Sales Success Tip-Secrets to Cold Calling
Sales Success Tip-Secrets to Cold Calling
What do you suppose my response was? "Well, Mr. Smith, I do appreciate your call, but I currently have a brokerage firm that provides all of those services." "I understand," he said, I have found that we are able to offer our clients excellent customer service. I'm sure you are interested in great service aren't you?" I said, "I certainly am. I get good customer service from my firm now and wouldn't be interested in changing, but thank you for calling." "OK," he said, "but if you change your mind be sure to give me a call."
Now, I'm sure many of you are looking at this and thinking, "That's terrible. I would never make that many mistakes." But you might be surprised. How many of us start our conversations with prospects by telling them all about our company and our products? It may sound gross, but I call this "puking on your prospects." In most cases it is about as welcome as that. Telling me that your firm has been in business for 50 years, or that your service is "second to none," or telling me about all of your wonderful products does nothing for me except make me want to get rid of you.
Now, let me tell you what would have gotten my attention and when applied to your product or service will get the attention of your prospects. How about this instead, "Mr. Beverly, this is John Smith with XYZ Financial Services. I wonder if you could help me for just a moment? (This may be the most important question in your opening. You will be amazed when 87% of your prospects agree to continue. Be sure to wait for a response. When you get the yes, you have just received permission to tell them what you can do for them.) My company specializes in helping our clients achieve returns superior to those they have achieved in the past, while minimizing their tax liability. If you have just 2 minutes, I would like to ask you a couple of questions to see if there might be a reason for us to have a more in depth discussion." You'll get 82% affirmative here. Now, you have asked for and received permission to gather information about your prospect. No phony promises, only the promise to find out more about your prospect so that you can deliver the best possible solution to their needs, rather than a canned product or service that you provide to the masses.
The reason that this works so well is that you have indicated an interest in your prospect, and they have given you permission to do so. This works exactly opposite of the "puking" method which tells your prospect that you have no other agenda than to sell what you have to offer, regardless of their needs. You have successfully brought down the wall that sprang up immediately after your prospect realized he was speaking with a sales person. While the wall may not completely disappear, at least you have lowered it enough to begin a relationship, which will in turn give you your best opportunity to find his needs and wants and meet them with your product or service.
WIFM, or "what's in it for me," is the key here. Never forget that particularly on that initial contact, your prospect could not possibly care less about your company or your products. He only cares about how it is going to change his life for the better. Be prepared to answer that question or be prepared to underachieve in your sales career.
Sales Success TipSecrets to Cold Calling - To learn more about this author, visit Greg Beverly's Website.
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Is cold calling a part of your lead generation process? If so, then this article may contain the secret to doubling or even tripling your appointment rate. Let me give you an example. I received a cold call from a stockbroker just the other day. With his name and the name of his firm changed to protect their privacy, here was his opening statement: "Mr. Beverly, My name is John Smith. I am with XYZ Financial Services. We are a full service brokerage firm and offer everything from stock, bond and options trades, to banking relationships such as CD's, checking and loan services. Our investment advisors are recognized as some of the best in the business. I would love to have the opportunity to sit down with you to discuss how we could help you get the most from your money."
What do you suppose my response was? "Well, Mr. Smith, I do appreciate your call, but I currently have a brokerage firm that provides all of those services." "I understand," he said, I have found that we are able to offer our clients excellent customer service. I'm sure you are interested in great service aren't you?" I said, "I certainly am. I get good customer service from my firm now and wouldn't be interested in changing, but thank you for calling." "OK," he said, "but if you change your mind be sure to give me a call."
Now, I'm sure many of you are looking at this and thinking, "That's terrible. I would never make that many mistakes." But you might be surprised. How many of us start our conversations with prospects by telling them all about our company and our products? It may sound gross, but I call this "puking on your prospects." In most cases it is about as welcome as that. Telling me that your firm has been in business for 50 years, or that your service is "second to none," or telling me about all of your wonderful products does nothing for me except make me want to get rid of you.
Now, let me tell you what would have gotten my attention and when applied to your product or service will get the attention of your prospects. How about this instead, "Mr. Beverly, this is John Smith with XYZ Financial Services. I wonder if you could help me for just a moment? (This may be the most important question in your opening. You will be amazed when 87% of your prospects agree to continue. Be sure to wait for a response. When you get the yes, you have just received permission to tell them what you can do for them.) My company specializes in helping our clients achieve returns superior to those they have achieved in the past, while minimizing their tax liability. If you have just 2 minutes, I would like to ask you a couple of questions to see if there might be a reason for us to have a more in depth discussion." You'll get 82% affirmative here. Now, you have asked for and received permission to gather information about your prospect. No phony promises, only the promise to find out more about your prospect so that you can deliver the best possible solution to their needs, rather than a canned product or service that you provide to the masses.
The reason that this works so well is that you have indicated an interest in your prospect, and they have given you permission to do so. This works exactly opposite of the "puking" method which tells your prospect that you have no other agenda than to sell what you have to offer, regardless of their needs. You have successfully brought down the wall that sprang up immediately after your prospect realized he was speaking with a sales person. While the wall may not completely disappear, at least you have lowered it enough to begin a relationship, which will in turn give you your best opportunity to find his needs and wants and meet them with your product or service.
WIFM, or "what's in it for me," is the key here. Never forget that particularly on that initial contact, your prospect could not possibly care less about your company or your products. He only cares about how it is going to change his life for the better. Be prepared to answer that question or be prepared to underachieve in your sales career.
Sales Success TipSecrets to Cold Calling - To learn more about this author, visit Greg Beverly's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals. Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nations Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firms clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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