How to overcome the fear of cold calling.

The thought of cold calling strikes fear in the hearts of many salespeople. What methods do you use to overcome the fear of cold calling?

I ask myself what's the worst that can happen. If the prospect doesn't want to talk or doesn't want what I'm selling I can still get some value from the call maybe in experience or new information.

I do my cold calls together at the same time. I tell myself that the first couple are for warming up and they don't count - unless I get the appointment.

Originally Posted by Jeff Blackwell The thought of cold calling strikes fear in the hearts of many salespeople. What methods do you use to overcome the fear of cold calling?

"Just Do It"

Great topic. I'm actually writing an article on this very topic right now.

Cold calling isn't much fun since we are essentially interrupting people who know where to find our service if they really need it.

I have learned to take a different approach to my cold calls to make them more enjoyable, and still get results. No one likes to be pushed into buying anything, especially from someone they have just met or have heard from for the first time.

The key is to have a paradigm shift of the whole call. Throw manipulation and "techniques" out of the window, and just take care of people. They won't necessarily care, those precious few who are having a really bad day, but for the others it makes a difference.

Bring value to the table beyond your basic offering. For instance, I sell business telephone systems, but I have consistently run across the need for clients and non clients alike to sell their old telephone systems. I am not in that business, but it didn't take me long to put together something of value for clients who are not necessarily ready for my service right now. I have made it easy to liquidate their old systems by providing a way for them to submit their bids to multiple vendors at the same time.

I took myself out of the way as a middle man, and let them go right to the source. They appreciate stuff like that, and are more likely to want to deal with someone who is willing to throw some skin in the game as far as investing in the relationship. If you give without any thought of giving back, doens't that by the very nature of how we are make you want to deal with that person over a stranger? It does for me.

Maybe your conversation over the phone goes something like this:

Mr. Prospect, Jody at the front desk sent me to you because she thought you might be able to help me. Can I ask you a quick question?

(People love to help, and this is an easy "yes" question)

Part of what my company does is show companies like yours how to lower overhead and reduce costs/increase profits by implementing "products like mine" (Whatever they may be?)

If your company were to look into such a project in the next 12 months, do you know who I might speak with?

This is very important, and any threat of an immediate sales pitch is now gone with your 12 months comment. If in fact you have been sent to the wrong person, they will happily send you to the right person or inform you of who they are. No fancy footwork, no razzle dazzle, no high pressure, just good old fashion manners and taking care of people. Treating them like you might want to be treated.

I often use phrases like "will it hit your top ten list in the next 12 months?" We have to understand people are busy, and if and when they are ready, we need to be one of those options. Rough tactics with the one call close mentality will burn more bridges than create opportunity. Of course, that has to do with the type of sale I have and the type of transaction I do. I do not have a one call close in most cases.

So I ask these questions:

What value do you bring to the table besides WIIFM attitude?
Are you presenting your product or service using the words they need to hear? (reduce overhead, increase profits, etc)
Are you treating them well over the phone?

If those things happen, cold calling becomes much less of a headache emotionally that you must prepare for. It becomes a necessary discipline to complete your job function. That we can all handle.

[/end rant]

I was painfully shy as a kid all the way up to my mid twenties. When I got into sales I could always sell well once I was in front of a prospect, but the actually prospecting was tough.

Over the years I realized that it was my false perceptions related to selling that created the fear, and I personally found self-hypnosis to be the most effective way out of the problem.

I've been selling wholesale mortgage loans for years now, and I can tell you that cold calling on mortgage brokers is my favorite selling activity.

Sometimes an office will ask me to do an "on the spot" presentation to 20 or more loan officers and it's not a problem. I love it!

Hope this helps someone.

If you have any questions on self-hypnosis send me a PM.

To your continued success in selling!

TD

Action Cures Fear

Three pieces of advice;

(1) the term COLD CALLING is extremely negative. It is the word COLD, it adds extra negatives to something that can be tough enough already. What one letter can you change to make it more positive? Try the first C, change it to G and you have Gold Calling® - which is the point of calling, to get GOLD!

