The Deluca Factor

The DeLuca Maneuver By

Jim Domanski

Suppose…just suppose for a minute that you had a sure fire way of determining if your key customers or prospects were actually at their desks and available for your call.

Would that make your sales life easier? What would it do for your contact rate? How would that impact your lead rate or your sales revenues or your commissions? The benefits are seemingly endless and delightful.

Well, there is a way.

Sort of…

It’s called the Deluca Factor and it’s a way to integrate your e-mail and your telephone calls for better sales results. Take a moment and check this idea out because, depending on your situation, it could have a powerful impact on your sales success

The Real Problem

The real problem in selling these days is reaching a ‘live’ decision maker. If you use the phone to call prospects and clients you are probably only too familiar with the fact that about 70% of the time you encounter voice mail. This means a longer sales cycle and more work. It means frustration and annoyance. Oh sure, you leave a voice mail and yes, sometimes, it gets a reply. But life would be a heck of a lot simpler if you could reach the decision maker live, wouldn’t it?

The DeLuca Maneuver

Enter Angelo Deluca.

Angelo works for a company called Platform Computing and he shared this potentially powerful technique during a public training session I conducted a couple of weeks ago. I call it “The DeLuca Maneuver.”

Here’s how the Maneuver works. When Angelo has an e-mail address for a client or prospect, he will send a document or message and attach to it a “read receipt” tag. He leaves his Outlook on and open while he works and scans the messages he has sent from time to time. When the message is “read” by the client/prospect, Angelo is immediately notified via Outlook. Presto! Like magic, he sees it pop up on the screen.

At that precise moment, he will pick up the phone and dial. Of course, the clients may be on another line or they may choose to ignore the call and let it default to voice mail, but the real point is, Angelo has increased his odds of reaching the decision maker live.

Think of how this could leverage your call. The client has read the message and your call comes within minutes. You, your company and your product are fresh in the clients mind. If you have crafted a good message, then you decrease the chance of the client terminating the call and increase the chance of the client listening closely to your message. This means “quality” dialog time between you and your client. Bottom line? Better sales results.

6 Steps to Making the DeLuca Maneuver Work for You

Here are 6 actions steps to implement the DeLuca Maneuver into your calling strategy.

1. You need an e-mail address. This is not always easy to get when you are dealing with prospects unless you have managed to get the address at a trade show or similar event. For existing clients or leads, getting an e-mail address will be easier.

2. Assuming you have e-mail address, create a new mail message.

3. Click on View. The view menu will appear.

4. Click on Options. You will probably see two notification options. The first is a “request for delivery receipt for this message”. Outlook will notify you when the message has reached your clients mail box. The second is “request a read receipt for this message.” Outlook will notify you when the message has been opened.

5. Choose the “request a read receipt for this message” and send. (NOTE: you must set the option to receive notification before the message is sent).

6. Keep your computer on and tuned in on Outlook so you can scan the messages you sent. Keep making calls or whatever but the moment the message has been opened you can quickly make the call. (Incidentally, there are other e-mail systems besides Outlook – or so I am told – but apparently they have the same capability.)

Summary

The DeLuca Maneuver will not work in every circumstance and it is not something that every rep can implement. Obviously, there are limitations. But this technique can give you an edge. And an edge, regardless of how small, can significantly impact your results. I have said this a thousand times: Sales is nothing more than a lot of little things done right!

Try it! You’ll like it!

Good Selling and Thank You, Angelo!