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Guest post by: Cheryl A. Clausen Become an Author

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Who doesn’t want to succeed in sales? And if you listen to some of the so-called experts you’d have to be nearly incompetent not to succeed in sales. The catch is you aren’t getting the whole story.

If I had a dime for every time some lame sales manager told you the solution to selling more is “you just have to call more people” I could single-handedly eliminate world hunger. Geez. Either give it a rest or tell the whole story.

Dialing for dollars is stupid. Dialing for dollars beats down your self-esteem making it ever harder for you to succeed at anything. You get to feeling so low it’s hard to walk without dragging your chin on the ground.

Dialing for dollars is a great way to burn through an enormous number of potentially qualified leads. And never have even one of them become a client.

Calling complete strangers to ask if they’d like to meet with you, or get a free quote, or free review is about as welcome as a dead cat is likely to bounce. Just how often do you welcome a cold call with warm embracing arms? Let’s see, that would be never. You’re just as antagonistic to cold callers as your list of cold call prospects is to hear from you.

I’m not suggesting the phone can’t be an important part of your sales success. I am suggesting that you have an effective game plan before you ever pick up the phone.

1. Only call people who fit your ideal client criteria
   
   
2. Have a strong statement related to what they want to get their interest
   
   
3. Engage them in a conversation
   
   
4. Discover if there is a match between what they want and what you offer
   
   
5. Agree on next steps

These are just a few of the changes you can implement that will convert your phone nightmares into sweet dreams. Hey, if what you’re doing isn’t working try something else. Never presume those old sales clichés are the whole story.

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