Cold-calling from the heart

Calling on decision makers takes a lot of heart.

You need the courage to pick up your phone and interrupt a busy person’s day.  And you need the heart to make a solid connection with the decision maker who, in turn, will give his or her cooperation in your acquisition of valuable marketing information. This market intelligence will provide the kind of knowledge that determines which decision makers are worth pursuing for new business, and increase your personal successes.

So, how do you get past the fear of rejection and the worry about wasting an important person’s time?  Try investing a few valuable minutes of your own in relaxing and visualizing your success. The following one-minute relaxation practice, called the Quick Coherence® Technique, is taught by Kathy Basel, holistic wellness coach and co-founder of Ideal Health Partners.

Kathy says “It’s easy to get stuck in your mind when cold-calling. You become focused on your own agenda.  But the best way to come across authentically is to connect from the heart level with the people on the other end of your call, beginning with the receptionist.  This will immediately set you apart from all the other sales people who are cold calling, and, more importantly, put you in a relaxed state where you can actively listen and learn from what is being said.  In short, you get into a rhythm athletes call “the zone.”

Here is the easy three-step process:

Step 1: Focus – Focus your attention on the space around your heart, right in the center of your chest.  You may even want to put your hand on your heart to help you focus here.

Step 2: Breathe — Inhale deeply but normally and feel as if your breath is passing directly in and out through your heart area. Breathe with ease until you find a natural inner rhythm that feels comfortable and good to you.

Step 3: Feel — As you maintain your heart focus and heart breathing, think of a time when you had a positive feeling, something that really made you feel good inside.  It might be playing with the kids, walking in nature, a warm hug from a loved one.  Do your best to completely activate this feeling in your body again until you smile.

Now you’re ready to pick up that phone and know that energetically your smile can be felt on the other side of the call. It’s remarkable. You’ll notice right away how people respond differently to you.

This process works well because it is based in research by an organization called the Institute of HeartMath (http://www.heartmath.org), a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to help establish heart-based living and global coherence by inspiring people to connect with the intelligence and guidance of their own heart. IHM’s research has shown that the heart’s electrical field is about 100 times stronger than the brain’s, and the heart’s magnetic field is about 5,000 times stronger than the magnetic field of the brain.

Physiologically what happens as you breathe into this space is that you create balance in your thoughts and emotions. You achieve a neutral, poised state for clear thinking and authentic connection with others. The heart continuously pumps and generates a rhythm in your body, which influences the brain processes that control your nervous system, cognitive function, and emotions. More coherent heart rhythms allow you to access your higher intelligence. This improves your focus, creativity, intuition and higher-level decision-making. When you’re in heart-rhythm coherence, you perform at your best. You feel confident, positive, focused and calm, yet energized.

Now a simple cold call needn’t be a stress point, but the true opportunity it is meant to be. And Quick Coherence benefits go well beyond cold calling. When you regularly use this health technique, you’ll lessen the negative effects of daily frustrations, irritations, anxiety or stress–improving your overall health.

In short, cold call from the heart for a healthier, happier you.

For more information on HeartMath and Quick Coherence techniques, please contact Kathy Basel at www.kathybasel.com.