by his telephone operators and drivers.

The Regal Laundry, being very progressive had a monitor system that permitted an observer to “cut in” on a telephone conversation between the Regal telephone solicitors and the prospects. After a massive data was collected, it was noted that the married women were getting more orders than the single girls. Over the telephone a voice is a voice, and it is difficult to discern between the voice of a married woman and that of a single one. What, then, was causing the married solicitors to get more business? Was it the famous “voice with the smile”? This circumstance had us perplexed for several weeks, and then we made this interesting observation.

WOMEN WON'T HANG UP ON A “MRS.”

It seems that if you call a prospect and say, “This is Mrs. Smith of the Regal Laundry calling,” the prospect on the other end of the telephone hesitates to hang up. She feels a married woman deserves consideration, for she is married herself! Besides, what could a single woman tell her about washing problems?

As an experiment, we instructed the entire telephone staff to begin using the word “Mrs.” affixed to their names, instead of “Miss.” People began to listen to the Regal sales story!

This one word has meant thousands of dollars in extra business.

WHEN THE MAID ANSWERS

Often the maid will answer the telephone. In this case the Regal solicitor is instructed to say very simply:

“Please tell Mrs. Jones that Mrs. Smith is calling.”

Again the “Mrs.” works magic.

When the mistress answers the telephone, the solicitor will get her immediate attention with this:

“I am calling about your laundry and dry cleaning.”

What woman can hang up on this harmless statement? Few did.

The next step was to find where and how this prospect had her laundry done each week, in order to know what sales appeals to use in the solicitation. The statement to secure this information was this:

“Do you send your laundry out, Mrs. Jones, or is it done at home?”

Regardless of the reply, the Regal salesgirl have an opportunity to explain the benefits that would be derived if the women would allow Regal to do her work.

Selling is so simple -- why complicate it?

OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS

How many objections do you believe a woman could give a laundry sales solicitor? Well, there are 40 resistances -- 40 objections. Here are a few:

I do my own washing.

Laundries are hard on clothes.

Laundries lose things.

Laundries keep clothes too long.

I have a maid.

I am satisfied with my present laundry.

You laundries wash my clothing with other people's.

The Chinaman is cheaper.

All of these objections have a logical reply, and always in front of the telephone solicitors are these 40 objections -- and there “TESTED ANSWERS.” Selling services on back porches or over telephones or across counters has the same basic principles of using good sales language.

A good rule to practice areas: Learn the other fellow's objections before hand, and have your replies ready-made!

A FEW EXAMPLES

Here are a few “TESTED ANSWERS” to laundry objections:

OBJECTION: Laundry companies lose things.

ANSWER: Regal uses the new four-way checking system employed in the United States mail offices.

OBJECTION: Laundries wash my clothing with other peoples.

ANSWER: Regal places your laundry in “INDIVIDUAL PULLMAN TUBS,” and it never comes in contact with anyone else's laundry.

OBJECTION: Laundries are hard on clothes.

ANSWER: We use Palmolive Soap Beads in soft water, which is more gentle to your clothes than the ordinary hard faucet water at home.

There is always an answer to every sales objection, and if you will sit down quietly by yourself and tabulate all of the resistances you feel the other person will give you, and then devise the ready-made answers you'll use, you will find that the sale will begin for you with the first objection.

So a good sales motto to follow is this: Get the resistances in advance; then prepare the answers you will use and have them on the tip of your tongue for ready use at the first sign of the objection.

Click Play

THE MAN AT YOUR BACKDOOR

The man who calls at your backdoor to interest you in his laundry, milk, bread, or any other service is aware of the Rule of Ten Seconds. He is allowed ten seconds to tell you who he is and the purpose of his call.

One effective Regal Laundry approach was to rap on the backdoor and, holding a man's freshly laundered shirt in full view, say to the woman when she responded:

“This is a sample of the way the Regal Laundry is cleaning shirts for many husbands in this neighborhood.”

The sale immediately reverts to the question-mark principle to qualify his prospect, and says:

“Do you launder your husband’s shirts or send them out?

She tells, and regardless of the reply, the sale is on its merry way. (Wheelerpoint 4, “Don't Ask If -- Ask Which!”)

You must watch those first ten seconds -- your first ten words. The point always to remember is this:

Your first ten words are more important than your next ten thousand.

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