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Make the Call -- Make the Sale
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Even if you are someone who delights in a challenge and thrives in a tough selling environment, cold calling may still leave you, well, cold. After all, it entails picking up the phone and asking for business from someone you don't know, who may be annoyed, rude or simply unreceptive. If you are selling by phone, the best way to change a negative mindset (yours) is to build a record of success, which means avoiding some of the common pitfalls that tend to trip up cold callers.
Consider these action steps:
Lay the groundwork before dialing: Like a fine meal, a palatable sales call doesn't start when the proverbial dish is placed on a diner's table. It is the result of painstaking preparation, as well as trial and error, to ensure that all the consumer will experience is an exquisitely prepared, delicious meal. The time to practice and work out the possible kinks in your pitch is well before you ever pick up the phone. To do otherwise practically ensures a call that will be meandering, messy and not at all appetizing to the prospective buyer.
Convey the value of your offer: Willy-nilly suggesting solutions without first knowing what the prospect's problems is a quick way to lose any respect or credibility in the mind of the person you are pitching to. Carefully plot out what you will be presenting as the advantages of your company's offering, having questions at your ready that establish the problems a potential client has that need solving, and the corresponding benefits you can offer.
Conduct yourself honorably: Giving reasons for your value to a potential customer does not mean denigrating your rivals. Never bash the competition in making your case - unless your aim is both to lose the sale and imperil your reputation.
Grasp a prospect's objections: Failing to do so is a likely to kill any deal - be it on the phone or in person - well before it ever gets off the ground. It is this failure than can prompt some sales reps to fall back on canned rebuttals that will only further alienate the listener. Sellers need to understand that their most effective defense against objections is to stop them from ever coming to the fore, but if they do emerge, the only remedy is to probe for the reasons behind them, not tossing off a slick response. Only after you truly understand the objection can you hope to try to answer it.
Say what you'll do, and do what you say: The point of a cold call isn't to say just anything to get to a "yes." Be prepared to make good on whatever promises you make.
Finally, think positive thoughts: Sure, not every call is going to yield a sale. But if you look at every challenge as an opportunity and use every "No" as a learning experience to help you better assess your prospects and hone your pitch, then the call was well worth your time and effort.
~ Adapted from Inc.com
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