How To Make Your Cold Calling Effective

Writen by Ari Galper

4 examples of effective dialogue in cold calling

How can we make cold calls "work" when we're talking to someone we haven't met, about something they may not need? Well, it's really simple. First we look at how to relate to them rather than hoping they'll relate to us and our solution.

When we approach cold calling with a question about what their needs are, potential clients respond much more readily to the idea of talking with us.

To help you with this, here are a few examples of dialogues within four very different industries.

Example: Staffing

In the staffing or recruiting industry, the goal is to call a company and identify whether they need help finding new staff.

The old cold calling approach is, "Hi. My name is… I'm with XYZ Staffing Company, and we offer these services. I'm just calling to…" And by that time, the person pretty much says, "We're not interested," right? With this new cold calling approach, the idea is to think about the problem you're solving. The problem you're solving is helping them find good people.

So I would start the conversation with, "Maybe you can help me out for a second?" And they usually say, "How can I help you?"

I reply, "I'm just calling to see if your company is still looking at finding good, quality employees to hire?"

The response to that is likely to be, "Well sure. Who's this?" This is a normal response which we want to be ready for. I would simply say, "My name is Ari and I'm with XYZ Staffing Company and we help companies identify and find good people. I'm just calling to see if your company is in a situation now where you're looking to hire and find new people."

Example: Software

Let's say you're in the software industry, and that you sell software to improve the productivity of an organization. What you want to do is focus on the problem that you solve specifically.

What most software salespeople do in cold calling is say, "Hi, we sell software to help improve productivity." But that doesn't really identify the problem it solves. You have to focus specifically on an issue.

So, for instance, the software might solve a problem with lost paper-based documents. That's a very specific issue.

In this case, I might call and say, "I'm just calling to see if your company is having issues with lost paperwork because of manual paper-based filing systems."

See how specific that is? It's very directed to the problem in their world. This is in contrast to, "I want to see if your company is looking to buy some software or looking to improve productivity," or something similar.

Example: Advertising

Advertising is a very good example. Typically, what most advertising sales folks start with is an introduction. They talk about their advertising product or services that they offer.

But with our problem solving approach, the question becomes, "What does advertising solve for people?" The first thought usually is that it gets people leads. It gets more branding.

Let's go deeper than that. What do leads do for companies? Leads provide sales, right? So if I sell advertising, I might call and say, "Maybe you can help me out for a second. I'm just calling to see if your company is open to new ideas of generating leads for your business."

From this place, the discussion unfolds around their world, and not your advertising.

That's the real shift in making cold calling relevant to their world.

Example: Collections

Another example is the collections industry. Typically, collection agencies call companies to see if they can be hired to collect invoices that are unpaid. They usually talk about their services as opposed to making their cold calling focus on the problem.

The client is looking to bring in more revenue from invoices that aren't paid. So an approach might be, "Maybe you can help me out for a second?" The reply is once again, "Sure, how can I help you?"

"I'm just calling to see if your company is still having issues with unpaid invoices." And the response probably will be, "Well, yeah, we are. Who's this?"

You can then respond in a very relaxed tone, "This is John. I'm with XYZ Collection Agency. I'm just calling to see if you'd be open to some new ideas on how to better solve that problem."

These are some examples of how to make your cold calling relevant to the other person and his or her needs. Practice this, and you'll find that your cold calling conversations become more relaxed. You'll no longer have to shift into an artificial "salesperson" role.

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don't know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.Unlock-The-Cold-Calling-Game.com

From Insult To Sale

Writen by D.M. Arenzon

Many years ago I had phoned a General Manager of a major hotel chain. In response to one of my questions he told me that he was blind and requested that I send him information in braille. I politely explained to him that I did not have any information that was written exclusively for the blind. Our conversation abruptly ended, but I felt like something was not right here?

In response to my curiosity, I then decided to find out if this GM was really blind so I made a call to the Front Desk Manager. According to this manager, the GM was not blind. I knew that he was pulling my leg, but I wanted to be 100% sure that the GM was not blind. I then asked the FDM if he could transfer me to another employee to confirm his statement. Again, I was told the very same fact--he was not blind! Once I heard the truth I felt insulted and then became disgusted by what I had learned!

