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Top 12 rules for cold-calling success
Gary Harvey //October 17, 2012//
One thing I always say in my training sessions is, “Salespeople will not look for places to be rejected.” No wonder so many are averse to cold-calling. They also might see it as an exercise in futility if they do not apply some rules that help make cold-calling more successful. Maybe these can help.
1. 70/30 Rule: You talk 30 percent and listen 70 percent because you can’t learn anything when you’re talking. By the way, no salesperson ever “listened their way out of a sale.”
2. 3 x 9 Rule: Make three new calls by 9:00 a.m. every day and watch your sales increase.
3. The last call has no bearing on the next call. Forget it and move on.
4. Accept the fact you’ll hear no’s. Some will, some won’t – so what? So move on.
5. Maintain a positive attitude (you are a “10” inside and no one can impact that unless you let them)
6. Separate your identity /self –worth from your cold-calling role. Calling is just a “role,” and that’s all it is.
7. Learn from each “no” and each call.
8. When dialing, stand up. Sitting shrugged over at a desk, making those dreaded calls, impacts your diaphragm and therefore impacts your tonality negatively.
9. Make your opening count (again, tonality matters). It’s not always what you say, but how you say it.
10. Get before you give. Make sure you are in the habit of getting information before you give it. Too much giving information also means you’re not listening.
11. Uncover your prospect’s compelling (emotional) reason why they buy, and I can assure you it’s not the intellectual feature and benefit style you have been taught to pitch. People buy emotionally, and they justify it intellectually.
12. Don’t sound like a traditional salesperson. No need to explain more here. We all know what that sounds like.
