Some say that activity fixes all problems in sales, and I’m not sure that it fixes everything, but I am sure that the more quality activity you have, the better chances you will have for success. If your activity is down for whatever reason, you have less opportunity to close a deal.
The telephone is how most of us make contact and fill our calendar (I have a whole training seminar centered around making appointments and telemarketing). If you’ve got a hang-up about cold calling, setting appointments, or anything related, you are missing out. In the age of emails, voice mail, texting, the personal contact is important and you can communicate so much more over the phone than you can convey electronically.
In most cases, when you are calling a decision maker, you have only seconds to get their interest and attention. And some of the best sales people I have seen are sorely lacking in this skill. Many focus on other areas, like closing, the details of the process, identifying customer needs. If you hone this skill, you will be able to get into more clients, with less effort.
1. Before you pick up the phone: Ever had a bad solicitation? I have and it is painful. Prepare what you are going to say before you pick up the phone. I normally write out a few bullet points relevant to the prospect or client I am calling on.
Another thing; what is your attitude? Do you complain about having to sit down and make calls? Or do you mentally dread the idea of calling someone and then getting hung up on or rejected. Well that’s part of the business. When I have received bad solicitation the thing I remember the most is that the person on the other end of the phone sounded like they were not into what they were doing and they were being forced to make this call to me. Maybe you sound that way at times. You should be excited to get your target prospects on the phone and be lively and excited about what you can do for them. Believe me, they can tell if you are excited about what you do (a few C-level executives have told me after I sold them). Most football games are decided before the players take the field because of the practice, discipline and mental belief system of the players.
2. Introduce yourself: This may sound basic, but you should clearly, and enthusiastically say your name and the company you represent. If you are not proud of who you work for, maybe it’s time to move on. They should be thanking you for calling them.
3. Grab their attention: This is where you review your bullet points, state them (Do not ramble) and move on to the next step. Give 3 or 4 reasons he should listen. If you are feeling really confident, you can do what I do and use a little humor relevant to them, usually something about the weather, or how busy they are, etc. Make them laugh if you can.
4. Ask for the appointment: After all of this, ask for the appointment and shut up.
How it all works. Let me give you and example of how this works together:
Mr. CFO, I’m ________ with ABC company, Are you staying cool in this heat? … Seriously, the purpose for my call today, is that I am working with 2 other companies just like yours and we have been able to affect their bottom line by a significant amount by implementing a few simple systems we offer. I am not sure if it would be a fit for you, but I would like a few minutes next Tuesday to tell you how we helped them. Would that work for you? (Shut up)
You will want to tailor to your business and style, but once you have a framework you can adapt and you will gain confidence and make more appointments.
To your success
Respect the Torch!
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