Starting today, never utter the phrase COLD CALLING again, never let fellow sales staff call it that, in a fun light hearted way correct them. Offer to do a short bit at a sales meeting, simple paraphrase my paragraph above. And absolutely NEVER think the phrase, always think Gold Calling®.

This is a registered trademark but you are hereby allowed to use it in self talk and communication with other sales people. Any written use is certainly fine as long as you credit me, Steven Burke for it's ownership.

(2) Practice your opening line(s) or General Benefit Statement(s) with a friend, significant other or out loud to a mirror (if you live alone). Do them so you can do them naturally, almost as if in your sleep, certainly without reading from a script. This practice will give you confidence when you begin and finally connect with a LIVE one.

(3) On the way to work one a day when you plan to start with Gold Calling® make sure you listen to a CD about how to do it or practice your scripts again. This is a muscle and memory recall l exercise and its importance cannot be overstated because it may take you quite some time to get a LIVE one online and you want to be sharp when you do. NEVER blow a call again!

If you keep doing these three things you will begin to master the use of the phone. I can highly recommend the book Gold Calling®, which was written by myself and my father, Mr Peter Burke.

IM me for that but those three pieces of advice aught to help.

And, by the way, never ask the "front desk" for advice on who to talk to. First of all, in most medium to large companies the reception does not also answer the phone. Second, they don't know!

The majority of decisions are made at the top. And if you get delegated by the CEO or the President (Managing Director in the UK) or their Private Assistant you will and up with the real cheese buyer ... listen to me, I could write a whole thread on this topic alone. You will be far more effective if you can just remember this phrase;

"Top down works, bottom up doesn't!"

Steven and Ike, after speaking with each of you today it appears there has been some miscommunication in this thread so I've removed a few of the posts. Thank you both for your participation.

This concept is one that the great majority of people do not relate to. All your life you have heard that PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Beginning with sports, through school and even from post graduate exposure to that information that impregnates habits in your brain with indelible ink, such as what we garner from writers and trainers.

I would hereby propose to resolve a different realty; "Practice does not make perfect", as the original common saying is really quite misleading as far as motivational statements go.

No where is this more important to understand this than in the sales profession. We can say that "what does not kill us makes us stronger" or that "experience eliminates fear", but for some this is really not true.

Fumbling with HOW TO use the phone no matter how often that is practiced with most sales people does not produce excellent results. Is the answer to become a more friendly sales person or to learn as a professional what motivates people and hone your skills on uncovering that quickly - in the few seconds on the phone that you have - so you can conclude a greater percentage of calls successfully?

Here is the new premise;

ONLY PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!

Does a MLB player eliminate a NERVOUS HITCH in his batting swing by practicing it over and over? No, absolutely not. Therefore practice does not make perfect.

Does a sales person get better results in any sales practice by practicing what is not as effective repeatedly? No, again, practice of that which is ineffective cannot magically make you the opposite (or more effective). Proof positive! Practice does not make perfect.

When I look back the only fear that I can recall is not knowing what to do ... and experience is only a portion of the solution. Gathering information about what is effective from the great professionals that came before us is the other portion. Tom Hopkins, J. Douglas Edwards, Peter Burke - these sales people are phenomenal at training. Doug was a closer, Peter a great opener ... Tom is an Edwards trainee (both men knew Doug) ... of course, there are others. But, beleive me, I put my stock not in those who preach that the world is different but in those who made a fortune through sales practices, not just writing books!

That way instead of practicing a HITCH you can have a SWEET SWING. find out what the sweet swing is from those who have honed their swing and consistently batted over 300 throughout their careers. Then make it your own.

Remember, if you want to succeed, you must ask the person in the prospective company you called on that is most affected by a decision if the benefits of what you offer are of interest ... don't ask those subordinates (for a lot of reasons). As lame as this short paragraph is in getting this point across, it is the most important thing you will ever learn about being effective in the sales practice we might choose to call The Art of Telephone Prospecting (what I choose to call Gold Calling®).

Also - change your self talk. COLD CALLING is a terrible phrase. it absolutely DOES affect you whether you realize it or not. If you do not like Gold Calling® then use Telephone Prospecting instead.