Common Misconceptions with Cold Calls

By: Cade Lee

I posted Dr. Daoust's article that can be found here from Ezine Articles which is an excellent source for information. In this case I could not disagree more with Dr. Daoust, her article is what I commonly see from those that don't seem to have real experience or perhaps just enough experience to write an article. Please don't get me wrong, I am not tearing apart Dr. Daost's article. What I am saying is that her idea of cold calling is incorrect. In her article she states, "That you cannot yield very high results from cold calling and that you are only likely to gain ten percent of your business (at the most) from cold calling." If that were sincerely the case I would never encourage anyone to cold call, why bother? If that were the case I would focus my time on the other 90% and never pick up a phone ever again!

Here three things to do with your cold calling that will differentiate you from your competition or other cold calling salespeople.

#1. Do Not Ask the Receptionist or "Gatekeeper" for the "decision maker": Your first call to a company should never be to locate the decision maker. You will find this over time if you haven't already located them through the research you should have completed before making the call. You should always take the time to research the company and its key players before making the call. I understand that takes much time, but I would rather invest the time in the beginning and obtain the business versus making 1000 calls and wind up with 10 solid prospects.

Make certain to establish a relationship with the company, any relationship will work. If you can establish a relationship with receptionist and get a conversation going with her first, do it! He/she (doesn't have to be a she) is receiving calls all day from pompous sales people that are trying to trick her into letting them through to the "boss", so differentiate yourself by telling her what you are trying to achieve and be transparent. The sale might end right there, but at the end of the day you were honest not tricky and should you call back in the future she just might remember who you are.

At the end of the day, your job is the best job in the world! You get paid to make friends, just remember that not everyone wants to be your friend. By befriending the receptionist it will be much easier to talk with them in the future. Often times I was never able to reach the actual decision maker as the receptionist made the decision that they (the company) did not need or want my services, yet she referred me to a colleague she thought would!

#2. Ask Who They Currently Do Business With For Your Product or Service: Of course over time you want to learn this, but in the beginning, asking who their current provider is would be an easy way to kill the call. If they bring up your competition then of course discuss what they like about their current provider, what do they dislike? If they do not bring up your competition, then talk with them about setting an appointment. In the beginning your goal should be to set an appointment. These folks were not expecting your call, and so why should you expect that they would just be sitting around waiting for the call to begin with? Trying to "one call close" with cold calls is not efficient. Cold calling is the start of your relationship, it is simply a handshake. Sometimes it can work out to be immediate business, but that will happen organically without you ever asking usually.

By asking them who they currently do business with, they (the prospective customer) is usually put into a difficult or defensive position if they like their current provider. You do not want to do this in the cold call.

#3 make as Many Cold Calls as Humanly Possible: Probably the biggest problem with cold calling for any sales person is the fact that they usually feel uncomfortable with the process. They (the sales person) feel agitated or upset when they get called at home or at work from a sales person, so they almost feel guilty doing this to someone else. To get over this hesitation and anxiety, the best thing is to force your habit. Learning to cold call is just like learning to work out, you must make it a habit.

I have heard that it takes 30 days to make a habit, so if this is the case you will have to make as many calls as you can inside the first thirty days. This will differentiate you from the competition as they are not making cold calls, and if they do it is on the level of amateurs. Always, make the most calls. Every failure will bring you closer to a success, and the more failures you can obtain the more mistakes you can avoid in the future. By making the most calls in your sales organization you will develop a "phone personality" that cannot be duplicated and will easily differentiate you from your inexperienced competition.

With as much attrition as there is in sales, if you can stick through the first 30 days and make the most calls out of anyone in your organization, than you have already started a successful approach to successful cold calling.

Cold calling is a big topic, and there is much to know. I will continue a series of articles about cold calling, but as a starting point I think if you can master these first three key points you will be on the road to making cold calling much easier. Contrary to Dr. Daost's article about cold calling, I have developed 90% of my business through cold calling. Today I obtain most of my business through referrals, but that is not how I started out. I wished I had more time to cold call today. The accounts I have obtained through cold calling have always been much more rewarding (financially and emotionally) versus referrals.

Cade Lee is a guest writer on Denver Sales Training. He has over 15 years of experience in the sales field and has been a sales representative in Denver for several Fortune 500 Companies. Cade is an award winning Account Executive, and believes strongly in the mentorship strategy. Learn more about sales training in Denver, and Denver sales leadership.