Breaking the Ice

Hi all,

I've recently gotten a job as a marketer/web developer for a small company here in Australia, and even though I've worked in Direct Marketing before, there are still a few issues I'm having with over-the-phone sales.

My job is to find people interested in getting a website done, book them a meeting and then try to sell them a site. At this point in time, the important thing is getting the meetings, I can work on selling later. It's a numbers game at the moment.

However, the main issue I'm having is breaking the ice with people. I used to be a Kirby Salesman, and my front talk with customers was pretty impeccable, however I had a larger amount of time with those customers. Over the phone I have anywhere between five and ten seconds to break the ice and get talking. It seems as if I'm not getting them to open up properly, then launching into website talk and having them just shut me down completely. With some of my "preferred" customers, getting them to open up is a lot easier, so all I really have to do is start talking and they'll follow.

Doesn't work with the toughies

I was wondering, what are some good ways of making the customer feel more comfortable, and in as short a period of time as possible?

Thanks,

Andaluz

Out of all the possible suspects how do you choose who to call on?

We have a list of clients who we deal with on a regular basis, else its www.yellowpages.com.au. I tend to hit the retail sectors, since I seem to have a bit more success there.

You're blanket cold calling? That's tough.

What would you need to know before you would consider calling on a more targeted list of prospects?

Ultimately, whether or not they can afford it. All I really have to do over the phone is organize a 20 minute meeting, which isn't in reality all that hard to do.

The only thing I'm having trouble getting around is the telemarketer stereotyping. As I said, I'm not a telemarketer but business owners don't seem to be too willing to do that :P.

It's very much a numbers game, at the moment I'm calling 20 people and getting 2 or 3 appointments, when I'd very much rather be calling 20 people and getting 10-15 appointments (so would my employer, at that )

2:20 call to appointment ratio on untargeted cold calling isn't half bad. Although I suspect the appointment to closed deal ratio would be considerably lower with these types of prospects.

Is there anything you could be doing to avoid being stereotyped?

2-3 set appointments out of 20 cold calls is fantastic!

If your boss expects 10-15 out of 20 he/she is out of their mind and obviously never picked up the phone before.

My advice to you is stop thinking about whether or not they can afford it and go in with the enthusiastic attitude of "they can't afford not to spend time with you".

It's all about your attitude. End of story.

PS. In response to your "Doesn't work with the toughies"

The simple and most productive answer is "Next"

Bottom line... You can't sell everybody. Get this out of your head.

Have fun with what you do and I guarantee your appointments and income will at least double.

Hmmm... good call. Well thanks for that guys. Actually I've done well for myself today, three booked appointments out of 10 cold-calls (face to face) and two sold websites

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andaluz

Hmmm... good call. Well thanks for that guys. Actually I've done well for myself today, three booked appointments out of 10 cold-calls (face to face) and two sold websites

Right on

Breaking the Ice

Cold Calling Forum