SalesHQ

If there's anything in sales that really frightens me to death, it's cold calling. Have any of you had experience with it and if so what were your intitial strategies?

Man...I went through cold calling boot camp when I was new to sales. It doesn't get "fun" ever....but I have to say, the satisfaction of closing a cold call is even greater for me than any of the face to face deals I've made. I think body language and human connection adds so much, and the phone takes a lot of that away.

   While dealing with cold calling  by the phone use a mirror.Set it up where you must look into the mirror while speaking. Use the body language,use the expressions you normally have as a tool for success. The body language and expressions will become apparent over the phone to the client.Sounds silly,looks silly  however very effective when communicating with others while not being face to face.

I actually enjoy cold calling.  I know, nuts, right?  Here's why.

~You can call a whole lot more people than you can see in an hour.

~The phone is an excellent qualifier!

~I get to talk to lots of interesting people in a short amount of time.

You probably spend a lot of time on the phone talking to friends, family, and colleagues.   Talking to prospects doesn't have to be any different.  A few things to remember -

1.) To the person who needs your service, your call may be the best one he's received all day.

2.) Business-to-business sales runs on phone calls and emails.  You're not a telemarketer.  Business would slow to a crawl and cease to exist if businesses didn't do business over the phone.

3.) You have the ability to be an unexpected bright spot in someone's day.

4.) They're not prospects... they're people.  Don't give them some weird speech or try to close on the first call.  Ask for help, tell them you'd like to find out if your company can help theirs, and ask for a time to set up a phone conference.  Ask when a good time is.

There are a few ways to make it easier.  First, prepare 10 companies that you want to call, and line them up.  Don't stop until you've gotten through all ten (no breaks, no emails, no nothing!).  Work in groups of 10.

Choose your companies on purpose.  The yellow pages are a crummy way to prospect.  Choose companies that are likely to need your services, and remember why you picked them!   Nobody likes a telemarketer.  Know the company you're calling, and why.

Call when they're likely to be at their desks.  Early in the morning is best, followed by lunch time and then late. 

Finally, if it's possible in your line of work, be prepared to follow up every phone call with an email.

Cold calling can be a great way to sell, if you embrace it! 

WOW -  I need to admit I am shocked by the lack of interest in cold calling....

When I was a territory rep that is what I did all daylong...  Cold Call all morning and then appointment and demo's in the afternoon....

Yes, it can be uncomfortable, at first....But then it becomes second nature.  I miss it these days, and I love going out with reps to do it.   Most of our reps have a cold calling phobia as well, but I know what it comes from because when I first started I had it too.

The first thing to remember is you don't have to be perfect....The main ingrident is keeping it simple, and less business and more conversational with the gate keeper...It's a great way to meet people... After your small there are only 2 questions you should be asking:

1.  Who makes the decision in this company for what ever you are selling

2.  And do they have a minute.

You should get a name 9 out of 10 times, always get the receptionists name too, they usually have a name tag on their desk.....

Really you need to think about what you ha ve to lose???????? Well. you can't lose something you've never had right...so the only thing you can do is to win.

I have never found cold calling hard.  I am just comfortable talking to people.  I usually would start off asking to make sure they have a few minutes, before the question and answer period.  I find that if you honestly can show the customer you are trying to make their company buy responsible purchases for their company that can save them money, then thats the goal.  I found that I was able to manage a perky attitude at 3:00pm so that the enthusiasm was there.  If your excited about the call then you can get the customer excited. 

    Due to what Iam has stated that is  exactly why I think  time is your product.The sales technician must  make time the most important issue. You need that valuable time to convince the decision maker that your product or service will help solve problems.If only you could receive that ten minutes or more TO SHOW the decision maker how you can help them overcome problems.

  Find a way that excites your client with spending that time with you.

Time management and delegating is what it comes down to for most sales people.  Sometimes we get stuck doing the bosses work on top of ours because of their poor time management skills.  hmm, that could be a whole new question on its own.

KIT -

You are right on - the authors suggestion was referrals....As this is a prominent part of my business leads today, when I started close to 10 years ago, I was given two things:

1.  A box of business Cards,

2.  Clear Instructions to be in the street by 8am and not to come back to the office until atleast 4:30.

Now let me be very clear, I don't know if that was the most effective direction, but fortunatly, I was too dumb to do anything but cold call all day.  I was horrible.  I had sold myself as a person who had sales experience and had to google cold call after my interview to see what it actually meant.  I still use this tactic today.  I work on large multi-layer accounts.  I need informatino to research them.  I want to research as much as possible before I make a phone call to a CEO / CFO / CIO etc....

I'll make a few phone calls at different times, and make a trip to their office and kinda play dumb with the receptionist to get information.

I usually target the top layers by hitting the bottom layers of an org. first to gather inside information that is invaluable.  I also build sponsors.  I do this by letting them know upfront that I am here to improve their life at work, but my goal is to gather information because my intention is to have an intro call with the highest level contact available.   Thats just how I do it. 

But I believe that the statement is true.  It's not the best way to get sales, but its a great way to learn sales.   I wouldn't be wear I am at today without driving to business parks and knocking on doors. 

I should also say, I am a major believer of face to face rather than phone calls.  If someone is going to say NO to me I want them to look at me, I also want to ask why, what changed, and let them know that I am confused.....I will not leave until I get an answer....If it is totally out the window I'll ask them to atleast sign an order that says they will not buy from me and get the reason then... This may be a little ramble but I am home with the kids and got them asleep and am enjoying a well deserved MARTINI or TWO!!!