I was feeling this way because he had lied to me and I took it personally--I had an aunt who was blind. I decided to call the GM to let him know what I had learned and what I thought of him. We exchanged a few words back and forth and he was very apologetic. He said that he was just joking and made a mistake. After accepting his apology, I then explained to him why I was calling and he responded with genuine interest in what our company had to offer and what we could do for him.

A few minutes passed by and he said to me," I'd like to go ahead and do this, but on one condition." I responded, "What condition might this be?" He said, "I will do the deal if you buy me a 1 year subscription to a 'not so nice' magazine?" How could he say such a thing after what he told me at the beginning of our conversation? While I was surprised at his request, my curiosity got the best of me so I decided to play along and continue our conversation.

I then asked him, "Why is this so necessary?" He explained to me that he wanted this magazine because next month a model who did a camera shoot at his hotel will be featured in this publication. The GM told me that once he receives his first issue he will accept my offer and the deal will be closed.

Since I have a good sense of humor I took him up on his unusual request. Did he follow through with his side of the bargain? Yes, he did follow through with his word and the deal was closed. Perhaps you would have handled this conversation in a completely different way? I'm sure that many of you would have hung up on him, right? What's the point of this story besides a good laugh? The point of this story is to demonstrate that sometimes you need to have a good sense of humor to make the sale!

Copyright 2006 MR. COLD CALL SEMINARS - All rights reserved.

Behind The Scenes With Mr. Cold Call Mr. Cold Call is the author of "How To Have Fun Cold Calling" and "115 Common Sales Objections, 156 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 free weekly cold calling tips at http://www.mrcoldcall.com

How To Prepare For Cold Calls When Resistance Is Likely

Writen by Art Sobczak

Many sales reps look at ads, direct mailing pieces, catalogs, the Internet, anywhere there's advertising as sources of prospects. This is wise. But I find so many of these people ill-prepared for what they inevitably hear on calls. Here's an example of what I received.

Caller: "Hello, this is Bill Jones with Video Recorders. I saw the ad for your Getting Through to Buyers video program, and we do video duplication."

"Uh-huh."

He became flustered at this point, probably because I didn't say, "Oh, you do video duplication? Where should I send my master copy; you can do mine."

"Uh, I'd like to talk to you about doing yours."

"Look I'll save you some time. I selected my existing company after evaluating quite a few. They have a very good price, quality is fine, and service is great. I have no reason to even consider looking around. Even if I did, I ordered enough to last me the rest of the year."

"Oh, OK. Keep us in mind."

Yeah, sure.

Analysis and Recommendations

So you might be thinking that I gave this guy an iron-clad objection that was impenetrable. And you're right for the most part-when it comes to getting a sale on that call. However, he undoubtedly runs into that same objection quite a bit, so I'm surprised he hasn't learned to use something that won't totally slam the door so suddenly in his face. Here's what I would do in his situation:

Call Strategy and Preparation: If I were placing this call, my Primary Objective would be to get commitment that the prospect would use my service the next time they duped tapes. Although that wouldn't be achieved on a majority of the calls, it's always best to aim high. After realizing on the call this wouldn't be reached, objectives in descending order would be: to get commitment that I could at least bid on their next job, and if that wasn't met, to get agreement that they would at least keep us on file as a back-up supplier in case their existing duplicator for some reason no longer met their needs, or if they had other future projects coming up.

Preliminary Information: He knew nothing about me when he called. He could have asked the person who answered the phone here about who we now use, how many we typically order, what we pay, and any other qualifying information which would have better-equipped him for the call.

Opening Statement: He gave no reason for me to even listen. He may as well just said. "Well, I've finally called you, so I guess you can start using us now."

Simply dialing the phone does not give a person the right to take someone's time. Promising or hinting at some value they could get does.

