The Internet killed the Telemarketing star

If you are going to cold-call someone - make sure you're buying-in and not selling-in!

How many times have you picked up the phone expecting to speak with a potential buyer - to only hear the desperate words of a seller introducing themselves and asking for the owner of the business? Yet another selfish salesman hell-bent on taking your valuable time and energy to try and sell you something you don't need or ever want.

Let's be frank, even if this person was selling a winning Powerball ticket you wouldn't buy. Why? You don't trust them or believe what they say. There is no emotive connection because the truth is concealed behind the cloak of anonymity. This person could be anyone and they could be telling you anything.

Words are meaningless without emotion. In fact, 93% of communication is achieved via non verbal cues, such as tonality and physiology. That means most cold-callers, even the really good ones, are still hamstrung by human intuitiveness. Even more so, today, as your customers gut-feel has rapidly been augmented with more knowledge and information.

Thanks to the internet (and Google) customers today are far too smart and connected, and due to the demands of modern society they are most certainly too time poor to indulge in the meaningless struggles of traditional cold-callers. The internet has assured your customers are savvier, in some instances they know more about your product and service than you do.

A Tip: Don't cold-call unless you are buying-in to your customers. That means; understanding when they pick up the phone they are expecting a buyer, not a seller - so don't disappoint them - buy-in first!

"Good morning, I want to buy your product, not only for myself, but I think I can sell it to my customers. Are you the best person to speak with regarding this?" ...You get the gist.

Buying-in also means knowing who your customer is and their differentiation (if any) and competitive forces. Moreover, how you can help them achieve their higher goals and aspirations.  Simply attacking a database with an open calendar and a positive attitude is not good enough. All the Glengarry leads are long gone!

For most companies buying-in is too hard. They just don't make the time or possess the creative juices to willingly innovate and participate in meaningful conversations - the dialogue is all about them and little else. This type of cold-calling is a waste of time.

In that case these companies are better served spending their marketing dollars on initiatives that work - like training and developing great salespeople who engage and lead customers to a place where positive testimony and referrals are born.

Then you won't need to cold-call - your customers will call you.