Put your hand up if you hate cold calling

Picture the scene as you build up the courage to ring a prospect, a stranger who you think would make a great customer for your company. You have done your research, extensive research which has in reality took too long as you kept putting off ringing this prospect.

You take a deep breath and start to dial the number. Then suddenly you realise that you don’t know what to say and start to panic with thoughts running around your head hoping that they don’t answer. In your mind is the thought that if you ring and no one answers you have done enough and can claim that you have been cold calling.

But wait, oh shit, the phone at the end of the line starts ringing. There is no turning back and every muscle in your body is wanting to put the phone down and pretend this never happened.

The phone rings a few more times and you smile as you know now that it isn’t going to be answered. Then the realisation that it may go to voicemail and you don’t know what message to leave. “I hate cold calling” echoes around your head.

You take another deep breath and prepare to deliver your voicemail message then suddenly the phone stops ringing and time stands still as there is a silence. The silence can only mean one thing, oh crap someone has picked up the phone and is about to speak.

 “Hello Alan Smith” the voice booms confidently. A little voice replies from someone else as it doesn’t sound like yours as it is so quiet and nervous “Hello …” The call takes 30 seconds and somehow you get through it by mentioning your name, your company and your products.

The relief is amazing and you decide that cold calling is tough, you not very good at it and you are going to send emails out to prospects from now on.

The thing is cold calling on the phone is one activity that sales people universally hate doing however it is essential for the success of you the sales person and your company. Using the phone to generate leads is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to find new opportunities.

The problem is that it scares the hell out of us - we fear it more than anything we can imagine. We are uncomfortable and get embarrassed as we come out with negative thoughts and a strong fear of rejection. We make excuses not to do it as we have emails to send that no one is going to read, we have internal meetings to attend, reports to be completed , planning to be done for the next time we are supposed to be cold calling.

If your hand is still up because you hate cold calling I have some good news for you. You can improve your phone skills and have some great conversations with prospects that will start as opportunities then end up as orders.

You can fix your fear of cold calling by using the following three steps and a couple of tips. (I would like to thank all of my fellow sales people, managers and trainers for these three steps and confirm that they have helped me over the years to overcome my fear of cold calling)

Step One

Do your research on your ideal clients starting with

• finding the organisations that meet your criteria
• finding the name and number of the best contact

The best approach is getting an introduction into your prospect from one of your existing customers. A little tip here is that LinkedIn is fantastic for getting quality referrals. (Give us a call if you want a chat on the process to do this).

You now have a list of your prospects personal name, company name and number. You also have an idea of what the company does and how you may be able to help them.

Your research will have highlighted:

• What are the general problems and issues that companies are experiencing that you have been able to solve in the past/now?
• What are the general problems and issues in a specific sector?
• Any other relevant information on target companies/sectors.

Step Two

Prepare and plan your calls

Prepare a script for every potential type of call you will be making such as a referral script or a cold call script.

Although I am not a big fan of using and reading from a script I am a big fan of starting with a script so that it gives you a structure and a reminder of what you need to cover on the call.

However, it is good to start with a script but, why should you?

The answer is

• To know exactly what you are going to say in your opening statement to arouse interest so that you get into a conversation
• To have questions to identify issues and opportunities
• To have answers ready from their questions
• To know how to respond

You should also decide on a goal or goals for each call. They could be to

• Establish a need now or in the future
• Find the right person
• Make an appointment
• Get agreement when to call back

Your plan and my favourite action is to schedule one hour for my cold calls with thirty names on the list. It may be that I only speak to four or five people that are real genuine conversations.

Step Three

Get over your fear

Firstly, if you can find somewhere you can get a bit of space and away from distractions.

Then pick the phone up and dial. You have your script/guideline and just go ahead. You may be nervous for the first few calls before you get into your stride. What will surprise you is that if you stick at it you will start to enjoy it, well maybe not enjoy it but feel as though you are in control and doing some valuable sales work.

Tips

• Give yourself achievable targets that are relatively easy to hit. This will build up your confidence so that you can increase the number of calls you make.
• Also keep a record of your calls, how long you cold calling session lasted, how many you called, how many you spoke to, number of real conversations, number of meetings, number of opportunities, number of orders.
• Stand up during your call as for me it makes me feel more confident and stops me from hunching over your desk.
• Your voice should be clear, confident and loud enough to be heard but quiet enough to be listened to.

You can improve your phone skills and importantly generate new opportunities. Plan, prepare and pick up the phone and you might surprise yourself with your success.

I still remember my first ever successful cold call that ended up as a customer. He became a loyal customer for many years and today I still go for coffee with him to have a chat. That successful cold call was over thirty years ago and at the time I didn’t have the three steps or tips you have but I did have the balls to pick up the phone.

If you want to improve your phone skills we will be able to help you by giving you scripts and guidelines to start with and advance tips on recognising, handling and changing your words to fit in with your prospects personality.

Give me a call or connect with me and if I can help you I will certainly try.