LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
In my office, I have a fabulous collection of framed autograph pictures of movie stars like Harrison Ford, Jack Nicholson, Farah Fawcett, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Drew Barrymore and even talk show host Jerry Springer (I'm a former employee of the show). Those who enter my office for the first time, both business contacts and friends, say, "WOW! How did you get those pictures!" You should see their eyes and how they light up like a light bulb. I'll tell you one thing; it's a great ice-breaker! Keep reading.
Then I thought to myself, "What a great idea!" Are you asking yourself, what is he talking about?" Then it hit me, why not contact sales prospects who have been either pictured or quoted in an online or offline medium.
A few more detailed examples include the following:
· People On The Move Sections
· Industry Leaders profiled on a website or in a newspaper or magazine
· Names mentioned in advertisements
· Awards found in press releases
· Management listed on company websites
Why contact these people? This approach helps to reduce and remove your prospect's level of resistance. It helps to make the dreaded task of cold calling actually FUN and something to look forward to each day! You will find that utilizing this approach helps to change your prospects attitude in a more favorable way. I mean people buy from people they like and people love to buy. Also, why wouldn't these people take your call? I mean, who doesn't like to being recognized? We all want our 15 minutes of fame right? This philosophy ties into Andy Warhol's most famous words, "In the future everybody will be famous for 15 minutes!" So, I'm proposing that anyone in sales seriously consider using this technique. So let me guess, you are really excited now right? What now? How do you get started? Keep reading.
Great sources to find these leads include your local newspaper, a local or national magazine or even your local business journal! Be creative in your search, use www.google.com or www.yahoo.com to locate specific opportunities to find additional leads. You will never have any problem finding these types of leads and you will never run out of places to look. That's another reason why I love this approach, the opportunities are endless!
One of most strategic places to begin your search is to visit www.prnewswire.com. What exactly is this site and why use it? PR Newswire is a press release service that companies use to distribute their news to large media outlets. What's great about this site is that you can search over 50 industries, search by state, search over 40 subjects and even search by keyword. Since, breaking news may affect your industry, especially in the areas of prospecting for new business, you find important leads such as:
· Personnel Announcements (if there is a promotion, maybe they are expanding the department
· New Contracts
· Acquisition, mergers and takeovers
· New products and services
· Real Estate Transactions
· Awards
· Joint Ventures
All of these areas mentioned above are opportunities for you to contact these companies to see if they may need your products and/or services. It's an opportunity to be a creative thinker, it's an opportunity to use a creative approach to win a sales prospect, it's an opportunity to standout amongst a crowded room of sellers. Welcome to my world. The question that you may now be asking, "How do you open the call using my technique?" Keep reading.
Let's say for example you do a search, and you come across a press release on a new product that will be introduced on a national scale in the next few months. The prospect that you may be calling may already be working with your competition, however, you don't know that for sure right? In business, you are either proactive or reactive; my advice is it's better to be proactive. It's easy to say someone else has called on them, but I can guarantee you that you no one has approached them in this way! Thus, when you use my approach your prospect will remember you so that when you do call back they won't forget how creative you were in contacting them. This will give you a strategic advantage in case they are not happy with their current vendor.
When you contact this prospect try saying the following, "Yes, I'd like to speak to the movie star (use their name here)?" Your prospect will most likely laugh and say something like, "Movie star, ha-ha, that's me!" My name is ………and I work for (list your company here) and we specialize in …………..and I saw your name mentioned in a press release issued the other day. Your prospect will say something like, "Yeah, we issued that the other day." You then say, "I actually didn't think you would take my call?" They then respond, "Why is that?" You then say, "I thought you would be out signing autographs!" Your prospect will find this very funny and then you continue to go on (while they are laughing) with your sales pitch. Here you can state the reason for your call and that you have some creative ideas that you wanted to run past them that would help to compliment their existing marketing program (just one example).
This technique works great either on live call or just as effective on voicemail. In many instances, I have found that when you leave a voicemail message, they end up playing your message for their entire office. What a compliment! Keep in mind that your sales prospect gets tons of voicemails, why not be a little different right? Okay, so you want an example voicemail now? You can't wait right? Let's take the same example above and try saying the following on a voicemail, "Movie star (list their name), I didn't expect you to take my call, you're probably out signing autographs. This is ………calling from (list your company) and I saw your name mentioned in an article about your new product that will be introduced in the next few months. When you get back from your autograph sessions can you call me back at (list your phone number) I wanted to run a few ideas by you that your competition is not doing and that you could be doing to increase market share of this product. I'll be expecting your call today, thank you!"
I have never received a negative response using this technique. Every sales prospect loves it and they always tell me how creative I am. What they are really saying is that I want to do business with you! One more thing, have I said how much I LOVE USING THIS TECHNIQUE! Have I made it clear how much MY PROSPECTS LOVE TAKING MY CALL! Why? BECAUSE IT'S SO DIFFERENT! Being different is a necessary element that will separate you from others who contact the same prospects. If you are looking for a way to STAND-OUT in a crowded marketplace then I strongly encourage you to this innovative approach to cold calling and sales prospecting!
Copyright 2006 MR. COLD CALL SEMINARS - All rights reserved.
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Behind The Scenes With Mr. Cold Call
Mr. Cold Call is the author of "How To Have Fun Cold Calling" and "114 Common Sales Objections, 153 Clever And Savvy Responses." According to Mr. Cold Call, "Your cold call success is dependent on 11 winning personality traits (known as your Telephone Persona Of Success! )." Collectively, these traits allow you to uniquely market yourself over the telephone so that you can inspire your prospect's curiosity and reduce their resistance. Are you interested in finding out more about Mr. Cold Call? Then sign-up for his weekly cold calling tips at http://www.mrcoldcall.com
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