Pick Up The Phone And Make Money

I saw an amazing image from a sales team this week which really made me smile. It was a telephone on someone's desk with a note taped to it reading...

"Pick me up I make you money"

I couldn't think of a smarter or more entertaining way of putting it!

Now there is no shortage of debate within the sales industry arguing whether cold calling is dead, dying or immortal. Some people think it will last forever, some think it died years ago. Personally I do believe it won't last forever, however what I know for a FACT is that right now it is still a very powerful sales tool.

As the note quite rightly claims, "Pick me up I make you money"!

Cold calling still works, having phone conversations still work, chasing people on the phone STILL WORKS!

Too many sales opportunities are missed or lost because sales people are quite simply too SCARED to pick up the phone. That's the brutal truth of it, I would argue that the majority of sales people who don't pick up the phone are unfortunately just too scared to do so.

Does that mean that you DON'T want to make money? Surely if you were really driven, really motivated to make money you wouldn't let a little old thing like a phone conversation get in the way?

Are you really going to let that fear block you from earning ￡10's, ￡100's or ￡1000's (or $$$)??!

If you find yourself procrastinating every time you should be calling, if you find yourself sending more emails and waiting for replies, if you find yourself struggling to hit target, there is one simple solution.....

PICK.....THE.....PHONE.....UP!

If you're scared, if you're not confident, if you're not experienced, then overcome that. The fear will often come from lack of experience and confidence, unfortunately the only way you're going to gain those is from MAKING CALLS!

Here are my top tips to help overcome the fear and become AWESOME at making cold calls:

1 - Have a script or have noted guidelines to help structure your calls. This will help you giude the call and provide a bit of a safety net for you if the call goes a little off track.

2 - Know exactly why you're calling and what you want to get from the call. Keep reminding yourself about how amazing your product is and how many people it has helped before. That call is to simply try and help someone else!

3 - Don't put pressure on yourself or your prospect. Take away the pressure of the call, don't sit there thinking about your targets or KPI's, just think about how you can help the person on the other end of that call.

4 - Practice, practice and then practice some more! The more calls you make, the better you'll get, the more confident you'll get and the more you'll enjoy it!

5 - Know your motivation. Is it the money you could earn from the sale? The car you really want? The holiday, watch, shoes, clothes? The promotion? Think about that on each call you make, that's your driver, that's what will push you to make each call and work hard on each call.

Remember each call you make could be the BIGGEST deal of your career!

Each time you pick up the phone and dial that number you could be speaking to someone who REALLY wants your product!

Don't let fear get in the way...

Don't let lack of confidence stop you...

Don't let lack of experience weigh you down...

Pick up the phone and go make some money!