Lexien Management Consultants, Inc
One of the most-feared, and yet most effective, ways to develop business is the dreaded, and much maligned cold call. But, if you develop a consistent approach to your cold calls, you can overcome the fear of not knowing what to say or how to respond when the person on the other end of the phone actually answers!
First thing: remember the goal of your cold call. Your goal on a cold call is to GET AN APPOINTMENT. Your goal is NOT to sell on the phone. (If your job is telesales, then of course your goal would be to sell on the phone; we will be covering that topic in a separate article.) When you set your priority on getting an appointment and not on selling, it becomes much easier to for you to actually get in front of the people you need to see to make your goals and close more business.
Here are the four steps that go into a successful cold call:
1. Opening:
In your opening statement you want to get the other persons attention (by using their name give a brief commercial about your company and tell that person why you are calling (to get an appointment.) So, for example, your opening might sound like this:
Good morning Ms. Smith. This is (your name) calling with XYZ Company. We are the largest manufacturing of remanufactured widgets specializing in the giggabot industry. The reason Im calling you today is that that weve recently successfully completed a project with ABC Company where we were able to help them reduce their time to market by using our widgets in their manufacturing process. Id like to get together and show you how we were able to help them achieve this result. Hows Tuesday at 2?
2. Response:
The person youre speaking with is now going to respond to you; most likely with an objection or a reason why they shouldnt meet with you. Think about the most common responses you are likely to hear in your business, and be prepared to turn their response around.
For example, if you know that you will typically hear something like Well, thanks for your call, but were all set for now (and you probably hear that a lot, right?) you should have your turnaround ready to go
3. Turnaround:
To turn around a response, you want to reassure the person on the phone that youve heard what they said, and that you understand their response BUT, dont just give it up. Your response should sound something like this: You know, Mr. Smith, many of our clients said the same thing when we first spoke with them, until they saw how our widgets were able to benefit them. Why dont we get together, and I can show you how. Hows Tuesday at 2?
4. Appointment:
After youve tried to turn the call around, youre either going to the appointment, or youre not. If youve tried two or three turnarounds, and the prospect still doesnt want to meet, then its time to thank them for their time, and move on to the next call. Dont spin your wheels expecting to get an appointment with everyone you speak with.
Will this approach work every time? No but then again, nothing will work every time. Will you get more appointments if you use and practice these techniques? You can you will absolutely. Guaranteed.
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