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7 Ways to Jump Start Your Cold Calls
By Ari Galper
Cold calling has to be one of the most feared aspects of every
sales person's and business owner's day. With some
important key tips, you can make cold calling painless and
enjoyable and as easy as calling a friend.
Here are 7 key ways to jump start your cold calls:
1. Research Your Market
Before you start your cold calls it's important that you be
prepared so your prospect feels you really do understand
their situation. Research the company you are calling, identify
what issues they are having based on your other clients in
their same industry and ask others in your company the main
reasons why people buy your product or service.
The better prepared you are about discussing you prospect's
issues, the easier it will be to allow the conversation to
flourish.
2. Change Your Mental Expectations
Traditional selling has always taught us that our main goal of
the cold call should be an appointment or a sale. With that
mental focus, what happens is our mind is focused on the
end goal before we even have a conversation with the person
we are calling.
This creates a major conflict because you will be trying very
hard not to use words that make you sound like all you care
about is the sale. And even more importantly, if your prospect
senses you are focusing on the appointment or sale, they will
immediately be defensive.
So what to do? Change your mental expectations to focus on
building a conversation first and then once you have
generated a good dialogue, you can then determine if you
are a fit or not with your prospect.
Be careful not to mentally ¡°jump the gun¡±.
3. Understand Your Prospect
Take a few minutes to think about your focus of your call.
Think about how you are going to approach the conversation.
Put yourself in the mind of your prospect.
How would you want to be approached? Certainly the last
thing you want to hear is a sales pitch from someone you
don't know.
Instead, begin the conversation diffusing any mystery as to
who you are with ¡°Hi, my name is Jim and you and I haven't
met yet¡±. This removes the mystery of who you are and allows
you to begin talking about how you can help them solve a
problem, rather than you having to default to a sales pitch.
Think before you speak.
4. Build Trust Through Conversation
Learning to build conversation is the key to cold calling
success. Engaging in a conversation should be as natural as
calling a friend. Your objective is to build trust on your call so
that your prospect feels comfortable conversing with you
rather than trying to focus on getting you off the phone.
How do you build trust? You build trust by removing any
elements in your approach that connect you to the negative
¡°salesperson¡± stereotype.
5. Ask A Question
Begin your cold call with ¡°Hi my name is John, maybe you
can help me out for a moment?¡±
Yes, that's really all you have to begin with because in the
next few seconds you will hear ¡°How can I help you¡±. That is
how you can build a two-way dialogue rather than having a
one-way talk.
The truth is you are asking for help because you don't know if
you can help them yet, right? Until you have the information
you need about their situation, you can't determine if you are
a fit or not.
6. Eliminate Pressure
Pressure is the main reason most cold calls turn into a
negative rejection-filled experience. It doesn't have to be that
way.
If you can become aware of things you are doing that is
triggering pressure on your prospects, you can turn cold
calling into a very productive and enjoyable experience.
The key is to never force your sales pitch, engage only in a
natural conversation, and most importantly let your prospect
talk. By doing all three you will eliminate pressure from the
call and your prospect will be more open to the idea of what
you have to offer.
7. Learn To Determine A Fit
So how do you know if your prospect is a fit with what you
have to offer? You need to ask them this question towards
the end of your problem solving discussion ¡°Is solving your
problem a top priority or something that is on the back burner
for now?¡±
By determining the answer to this question, you can see if you
can decide if your prospect is worth pursuing or not. You will
also be able to determine their time frame which helps you
better adjust your expectations.
Make no mistake about it, if you really want to be successful
cold calling you'll need to let go of traditional sales thinking.
Try these 7 strategies and watch how cold calling can be fun
and productive.
About the Author
Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don't know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.Unlock-The-Cold-Calling-Game.com
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