In the world of sales, few tasks will turn the stomach of an entrepreneur as much as the thought of cold calling. It is often perceived as the the most difficult, most feared activity in their day. Why is that? For men, does it conjure up awkward memories of teenage years, asking for a date? For women, might it be the now-fading societal rule that women do not make the first move or initial call? For whatever reasons that I will leave for psychologists and social behaviorists to explain, we are often uncomfortable with making that first move, that cold call.
We often tend to make almost any excuse for not picking up the phone. It sits on our desk as an immovable, heavy weight. We will busy ourselves with any task at hand, justifying to ourselves that we are simply too busy to call now and will do so later. Procrastination is not in the dictionary of the winner. The successful entrepreneur takes action now, even when it is uncomfortable. As Mark Twain once said, "Do that which you fear and the death of fear is certain." A more modern vernacular is "fake it until you make it."
We must learn to work through our fears and move forward. Often, simply visualizing what the worst possible result could be and then rationalizing that the reality of the situation is far more acceptable, may be enough to spur you to action. It does get easier too. Every call is easier than the last. You will actually reach a point where you do not associate any negative emotion with cold calling.
As with any activity, practice and exercise will improve performance. There are also some simple, logical steps that contribute to the ease at which you will progress in your cold-calling efforts. Consider the following three-phased advice from Geoffrey James the next time you plan to make cold calls:
Step 1. Remember the goal.
What is the purpose of this call, depending upon the your sales process? Take a few seconds to refocus on exactly what you want the customer to do.
Step 2. Consider the prospect.
Review what you know about your prospect, your prospect's company and industry. Determine the "hot buttons" that will cause that prospect to consider taking the action that's the goal of the call.
It pays to do your homework up-front, so that you are familiar with the company, its industry, their products, markets and personnel. A simple web search will often yield enough information to get you started.
Step 3. Differentiate yourself immediately.
On the typical cold call, you have fifteen seconds (more or less) to communicate to the prospect that you're somebody worth talking to. To do this, touch one of the "hot buttons" that you researched.
I would like to contribute one helpful additional step:
Step 4: Act like you are already doing business there.
If the company is small to medium sized, ask for your prospect by his first name. Mention the last name only if the operator questions you. Be as comfortable with your prospect as well.
Cold calling can be an exciting adventure yielding great results and experiences or one that leads you to the medicine cabinet for some antacid tablets. It actually is your choice. Either way, it may make or break your business. You will learn to overcome your fear if you begin taking action today. Utilize these simple steps to your advantage, thus eventually eliminating any apprehension concerning cold-calling. Believe it!
Cold Calling Sales Script
The problem is with how you're selling, not what you're selling. When we start cold calling by talking about what we have to offer, we're ?pitching? ourselves instead of focusing on the other person. Our voice and demeanor is full of expectation. And this creates sales pressure -- which triggers resistance.
So overcome the temptation to immediately discuss what you have to offer. Instead, help the other person overcome the fear of who you are and what is expected. Potential clients are much more likely to respond to you when they aren't subjected to an immediate mini-presentation you can visit www.sales-page-rapid-fire.com this approach usually just creates suspicion and rejection.
Allow the conversation to have a natural sense of rhythm. Define mutual interest before launching into a description of your solution to a problem you probably know very little about at this point.
Start by focusing on a specific problem you think your potential client is facing. Once you focus on a specific problem, they'll probably reply, ?Well, who is this?? or ?Who am I talking to??
Notice that you've gotten rid of the usual initial pressure and tension that starts with a cold calling sales pitch. Instead, the two of you are embarking on a dialogue. Don't be surprised by their question. The other person simply wants to know who you are. And, implicitly, he or she is also expressing curiosity about your intentions.
Because you're in no way trying to hide anything, you would simply respond with what they're asking for. For example, you might say, ?Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Julie and I'm with XYZ Company, and we specifically help companies that are having issues with unpaid invoices.?
After a relaxed pause, you can then add, ?Are you open to looking at some ideas about how to deal with that??
In other words, at this point it's perfectly fine and very appropriate to describe your product or service. However, you must keep it brief and also relate it back to the problems that you help people solve.
What you don't want to do is shift into traditional selling mode and gives a pitch about what you have to offer. You simply say who you are and where you're from, and then you go back to the other person's world and focus again on the original problem you brought up. Very importantly, you also ask if they're ?open? to looking at some new ideas around how to solve that problem.
If you know your industry well enough and the problem you suggest is very real for the people you call, they will often start to relax and enter into a further dialogue with you.
Keep in mind that with this new cold calling mindset, you don't even know whether you can help potential clients yet. You want to determine together whether the problem you've brought up is a problem for them, and whether they want to solve it.
So you see how a sales pitch at the beginning of your cold call blocks this natural flow of conversation or go to www.sale-trigger-generator.com When you're giving a sales pitch, you're talking about what you have to offer before the other person feels any sense of connection with you. You're embarking on the old dehumanizing ?push-pull? scenario of cold calling.
When we introduce ourselves with a sales pitch, we really don't know at that point whether the potential client has issues we might help them solve. We've gotten so into the flow of offering our solution that we've lost sight of the new cold calling mindset, which is to discover the truth about any potential client's situation.
So avoid the traditional sales pitch altogether. Talk about the other person and what's important to him or her. Answer questions about what you have to offer in a relaxed, natural way. When you do this, you'll be amazed at how easily cold calling becomes a journey of discovery.
Both Daniel Sitter & Birender Singh are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Daniel Sitter has sinced written about articles on various topics from Telemarketing, Marketing and Computers and The Internet. Daniel Sitter, author of both the popular book, Learning For Profit, and the highly anticipated book, Superior Selling Skills Mastery, has extensive experience in sales, training, marketing and personal development spanning a successful 25 year career.. Daniel Sitter's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.
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