I was just reading one of the heroes of selling, a celebrated author and speaker that probably fitted Socrates with his first sandals.
When discussing the challenge of dealing with secretarial screening, he advises asking: "When is a good time to CATCH him?" I laughed out loud, not because I've never heard this question.
It's ages old.
I bellowed because it simply reinforces the idea that we're playing PHONE-TAG, pursuing a fellow gamesman whose number one goal is to escape.
You only have to CATCH someone who is (rightfully?) eluding you.
Is this the imagery we want to reinforce? I don't think so! What could we substitute for that dysfunctional word? "When is a good time to COORDINATE with him?" Coordination implies cooperation, collaboration, determining a freely chosen time to meet, telephonically.
"When is a good time to CONFERENCE with him?" might also work.
I realize these are not conventional terms, but that's a good thing.
What we're trying to do here is to put a positive spin on CATCHING up with the object of our pursuit.
If we are professional salespeople, or for that matter, professionals that are selling, we need to come across as people that have a transparent purpose for our call.
Our prospects should WANT to speak with us, once they hear our objective is to assist them in a meaningful way.
CATCHING sounds a lot like sneaking up on someone, tricking them into chatting with us.
It only perpetuates the ugly stereotype that sellers are trying to pull the wool over people's eyes, to get them to agree to a proposition that isn't in their interest.
You wouldn't want to be CAUGHT doing that, now would you?