cold calling
How good are you at cold calling? Posted 8:09 PM on 05/30/08 - Reply to this postThe idea when making first contact, cold calling or otherwise, is to engage the interest and secure the attention of the person you are calling on. Based on that I wouldn't use either of the scripts you posted. Find out what is on the minds of your target audience, what do they really want, and then use that knowledge to craft an opener. I think you're going to find that there are essentially two camps on cold calling. Those who say it works and those who say it doesn't. You'll have to decide for yourself which camp you want to belong to but keep something in mind... almost ALL of the salespeople I've met who say cold calling works are very good at it - almost ALL of the salespeople I've met who say cold calling doesn't work are not very good at it.
Lion Joffrey (Belgium)
Oh my god Posted 12:02 PM on 06/02/08 - Reply to this postDear Chris, My poor poor Chris. What are you doing? A better question would be: What are you thinking? ... cold calling = satan? Oh my ... .You know what I am saying ? ... Cold calling is my all-time super mega hero best friend. And it does work. And you should be happy so many people do think it doesn't and hate it just like you. You will understand why. Dear Chris, let me try to help you because I was in the very same situation some time ago, where I was also … so poor. You want to make cold calling fun? You want to make it exciting? Here is how. Here is what you have to tell yourself every single time you call. Even more important … here is what you have … to believe: Every single time you pick up the phone and call … yes every single time … you are gaining something very valuable … EXPERIENCE! Does the call end up to be very smooth (a perfect match) and result in an appointment or, even better, a deal? Yahooooo fantastic! Does it result in the most horrifying call you ever had? Yahoooooo fantastic! Kick it in the nuts and faced it like a man … you’ve just acquired more experience! Do it again! And again! And …. Again! The more experience you gain … the easier it will become …the better your ATTITUDE will become … the more deals you will make … the richer you will become … the more motivated/inspirited you will become … the easier it will become … the more … you see how it works. Furthermore, studying the industry of you prospects is never a waste of time. NEVER you hear me? Else, how could you understand what your prospects actually need? How could you put yourself in the shoes of you prospect (which is important when thinking about power questions)? A final thing: you say your sales are so low at this moment? Do yourself a favor. Do not start putting your precious time into networking, lead groups, wasting whole days at seminars, etc. Why not? Is it really a waste of time? NO, not in the long run. But in the short run … definitely!
Shad M
What's a "good" cold call? They are all bad Posted 1:21 PM on 06/02/08 - Reply to this postWhat defines if you are "good" at a cold call or are "bad"? My 12 year old can call a person and engage them. Jeffrey even says his grand daughter can kick anyone's butt in cold calling for appointments. He's right. I can cold call better than most, I CHOOSE not to because I have documented it at every sales job I have had (top 10 in every company I have worked for) and less than 2% of gross sales come from cold calls. For me that = waste of time. The OP said he HATES cold calling, that means he needs to find another way. You can't make someone like cold calls that hates it and I have proven it is not necessary to make great sales numbers.
cold calling
Cold Calls Posted 8:42 PM on 06/02/08 - Reply to this postThank you for sharing your personal results (2% of gross sales come from cold calls) with cold calling Shad. I can see why you would equate cold calling as a waste of time. If everyone quite anytime they didn't experience immediate success with something new we'd all still be crawling on the floor. I hope nobody actually believes that cold calling is necessary to make great sales numbers because that isn't the case. The same could be said however for advertising or Internet marketing or referrals or publicity or direct marketing, etc. No "one" method is "necessary" or will work across the board in all industries with all products, services or ideas. That's a fact. No matter what the channel, if you have a better method of consistently generating a fresh supply of qualified prospects then use it. Does cold calling work? Absolutely! Should cold calling be discounted entirely as a viable option for sales professionals across the board? Absolutely not!
Shad M
Cold Calls Posted 2:57 PM on 06/03/08 - Reply to this postI see your point. I even agree with what you said to an extent. We can agree to disagree though on some of this stuff. I think if you work as hard doing things other than cold calls you can get better results. To each his own, that you are 100% correct about.
rich
cold calling Posted 7:10 PM on 06/05/08 - Reply to this postI take it you're in radio advertisement? You say you do your homework. Why not start out with: How would you like to increase your profit by x percent? If you have done your homework you will know what percentage your radio time will enhance their profit. You will also already know the average age clients they attract. Use this as leverage to enter their world. You must catch the eye and ear of the client. By asking how would you like to increase your sales volume by 20% will generate interest in how you will do this and why it will do this. When cold calling you must separate yourself from every other cold caller.You can't do this by being dull. You can't separate yourself by asking questions about themselves until you have peaked their interest in what you have. You can only do this when you truly have done your homework.Homework does include knowing who is at each stage.From those answering the call to who makes the decision. You must know how they do their sales. How they make their clients happy. How do they do shipping. Showing how you can improve and provide a solution to their wants.
