NEVER MAKE A COLD CALL! How to Get New Sales
The resistance that some professionals have to sales isn’t unlike the distaste for wintry weather conditions, and a lot of it stems from a distaste for making cold calls. Cold calls imply a lack of control over the turns of the conversation, hint at feeling stuck, as though there are no other options for attracting new customers. They are often seen as either the last refuge for a failing sales professional or the first trip out for a raw rookie. They often fill one with a sense of dread over the fear of “icy” responses from the individuals they have called.
Entire Hollywood comedies have been woven around the idea of cold-call sales, and the poor sap making the cold call getting a door slammed in his face is always good for a laugh. But I’m here to let you in on a little secret:
There is no such thing as a cold call. I suggest simple tactics to identify previously unknown prospects so that a much “warmer” approach can be taken to grow your business. Get to know a bit about your prospect and maybe even find something you have in common with them and you’ll have a foot in the door before you’ve even knocked on it. Here’s just one example. A client of ours with 15 years of professional experience was having difficulty identifying new prospects when he attended one of our seminars on revenue growth. After I suggested he review his alumni newsletter, he noted that an earlier graduate had recently been promoted to a senior position for an international manufacturer. When he made contact, he linked his communication to the school they had in common and pointed out a related European Union decision. Through the contact, he has been introduced to the world of international business and will be growing his business there. All it took was a few minutes of reading something he should have been keeping up with anyway to gain entrance to a whole new world of opportunity.
Be blunt: The primary thing a prospective customer is concerned about is what can you do for them. Learn as much as you can about the prospect, their needs, their product/services, their competition, etc. Make sure you anticipate their questions, understand their patterns of business, have your “takeaway” refined and set the agenda for the first contact. The more prepared you are before first contact, the better your chances of having a second one and, eventually, a deal.
Preparation is essential. It will prepare you not only for your sales meetings, but also for conducting a review “post mortem.” That first call, therefore, becomes a “warm call” where you have the major differentiator between you and your competition ready, have a full description of the major problem you can solve for them, and present yourself as confident and professional, just the kind of person with whom they want to do business!
Never treat a cold call as a cold call and you’ll find that your revenue sales rate skyrockets and your bottom line will be the better for it. An hour of advance study before you approach a client can lead to years of business.
Dr. Allan Colman
Chief Revenue Officer
ClosersGroup.com
1.310.508.8600