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Many sales people dread the prospect of cold calling. This is often fueled by their personal fears of rejection and failure. Rather than considering these rejections as a business decision, they tend to take them personally. Consequently, they see the entire process as something to dread, rather than a way to fill their sales pipeline.
Cold call is a strategic way to get your foot in the door, gather information and assess a suspect's chance of becoming a prospect. All successful salespeople make cold calls since cold calls lay the groundwork for new business. They develop an attitude that results in no reluctance to make cold calls. They understand that every no is one step closer to another yes.
Implications to the Sales Person
Cold calling is often regarded with little or no enthusiasm. Cold calling anxiety can be traced to a previous bad experience in selling, such as being harassed, abused or threatened. Just thinking about cold calling can trigger a rapid heart beat, elevated blood pressure or insomnia for some salespeople. They fear the unpredictability of a cold call. They build up a mental picture of dire consequences they must face if the prospect isn’t interested in what they have to sell. However, successful sales people understand that cold calling is the first critical step to landing the next sale. They don’t wait for the customers to come to them. They go out and get the customers.
The Application
The first misconception about cold calling is that a sales person must hit a home run with every call. Even if they successfully connect with the right person, it’s unrealistic to expect to get a sale from a cold call.
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Successful cold calling techniques means the average sales person needs to lower their expectations and aim to land an appointment rather than a sale. This alone will take the pressure to perform and lower the sense of failure if an appointment is not obtained.
The initial question is who do you cold call on? Most reps try to get to the decision maker, but sometimes that isn’t always possible. The answer is cold call on anyone and everyone in the prospect's office.
· Talk to receptionist.
· Talk to decision maker's secretary.
· Talk to someone in purchasing.
· Talk to anyone to get information.
You will find the bigger the company, the greater the cold calling possibilities.
There are several additional steps to follow:
· After your initial contact, take a couple of hours and write down all the information you have gathered about that company, it's business, its problems, its goals and plans.
· From the information gathered, develop a plan for helping the company solve a problem, accomplish a goal, save time, save money or make more sales.
· Write a detailed letter explaining what you discovered and how you can be of assistance.
· Express mail it to the decision maker with a copy to everyone you talked to within the company.
· Use a highlighter pen to make your suggestions easy to read immediately.
· Complete the process by following up on a certain date and then make the call.
Something to Think About
Cold calling is the first step in every sale. With this in mind, consider the following points:
1. How do you currently approach cold calling? With enthusiasm or total fear? Explain.
2. What is the worst thing that may occur during a cold call? How would you handle it? Explain.
-- Timothy F. Bednarz, PhD
Timothy F. Bednarz, PhD is the Principal Partner of the American Management Development Group. He can be reached at 800.654-4935 or amdg@charter.net. Find out more at www.LetsTalkSelling.com.
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