| Sales Information | Let us create a 3d Digital eBook for you! DigyCat.com |
|
|
|
Cold Calling Reluctance
Most salespeople I know consider cold calling a dreadful, but essential activity in our profession. Even those who are good at it rarely like it. Nevertheless, those who are successful in sales do it regularly because without prospects, one does not sell anything. If you hate cold calling to the point where you won't do it, you've got a serious problem. Let this go on long enough, and you'll watch your commissions drop from low to zero as you lose your job. If you truly hate cold calling to the point where it is really hurting your sales, I may know one of the reasons why. Where's The Pressure?Too many salespeople take the bulk of the pressure on themselves in the sale. We've been conditioned into it by a society that teaches us that buyers shop, and sellers are there to "serve". You've heard this before... "serve the customer". In "serving the customer", we feel that we have to do whatever they ask to get the sale. Some prospects act like bratty children that just have to have their way. This can be quite annoying to deal with. In letting this belief "serving the customer" dominate our attitude towards buying and selling, we give up a lot of power. It's kind of crazy if you really think about it. The prospect is the one who does or does not have a problem to solve. Its not your problem - you are just offering a potential solution. If your prospect does have a problem to solve, then it is his responsibility to solve it - not yours. What you can do is help him figure out how to solve it, and offer your products or services if they solve the problem. When cold calling, you are looking for problems that you can actually solve. How effective you are at cold calling is really a matter of how effective you are at uncovering problems that you can solve. It is *not* a game of how good of a "pitch" you can deliver over the phone. If you plan your cold calling by trying to craft the most interesting, exciting, and sparkling pitch to wow your prospects into meeting with you, then you are putting way too much pressure on yourself. This may just be stressful for you, or it can even be disabling to the point where you can't or won't do any cold calling. I have a simple formula to take the pressure off of yourself and put it where it belongs - on your prospect. Cold Calling FormulaSimple, huh? So simple, it may seem too easy. The secret to the cold calling formula is how you do each step. Here's an example: "Hello, this is Shamus Brown calling." "I am with Jupiter Financial Partners, and using private equity, I help people get high investment returns without the risk and volatility associated with the stock market. "Do you have a few minutes to let me ask you a few questions about your investments? "What percentage did your investment's increase this past year? "Oh, they didn't increase... they declined by how much?... hmm, sounds bad to me, but I am not you - is that kind of performance OK with you?" This follows the simple format outlined above. Introduce yourself and your company, and wrap that introduction with a statement of the results that you provide for your customers. This is one of the keys to making cold calling easier. The only thing your prospect will likely hear at the beginning of the call is your results. When you are cold calling someone, you are interrupting them in some way. Their attention is elsewhere. When they hear the results that you offer, you will get their attention IF they are interested in those types of results. Next, if they are interested in those results, they will more than likely answer yes to your request to ask a few questions and talk further. Finally, you immediately get into probing for problems, and amplifying the consequences. Once you are there, you will stir up their motivation and desire to talk further about your product or service. Stop using lengthy introductions in your cold calling. If you get that slightly uncomfortable or nauseating feeling in your stomach while delivering your phone "pitch", it is because your pitch is too long. The longer your pitch is, the more you are "at risk" because you do not know how the message is being received. Shorten your cold calling opener to just the essential results that you provide, and then get right into probing for problems. You'll sell more this way. © 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved. Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown's sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/
MORE RESOURCES: Sales - Google News Treasury to Sell Floaters in Second Half of Year, Dealers Say - BusinessWeek
Apotex pays Bristol, Sanofi damages over Plavix - Wall Street Journal
Beer sales could be boon for Arizona's universities - AZ Central.com
Fed Sells $6.2 Billion of Bonds From AIG Rescue to Goldman - San Francisco Chronicle
iPhone on Sprint: Great for sales, terrible for profits - Christian Science Monitor
Wells Fargo's Carroll eyes cross-selling by brokers - Reuters
Las Vegas Still Selling More Homes in January, Yet Prices Still Declining - World Property Channel
Newsstand Report: Sales Down Across the Board, Elle Plumets 18%, and ... - Fashionista
Average Salespeople “Fly By The Seat Of Their Pants” - Utah Pulse