I would have listened to this: "I'm Bill Jones with Video Recorders. We specialize in top quality video duplication, and now work with quite a few training organizations. Depending on the price you're now paying and your level of satisfaction with the quality and service you're getting, it might be worth it for you to take a look at a bid we could do for you. I'd like to ask a few questions to see if it would be worth your while to talk about it."

I would have been more likely to answer questions at this point. However, even if I did retort with the same objection mentioned earlier, he could have picked up on it and used it to ask more questions. For example, "I see. What price are you paying?" If that resulted in a dead-end, a last resort question to at least try and accomplish the last chance objective would be, "What plans do you have in place for a back-up supplier, if for example, you needed a large quantity in a hurry and your supplier wasn't able to accommodate you for some reason?"

Determine if parts of your call process are similar to this one. Analyze every step of the process, determine your own strengths and enhance them, and shore up the weak areas.

Art Sobczak, President of Business By Phone, provides proven ideas, tips, and processes to help salespeople use the phone to prospect, sell and service without morale-killing rejection. To see word-for-word phrases you can use right now to get to and sell more buyers, and other resources such as books, audios, and seminars, and to get his FREE weekly TelE-Sales Tips, and access to back issues, go to: http://www.BusinessByPhone.com

Selling Window Washing Services By Phone

Writen by Lance Winslow

Selling Window Washing and Cleaning services by telephone is not the easiest thing in the world to do. However, if it is done correctly the salesperson can get an appointment to talk with the person making the buying decision and ask them if they would like a free quote.

The trick is to get themselves invited to the customer's location to talk with them and then find out what really is of concern to the customer and answer all those questions specifically. When selling window washing services and window cleaning services by telephone it makes sense that you call both personal customers at homes and business customers at the office.

Business customers generally want to be set up on a routine basis and know that you will come and clean their windows properly. Business customers are generally looking for reliable and low-priced service. Homeowners are more concerned that you are responsible, reliable and nothing will be damaged, broken or stolen.

It is important when selling window washing services or window cleaning services on the telephone to make sure that your customer understands that you do not hire in illegal aliens or illegal immigrants on your window washing crews. This is becoming more and more important when selling window washing services by telephone. Please consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Make Friends With The Gatekeeper 10 Ways To Get Through More Often On The Phone

Writen by Philip Ashforth

Make friends with the gatekeeper! 10 ideas for getting through on the phone and leaving your competition out in the cold…

Are gatekeepers the bane of your life? You know you have a great product that will definitely add value to your prospect, make him or her money, save time, you name it - if only you could just get through!!

Having just spent the best part of a whole morning phoning my prospect list, I became aware of many of the in-built strategies I employ when approaching gatekeepers, that I feel have given me the edge, so I thought, why not share a few?

The first thing to remember is that although you are unique and have a unique proposition, your prospect is probably getting tens if not hundreds of inbound calls a day. It would be entirely possible for some managers within organisations to answer sales calls and do nothing else whatsoever.

You appreciate these people need protecting. We live in the days of CTPS, (Corporate Telephone Preference Service) it may be called something else where you live. Essentially this is the trend for companies to opt-out of receiving unsolicited telephone calls.

The trend for companies to opt-out of receiving calls means essentially there are less prospects left that you can legally make a cold call to.

Think about it, the companies left on databases that will accept calls, are going to be getting many more of them, and this trend will only continue in the future.

Hence the reason for employing PA's, briefing colleagues and receptionists to block your call, or at the very least, filter it, to avoid you potentially wasting their time.

The irony of opting out of receiving sales calls, is that the companies doing this usually employ outbound telephone marketers of their own. sometimes into the hundreds! I can understand it from both points of view, but that's the situation, so we have to live with it.

People will always make sales calls, in the future it will mean as in all means of media communication, we will have to enhance our quality and pay much more attention to segmenting the right kind of prospect, who is much more likely to want to take our call as he or she actually wants to hear from us.

The tips…

1, Have a positive approach. Read any book by Napoleon Hill i.e. Success through a positive mental attitude, to get this message fully. Even if you can't get through, you need to create a positive association in the gatekeepers mind, this means being pleasant, having a little well-placed humour here and there. If there is a positive association, the gatekeeper will actually help you to get through, and keep taking your calls. I don't mean faking it here, make it natural and who you really are.

