Embracing The Cold Call 5 Easy Ways To Love COLD CALLING Michael F. McDougall A.I.M.A. C.C. Published by Michael F. McDougall at Smashwords Copywrite 2011Michael F. McDougall This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. Lets start with what a COLD CALL means to most salespeople; Frigid, Waste of Time, Not worth the Negativism. Much of the attitude has to do with the fact that the word Cold is unappealing, add to this the number of rejections and you have a situation that many sales people would rather avoid; An avoidance of unappealing rejections? Well, that does sound like something that we would should strive for, as the alternative can ruin an otherwise nice day. Maybe we should just call it an "Unsolicited Sales Call", the purpose of which is to introduce yourself to prospective clients. That sounds a little better!! When making a first contact with strangers you may find that they are apprehensive and in some cases extremely insulting. This is basic human nature at its finest; we insulate ourselves from strangers with an attitude of indifference and in some cases with blatant anger. You can change that with a few simple words and your voice. When you answer a phone and it is a solicitor what is your reaction? Do you hang up? Did they make a mockery of your name by mistake? Did they have a friendly demeanor? Was it the cute voice of a young woman who is working her way through school? If the first contact is unrehearsed and your name took a beating during the intro, it is likely that after a few seconds you had already decided on the outcome; No thanks!! If on the other hand it was a friendly greeting that sounded genuine, you are more likely to allow them a few minutes of your time. You are the same as everyone else!! Remember that!! You are the same as everyone else! So what annoys you when you deal with a cold caller? What warms you up to a cold call? There is a good chance that this "warming factor" works for thousands of others as well. Why should salespeople "Embrace" cold calls? Simply put, it is nothing more than meeting someone for the first time. Picture yourself walking down a street with strangers walking toward you. Do you smile and say something to them? If you do, then you have just made a cold call. You have turned a stranger into something just a little bit more. The next time you see them, your smile may be genuine instead of forced and they may even stop for a couple of seconds and discuss what a nice day it is. The third time you see them, you may have a few minutes to chat and suddenly this stranger is someone that you enjoy meeting for a few minutes a day. This awkward situation is repeated many times over during a day; in elevators, line ups for a coffee, in the subway, etc. As sales professionals it is your job to turn strangers into friends, but if you never meet them it will never happen. The more people you meet and greet, the more comfortable you are with the idea of meeting new people. The more comfortable you are, the easier it gets and the next thing you know you are having real and meaningful conversations with prospective clients. Many of them you may never meet in person. Most people are apprehensive when making cold calls. I had one the other day and the guy was obviously NOT familiar with his script. He stumbled along with what was supposed to be a rehearsed script, but it was obvious he was having trouble, when I interrupted him he was lost; as I knew he would be. After a couple of minutes it was made clear that this was not a COLD CALL. He had found my name in a sign up sheet from his company from a seminar that I had attended and I later spoke with the principle of that company. THIS WAS NOT A COLD CALL!! I had used their service, so why was he so nervous? I asked him why he was butchering a well planned script and was greeted with silence. I waited a heart beat and asked how long he had been doing this. The reply was already known to me; a couple of weeks!! I took pity and told him to email the info, but not before telling him; RELAX! It's just a phone call, and I laughed, which made him laugh and made him feel better about butchering the script. I have no doubt that he went through the script before making another call. Live and learn!! How many calls did he make before reaching me where the outcome was different? I have no idea. Had I not been sympathetic to his plight, I would have just hung up and left him to his own demise. But I had been there myself, so I knew what he was feeling. We are all just people trying to make a living. Remember that the next time you get one of those calls. It is worth remembering before you make one of those calls as well!! How do we get over the initial uncomfortable stage? Practice!! Everyone should be comfortable with their own 1 minute commercial on what they do. Do you have a 1 minute intro for strangers? If not it's time to make one. Just pretend you are explaining what you do to family and friends. What do you tell them? There is a good chance it can easily become a 1 minute infomercial for your potential clients. Another way to get a 1 minute infomercial is to use your company mission statement and add what your function is to that. "We bring communications to business at a reasonable price with excellent customer satisfaction. Are you happy with BELL? Would you be interested in knowing more about what we can SAVE you"? When you end a question with a YES, you will have an easier time converting that potential client into a valued client. Practice this until it sounds like a natural conversation, not a script. I will end this with some useful ways to make cold calling enjoyable and some opening lines for awkward situations. 1. Get used to speaking with strangers, on the subway, in the street, in an elevator, wherever you go, get used to engaging strangers in conversation. You never know who you will meet. 2. Try hard to enjoy the meet and greet, the more you enjoy it the easier it gets. 3. In the forefront of you mind you must always be cognizant of the salespersons reality; you are in a numbers game! The more people you engage the more clients you will meet. 4. Try to understand what is important to your clients, you don't have to know the intricacies' of their business, but you should understand the fundamentals of how they make money. Then you can address how you can help. 5. Read as much as you can about your clients industry, to better understand a wider range of issues that relate to them specifically. This will have 2 effects on you; the client will be impressed that you actually know his industry and you will have a common knowledge base to discuss issues besides the one you are trying to solve. The client will be that much warmer to you when they understand that you have value as a sounding board, as well as a problem solver. Opening lines that make me people smile in awkward situations. In an elevator: "The way we all stare at those numbers changing is like they hold the key to the universe"! "I guess everyone is wondering why I called this meeting" "These numbers get more of our attention than the lottery" In a line up for coffee: "In some countries this would be every man for himself" "I love lining up instead of bringing a coffee with me, its just so humbling" "Everyone ahead of me said they would pay for mine" "Can anyone change a thousand dollar bill"? On public transit: "It's a good thing we aren't Japanese or we would be lining up in order" "AH, the smell of diesel fuel. It always reminds me of just missing the bus" "With this many people staring at the floor, I guess lost dimes don’t have a chance" "The way everyone sways at the same time is almost like we get together and practice" "Imagine if everyone broke out into a song right now, the way they do in movies" "When you can make strangers smile, even for an instant, it will make you remarkable"! MFMCDOUGALL 2011 Enjoy meeting new people and they will enjoy meeting you, there is nothing COLD about that! . Embracing The Cold Call 5 Easy Ways To Love COLD CALLING Michael F. McDougall A.I.M.A. C.C. Published by Michael F. McDougall. salespeople; Frigid, Waste of Time, Not worth the Negativism. Much of the attitude has to do with the fact that the word Cold is unappealing, add to this the number of rejections and you have a situation. warms you up to a cold call? There is a good chance that this "warming factor" works for thousands of others as well. Why should salespeople "Embrace" cold calls? Simply