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Web Promotion: 10 Amazing Web Promotion Ways To Jump Start Your Sales Hello, do you have a website and sell something on the internet?If yes, may I offer you 10 amazing web promotion secrets to jump start your salesat your website!1. Find a strategic business partner. Lead Companies, Eight Features To Consider So now the time has come to invest in Lead companies, but how do you know which one is the right one for you?When I was a new loan officer, finding a lead company was not easy, I can remember logging onto Yahoo, typing in the key word "mortgage leads" and being bombarded with links leading me in the direction of lead companies all claiming to have the best leads and the best deal for me!But what was the best deal for me? That all depended on what I was looking for, so taking my time, I began to right down exactly what it was I was looking for, did I want refi's, purchases, or both. Did I want leads from several states or just one, how much could I afford? Etc. Selling Your Way To Success I wonder when we decided to become a sales person. I know when I was at school all I ever wanted to do was join the Navy and see the world. Selling Abilities - Part 1 Selling "-abilities": Reliability (Part 1 of 4) Most salespeople love to talk about their "-abilities": Reliability, Upgradeability, Compatibility and Expandability. Salespeople feel stronger and more confident when they can use their 'abilities' to convince the customer to make a buying decision. Are You a Cultivator or a Harvester? As a result of providing marketing consulting, training and coaching to a variety of individuals and industries over the years, I have come to recognize that people generally approach the business building process in one of two ways. Everyone tends to be what I identify as either Cultivators or Harvesters. Value-added Selling? "Value-added." That word is used so much it has become a cliché in business circles. Understanding The Corporate Buyer Selling your services to corporations is an attractive proposition. The contracts are larger than with small businesses and individuals, and often longer-term. How to Really Benefit from Associations (Part 1 of 3-Part Series) Looking for new leads, new contacts, new business opportunities? Do what nine out of 10 adults do, according to a recent article by the American Society of Association Executives. Join an Association. How to Generate Leads on the Internet In the last decade, the Internet has become a major commercial force. Not only do online sellers like Amazon. Sales People have an advantage as entrepreneurs Zig Ziglar use to say in seminars and on tapes that nothing happens until someone sells something. I had never really understood how absolutely true that was until I got into franchising and saw how one franchise sale could add jobs to the economy, provide great service to a community and change the quality of life for the franchisee and their family. Why Cold Calling Is Dead Our world of selling is closed off from other areas of business that continue to adopt and embrace new, efficient ideas. I was reminded of this recently while re-reading Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing. Cold Calling Pressure Reduction Who likes cold calling? Most salespeople don't like cold calling, and do as little of it as possible. There are a number of reasons why most of us don't like it. Gatekeepers When I ask salespeople to define what a gatekeeper is, I generally hear: "Someone who keeps out people who will waste the boss's time."But gates are two-sided - they open as well as close: a gatekeeper's job is actually to make sure the boss gets to spend his/her time efficiently. Selling Strategy - 5 Ways To Success Web sites exist for essentially two purposes. The first isto provide information. Creating Intense Emotions That Motivate People Ever wish that your presentations could be as much fun as a cool TV commercial? Come late January every year network TV treats us to America's finest and most expensive commercials - Superbowl commercials. You may remember some of these even now, 2 weeks later. Peddlers, Hucksters, & Empty Suits Ever feel like you were "just a salesperson"? I think anyone who has been in sales for awhile has thought or felt this at sometime in their career. In some fields, sales is such a dirty word that they've created euphemisms to try and reclaim some dignity. Why You Buy, Part Three Still more discoveries from the recent studies in behavioral economics:Over-Valuing "Mine"People consistently place a higher value on things they own, even if their "ownership" is temporary. The research is interesting, and I often saw this phenomenum used by salesmen on busses in Ecuador. Im A Second-Story Man Can you say who you are and what you do in twosentences or less?If someone should ask (in an elevator, get it?)what do you do? You should be able to recite theanswer as fast as Robin Williams comes up with aquick one liner.Robin Williams can do it because he has rehearsedevery line. How Improve Conversion Rates Do you know your conversion rates? Conversion rate is the number of visitors to your site that take the desired action against the total number of visitors in a particular period or time. Research has shown that 60% of websites do not know their conversion rates. The Power of Thank-You When was the last time you thanked your customers?This often neglected gesture is a very powerful sales tool. As a small business owner, I want to know that the companies I chose to work with appreciate my business. |
|
Looking For Royalty Free Photos for your Website, Business or Advertising?
List4Sale Domain Is For Sale - $10,000 For Enquiries eMail Us © www.List4Sale.biz 2011 |