2, Statement-suggestion. This is for when you have been asked the reason for your call by a receptionist or colleague. it means telling the gatekeeper the reason concisely, then in the same sentence, without a gap for breath, your suggestion for a next action. then you go quickly. You are trying to avoid them asking for you to leave a message, or telling you "I'm sure if Mr x was interested he will call you".

3, Leave a message? Whether you do or don't is personal preference, I suggest exhausting all avenues to get through before leaving a message. If you just can't get through, try leaving a message with a little more enticing than just your name and number. Keep it short and ask for what you want with a good reason for your prospect to respond. After leaving a message, leave a day or so and try calling again a few times before leaving another one.

4, In the office? Far too many times, outbound telemarketers make multiple calls to a prospect when he isn't even in the office. If you get through to a prospect, check every time, is he/she in the office? If not, then when are they expected back? I find many times that a receptionist or colleague will just keep putting you through to voicemail in the full knowledge that your prospect is out, or even on holiday.

5, I was just speaking to… If you have been put through from one gatekeeper to the other, this technique involves you giving the impression that the first one thought your call was of interest and was almost recommending it to the second one. This is also good when your original prospect is not the right person and they have put you through to the decision maker, use an implied recommendation so your call appears a little less cold. This should only be used subtly, don't make a meal of it.

6, Coming clean. You get to a point sometimes when you are asked a direct question about why you are calling, and you can't get out quick like in idea 2, and I find that it really does pay just to tell it straight. Just tell the gatekeeper in the simplest terms the reason for the call, that the person won't be expecting the call, but you are following up information etc… Your honesty and straightforwardness will be valued and you are often put straight through.

7, Time Variation. Really simple, if you can't get through and you are tending to call in normal hours, you keep getting through to the same colleague or receptionist and they are not putting you through. Try varying the times you call. Try early, try late, try lunchtime, try very late or very early (depends on your determination). Most of your competition will have just given up, you often find that senior decision makers stay in the office late, and are the first in, in the morning.

8, Sound purposeful. Part of the positive approach, but this is you concentrating on how you sound. Use an upbeat tone, speak clearly with reasonable pace, avoid the filler words like "er", "erm", etc. The fact is, you are ten times more likely to be put through if your voice sounds confident and gives the gatekeeper the impression that there is some existing dialogue between you and the prospect. Sound like it is a foregone conclusion that you will be put straight through, and you often will be, without question!

9, Manners. Another one that should be a staple for you as a professional, but it really works if you can be polite, thank the gatekeeper, even if you were rejected, even if they were off with you, whatever. Have good manners, always take time to say "bye" before putting the phone down. This alone will separate you from many members of your competition who just don't get it. You will get through much more often than them.

10, Knowing when to quit. I remember this guy, calling me time and time again, I shouldn't have been a target of his, and I could never have needed his product as it was not appropriate for me. I remember telling him again and again, it just didn't get through. I wondered how much time he was wasting in the no mans land of sales, barking up the wrong tree with me. There comes a time when you have to look at your list and divert your efforts to better hunting grounds. If you have really tried, you have exhausted reasonable efforts to get through to a good prospect, move on, there are plenty more fish as they say!

Finally, remember however hungry you are for appointments, gatekeepers are people just like you. Think of it like this – If they are diverting most your competition, and you learn the techniques and practise them enough to be put through more often, your prospect will be receptive, less call-weary and in a position to hear what you have to say. The gatekeeper is your friend!

Make a point of being a professional, respect yourself and think of what you are doing only in positive terms. You will achieve more appointments and sales and increase your income substantially. Apply this philosophy to your work and your whole life and the results will be amazing.

Phil Ashforth is Managing Director of Apple Creative Design, a design agency offering graphic design for print and web based in Preston, UK. The agency also provides marketing consultancy to complement their range design services Look at his work on http://www.apple-design.com