Cold Calling

 ‘PERSUASION MEANS TO SIMPLY GIVE GOOD ADVICE’

Wendy Weiss.  The Queen of Cold Calling

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got

Constant and never-ending self-improvement

If it isn’t working – change it up

• Cold calling is a way of introducing yourself, your company, your service and your products to others and a way of generating interest in your product or service and a method of networking. Its communication with the client. The fear we create for ourselves over potential rejection is worse than the reality.
• Suggests NOT to send an email or marketing materials before the call – only after the initial call, contact or VM is made should be sent as a follow up to the message you left and should support your cold call.
• To be successful you MUST believe in the product of service you are selling so that you will be sincere, you must buy into the value of what you are selling before you can sell it.
• You must have a deep belief in your own sales ability
• Ask yourself this question and write down the answer – Does my product or service benefit the customer?
• Do I believe in the product or service I am selling; can I sell it with confidence?
• I MUST believe that the prospect needs my service or product more than I need them. If they are already using a similar product or service, then they recognize the need for that product or service. They want the benefit it provides.  They need me or someone like me to deliver that service.
• You are reputable and work with integrity and you are representing a beneficial product or service. YOUR PROSPECT NEEDS YOU.
• Do your homework
• Write your script
• If your prospect is unavailable when you call find out when they will be available, so you can call back
• On a cold call our attitude should be one that you expect your call to be put through because you are someone important.
• Call the highest-level person you think is the decision-maker

ENVIRONMENT & TIME

• Workspace for cold calling should be quiet with no disturbance or distractions, you should be able to focus and concentrate on the task at hand
• Not professional to have noise in the background; colleagues talking, children screaming, dogs barking, music playing
• Clear space on your desk or workplace and prepare to take notes on a notepad or laptop
• Cold calls introductory calls MUST be done on a regular basis.
• Vary your calling times –  you will be able to reach some prospects at onetime of the day and others at other times of the day. Keep notes of your calling times
• Best calling days are Tues-Thurs
• Senior and C levels early morning before 9:00 am or after 5:00 PM because their admins are gone for the day and they answer their own phones.
• Sales is a numbers game – make time to prospect
• NO ONE WILL EVER CALL YOU BACK – you must keep calling until you reach your prospect in person. Then you have 3 seconds to grab their attention.
• Call the switchboard, receptionist and ask for the name of the title of the individual you are looking for.
• If you ask for someone who is no longer there find out who has taken their place. And ask where the original prospect went because that is another lead.
• What will you say to grab their attention? Have it in writing and well-rehearsed, work from a script if you must, people on the other end do not know you are working from a script. 
• Have your sound bite ready
• Have your questions and responses to objections written out in advance so that if you draw a blank you have a point of reference.

LEAD TRACKING SYSTEM IMPERATIVE

• Keep track of every lead (I think we can do this in SFA)
• Keep track of company name, prospect name, address, phone, dates of contact, what was discussed, dates to call back and what materials or information was sent, notes on the conversation and items discussed, samples sent and make sure you have correct spelling of your prospects name.

WHY YOUR CUSTOMER NEEDS YOU?

People buy because they believe the product or service will get them what they want

• Your competitions customers are your potential customers
  • Find their flaws or weaknesses
• You may have to help them identify those reason through a series of probing questions, they will be their reasons not yours.
• Clearly Define what your product or services is
• What exactly it does
• What purpose does it serve?
• What problem does it solve?
• List these out as facts
  • Example been in business for 30 years
  • List of features

CONVEY THE BENEFIT TO PROSPECT

• Describe clearly and precisely the benefit to the prospect
  • Select coder helps you get to the right code 2.5 times faster
  • Feature, benefit, selling point, feature, benefit, selling point
  • What is the BIG BENEFIT – recognition, saves time, job easier, make more money

Be prepared for the mtg or the call

• Who are you calling or meeting?
• What is the Agenda? Always have a written Agenda for a meeting, have the questions written down that you want to ask, be prepared to go off script if the client takes you in another direction
• Know in advance what the goal or outcome of the call or meeting is? What do you want to get from the call, the meeting? What information do you want to walk away with?
• What materials or information do you need to support your position?
• Are you informed about your competition?
• Do you have the list of answers to overcome objections?
• Ask the questions to get to the customers WIFFIM – people buy for their own reasons and not for yours – what questions are you going to ask to get to their WIFFIM?
• What are your customers pain points, their problems and how do you solve them for the customer?

QUALIFYING QUESTIONS

• What is your budget
• When do you purchase?
• Who else is involved in this decision?
• What would compel you to change products or services
• Who is your current vendor?
  • What do you like about them and why
  • What do you think they could do better or differently?
  • Are there any gaps in their service?
  • What do you think is missing from their service?
• Explain how your product or service is different and or better
• Share how you solve their problem or pain point

CUSTOMER LISTS

• Check out trade journals in your field to see if they publish directories in your field
• Local chamber of commerce – see if they publish a directory
• Organizations and Associations
• Encyclopedia of Business & Professional Associations
• National Trade and Professional Associations of the US
• Associations Yellow book
• Dun & Brad Street
• Dalton Dictionary
• O’Dwyer’s Directories
• Standard & Poor’s
• Rent or buy a list – find a broker

THE SCRIPT

• Should be in a conversational style
• Not only what you say but how you say it
• Record yourself, do you sound like a person you would want to have a conversation with?
  • Be warm, inviting, passionate, interesting confident, convincing professional, pleasant, clear, well-paced, well-pitched.
• Ask for the prospect by name, identify yourself and the company
• You have 10 seconds to grab and hold the prospects attention
• Our first impression has to be strong enough to carry you through the rest of the pitch or conversation
• Describe your product or service pointing out relevant customer benefits
• In one sentence you MUST describe what you or your company do
• Develop your sound bite – hour one sentence pitch
• It should position you as the expert
  •  I am the expert
  • My credentials are
  • We’ve been in business for
  • We provide this – which no one else can provide
  • We do this better than anyone else
  • I’ve been referred by

Practice your responses to objections

THE CLOSE

• Ask for what you want
  • Of course, you want them to buy your product or services but that doesn’t come from the first call
• You want your foot in the door so that later the prospect can be induced into buying your product or service.
• You want to introduce yourself, company, product, service
• You’re not asking the prospect to buy anything you simply want some of their time or a meeting.
• Ask for a time to have a short discussion with them I need 10 minutes of your time
• Ask for a meeting don’t ask for an apt ask for a meeting
• Be clear, be Bold be to the point
• Give them some choice of time, don’t leave it open ended
• Would Tuesday or Thursday be better?

HOW MANY CALLS WILL I HAVE TO MAKE

• 15 calls to one genuine lead
• If want 500 leads must make 5000 calls
• 100 calls per week 20 calls per day
• Tacking Calls
  • # of Introductory calls
  • # of follow up calls
  • # of completed calls
  • 3 of needs Information call back pending calls

TIPS

• Prepare – do your research
• Work from the Top Down
• Be persistent
• Stay Calm
• Ask probing questions
• Listen to your prospect
• Be yourself