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How to Cold Call With Respect

Written by: Ari Galper

Article Overview: What happens when you’re talking with a prospect during a cold call and you start to realize there isn’t an honest “fit” for your product or service? Your prospect doesn’t have a problem, hassle, or challenge that your product or service solves. Well, the old cold calling mindset is “Chase everybody possible and focus on the sale and never take no for an answer!” So how does this new cold calling mindset work? Well, if you keep trying to push people into something they don’t want, you increase the chances of them rejecting you.

How to Cold Call With Respect

What happens when you’re talking with a prospect during a cold call and you start to realize there isn’t an honest “fit” for your product or service? Your prospect doesn’t have a problem, hassle, or challenge that your product or service solves.

Well, the old cold calling mindset is “Chase everybody possible and focus on the sale and never take no for an answer!”

So how does this new cold calling mindset work? Well, if you keep trying to push people into something they don’t want, you increase the chances of them rejecting you.

Overcoming Old Sales Conditioning

Learning to walk away may be the hardest part of selling. We’ve been so conditioned to pursue anyone who we think could benefit from our solution or who shows interest in what we have to offer.

It’s especially hard if we’ve been doing cold calling for a long time. We’ve been living with those beliefs for so long. Those old tapes are shouting, “Persist for that sale and never give up!” Those tapes play even when our intuition is telling us that it’s wrong and useless to go on pursuing.

You may find it helpful to keep some written reminders, like “Go for the truth, not the sale” in front of you for a while so you can keep reminding yourself not to fall back into traditional sales thinking.

The Benefits of Being Open

It’s so easy to get hooked on “hopeium” in our cold calling. We’re hoping it will work out with each new prospect. We’re hoping they’ll buy.

Even if you’re operating out of this new mindset, you may still find yourself hoping for positive responses, because you want there to be one.

Remember that when you let go of your own agenda, the other person feels more comfortable having a real conversation with you. They realize you’re concerned about their needs, issues, and problems, and not about making the sale.

When they realize and appreciate that you’re not going to try to pressure them with a solution that they don’t need, then they start to trust you.

And when they trust you, they’ll share their truth with you. If it turns out that the match isn’t there, you both know where you stand. You know the truth and won’t try to chase them down a road that will lead nowhere.

Knowing When to Walk Away

The are significant rewards of learning how to walk away and are a natural part of this new cold calling mindset.

When you have a deep inner sense that there’s no match or fit possible, you may just want to thank them and let it go. You’ve built a trusting relationship because you were natural, genuine, and honest. And that could turn into referrals or a sale down the road.

You also stop playing the numbers game. It’s no longer about how many people you call. Rather, your cold calling stays firmly focused on whether you can help people solve their problems. And as a natural part of this focus, you recognize there will be times when the answer is “no.”

And you’ll stop wasting hours chasing prospects who will never turn into actual clients. Instead, you’ll conclude the conversation gently and politely, and then move on to spend your time with other possibilities.

Cold calls are one-on-one transactions in which you’re reaching maybe a dozen people per day. So it’s vital that you focus your time talking with people you can possibly help.

How To End The Conversation

Once you realize that you don’t have a fit, here are a couple of ways you can end the conversation graciously:

• “Thank you. That’s not a problem at all – my only goal was to identify whether I could help you or not. It sounds as if in this situation that I can’t. Thank you for your time, and have a good day.”

• “Not a problem -- I just wanted to make sure that there wasn’t something here that I could help you with.”

Then sit back and observe what happens. I’m sure you’ll be genuinely surprised to find that your cold calling efforts in general will have much better results.

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Article Tags: chase, cold call, cold calling, hassle, intuition, long time, mindset, new prospect, reminders, truth



Related Forum Posts
Respect?!? - Hi there, A successful business depends on ongoing series of transactions. This inlvolves people. To what extend is respect important? When one thinks of himself alone, like me, me and me, how can respect become real? How many types of respect can we come up with? I think of a few: Respect of disagreement can be one. Then there is Respect of the Customer. Respect of position. Respect of 'Older Person'. By the same token, Respect of the 'Younger ones'. etc..... Has anybody got any other ideas on this subject. Kindest Regards Beat "Unlock People's Potentials!"
Re: Is being too connected pushing your business forward or back - Being too connected can push you back. A few weeks ago my wife gave me a blackberry. It can be a distraction. Top performers are good at sorting out priorities. Respect your time and your prospects will too. Try to end every call with your prospect wanting more.
Re: Cold Calling - Cold calling is an extremely difficult job to do and unless one learns that being told no by people is not a direct refusal aimed at the cold caller but at whatever is being sold, it can be very soul destroying work to do. One needs to have absolute confidence in themselves and a pretty thick skin. MichelleJ
I answer my phone - when I worked in the Call Center we had to say "Good XXXXXX, Andy speaking, How may I help you?" imagine saying that over and over again. It kind of sticks with you. It's been a few years now but I've kicked off "How may I help you?" part.
Cold Calling - Cold calling is tough, but it is possible. Its a shame that your employer doesn't seem to be giving you any help. I would suggest that you learn everything about the products you're trying to sell to the retailers. It wouldn't hurt to have them close at hand while you're on the phone with a potential buyer. Learn what is great about the items. What do they offer the consumer? Why should the retailer carry them? Who would be most likely to buy the items? Once you know these answers, learn about the companies you are calling. Its hard to tell a retailer that your product is something they need - if you don't know anything about their business and/or the customers. If they have a website that would be a great place to research. Shri


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