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Key Talking Points for Cold Calling and Business Development
Posted 7/20/10
1. Cold calling is a thankless job that not everyone is cut out to do.. Be sure that when you decide on a cold calling program that you understand what is doable and realistic and what isn’t. For example, cold calling is like looking for a needle in a haystack. There is a process to cold calling that s very similar to closing a deal.First, you have to get past the gatekeeper and voice mail which can take several calls or several weeks depending on the campaign you have (the smaller the program the longer it takes). Once you speak with the decision maker chances are they will want to see some written material. Sending a mass mailer to prospects is good but verifying the info before you send it is better. Once you’ve sent info then you should wait a week before following up. At this point we’re into week 2-3 . If you’re lucky to reach the person again then you need to ask 3 questions.A. Did you get it? To make sure the info was received.B. Have you read it? To ensure that they’ve at least looked at itC. What did you think about it? To open a discussion This method will start the ball rolling by engaging the prospect in a dialogue as opposed to a sales pitch. In other words you want to get inside the prospects head to determine their thought process and thus their buying intentions.2. Once you have the person on the phone you want to develop the need.Here’s where a lot of programs go off course. If there is no need for your product or service there is no appt.. Part of the reason that people hate telemarketers and sales people don’t like to use them is because there is a huge discrepancy in what cold calling can and can not accomplish. Think abut it this way. You can’t sell anyone anything unless there is a need. However most sales people expect the cold caller to “get the appt” or force it just so they can get in front of someone. Of course this backfires because once the sales person shows up for the meeting then the prospect has no interest in having a discussion. This is why it’s more important to have fewer appts that are developed as opposed to a lot of appts that go no where. 3. Ask probing questions to determine the need. In other words allow the prospect to tell you what their needs are (if there is one) and not why you think they should buy from you. Which leads me into my next point4.The job of the cold caller is not to sell your product if you’re only looking for appointment setting services. In other words if you’ve hired a cold caller to set appointments then there only job is to get your foot in the door with prospects that...A. Have a needB. Have a budgetC. Looking to make a buying decision within a reasonable amount of time 3- months -1 yearToo many sales people expect the cold caller to know everything about the product or service and try to sell the service for them. An appt is about developing the need and not about selling the product/service. That’s your job.4.Be sure to ask plenty of questions to determine the need. A key question to ask before the appt is. Will you be making a buying decision within the next 3-6months. The point is that you want to meet with those prospects that have a priority as opposed to someone who may not be doing anything for a 3-5 years.5. Sell from developing the need and not price or faster, cheaper, better. The point is that if you have a product that’s sold based on price chances are the prospect will be shopping for the best price and not based on cultivating a relationship with the broker. 6. Ask about problem areas. One way to hook the prospect is by asking about past dealings with others in your area. Have they had dealings with others in your industry? What was that experience like? If there was a problem area they will tell you because human nature dictates that prospects want two things when there is a problem. They want to complain tell someone about it and they want someone to help find a solution. 7. Be persistent and show consistency-Part of the problem with many sales and cold calling campaigns is that there is no follow up. The days of sending out a mass mailer and waiting for the phone to ring are over. It’s important to commit to both a sales, marketing and cold calling program fully or you’re simply wasting your time and money. The problem I see a lot in my consulting practice is that many sales people will begin a program but won’t follow up with results. In other words they will send e-mail make calls every couple of weeks but then not decide that there are more important things to do instead of making the calls. Whether you do it yourself or hire someone make sure that someone is following up. Don’t have time? Then be prepared to lose that potential business to the competitor working the same area.8. Never start a cold calling campaign with cold calls. Here’s the thing. Because they take time to develop, leads that have been previously developed should become a priority. After which you can factor in the new leads and develop them over time. If you don’t you’ll be spending many hours developing leads that could take weeks to turn into appts and sales. 9. Block out a minimum of 14 hours a week for effective cold calling every week. If you can’t commit to that simply make a plan of how much time EVERY week you CAN devote to it. The minute your cold calling stops is the minute your lead flow and sales stop cold.
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