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In my opinion, the secret to making good cold calls is to ASK PERMISSION
TO
SPEAK. So many telemarketers call us at home or work and launch into
what
they have to say without thinking we might be in the middle of something
important. If someone is busy and you begin speaking, the person you
are
calling will not pay attention to what you have to say unless you ask
permission to speak before opening up with what you have to say.
If someone is busy, offer to call back at a different time and then
make a
phone appointment. Explain you would prefer to call them back when
it is
convenient for them to talk.
Be prepared to quickly explain the purpose of your call. First, you
are
interested in the answers to two questions as you seek to understand
through
the collection and analysis of information, how a prospect does business.
Here is an example.
"The reason I am calling is two fold. "
"One is to find out WHO is responsible for acquiring your product or
service;"
"Secondly, to find out if you can be of service to that person."
You will find the Understanding Comes Before Selling methodology is
a common
theme throughout my upcoming book "Phone TlPs for Success - The Polite
Way
to Increase Your Sales Over the Phone." One of the most successful
principles or guidelines to this systematic view is to ask permmission
to
speak right up front. Do not be afraid you will lose the opportunity.
Plenty of people will speak with you if you are polite and ask permission
to
speak first and then explain who you are and who you represent and
the
purpose of your call which is to find out the answers to the two questions
above. Notice this you are NOT selling. You are simply seeking information
to UNDERSTAND how a prospect 's company does business and to see if
you can
assist in the improvement of their ability to conduct business. There
is no
need to speak with people who do not want to speak to you. Why?
1. There are a ton of leads to call. Find the ones who will give you
permission to speak.
2. If you handle the call correctly, you will be able to reschedule
the call
at time when they have given you permission to call.
Here are a couple of examples of openers that I use:
"Hi my name is [insert your first and last name] and I'm calling on
behalf
of [insert your company name]." "Do you have a minute to speak with
me?"
Alternatively, "Am I catching you at a busy spot?" The answer will
immediately let you know if you can proceed or not. If the he says
yes,
prepare to give the reasons for your call. If she says no, then make
a phone
appointment to speak at a more convenient time.
Typically, before agreeing to a phone appointment, he will ask you what
is
the reason for your call. The person being called is trying to determine
"What's In It For Me?" also known as WHIIFM. Before setting an appointment,
most people need to determine whether it is a good use of their time
to
speak with you.
People who call others unexpectedly can be heard as an interruption.
It is
important to remember if someone is busy and you try to speak with
him or
her, they will not listen to what you have to say. You will be heard
as
"just another annoying telemarketer or telesalesperson. "
In contrast, if you ask permission to speak, you will gain a much better
result, since you are showing respect for the time and circumstances
of the
person you are calling. This is especially important if you are calling
upon
a high level executive.
Keep in mind, high level executives are people. There is nothing to
fear
when speaking with them. The truth is you will find many high level
executives will speak with you for at least a minute to find out the
reason
for your call. By asking permission to speak before relaying the reason
of
your call, you will find more people are receptive to what you have
top say.
Prepare in advance to succinctly relay the purpose of your call. Do
not
deviate from your calling objective which is to locate WHO is responsible
for acquiring your products and services and secondly, to find out
how you
can be of service to the prospect's company.
Prepare to ask these questions many times and you will find out all
different sources of information from various people throughout a prospect's
company. This is known as being Polite, Yet Respectfully, Persistent
(PYRP).
To employ PYRP, plan to call in multiple directions (top, bottom, side,
and
angle) into a prospect's company. Ask for different departments, business
units or locations.
Ask each person the same questions (WHO is responsible? and How can
I be of
service?). If they do not know the answer ask, "What do you do?" or
what are
you responsible for? Childlike curiosity goes a long way over the phone,
however you need to get in the habit of asking questions and waiting
for
answers.
Certain people, when time is permissible, like to speak about themselves
and
their jobs. In fact, their job is to educate you about their company.
The
first and most logical place you can call is the purchasing department.
Why?
People who work in purchasing must buy products and services to justify
their jobs.
Other excellent departments to call include, sales, marketing, investor
relations and the computer room (if you are offering hardware or software).
These are 15 steps to cold calling success.
1. Have a call objective before you pickup the phone,
2. Know the purpose of your call,
3. Call in a direction (company operator, purchasing, sales, CEO's
assistant, etc.)
4. Ask permission to speak, 5. Wait patiently for permission,
6. Relay the purpose of your call - WHO is responsible for acquiring
[insert
your product or service]?
7. After finding out who the decision maker is, ask the person who provided
the information "Would be so kind as to switch you to the [insert the
decision maker's name]."
8. Again knowing your call objective and purpose, 9. Ask permission
to
speak, 10. Wait patiently for permission,
11. Ask if you can assist in the improvement of their ability to conduct
business using your product or service.
12. Ask questions by use "The Planning Process" to understand:
* Where is the prospect now?
* Where do they want to be?
* How do they plan to get there?
* What action(s) need to be taken?
13. Ask about business, operational and financial issues. If both the
prospect and you agree there is a real or potential problem, need or
challenge, then inquire about the evaluation and decision making processes.
14. Set up a "Sales Map" (similar to a road map that provides directions,
a
sales map provides a list of action steps for a sale to take place
including
directions).
15. Agree on what steps will be taken by each person to entertain a
possible
answer or solution.
Here are some great questions to ask:
* Is there a current evaluation taking place?
* What are the evaluation criteria?
* What other types of answers or solutions are being considered and by whom?
* Are competitors being considered?
* By what timeframe do you need to have a solution in place?
* Is there a budget set aside if your product or service does provide
the
answer to their challenge (not pain, pain is physical, businesses experience
needs, problems and challenges).
After you employ your questioning and listening skills, assemble and
analyze
the information, you have. Your goal is to understand how a prospects
does
business and whether you can be of service in assisting them in a variation
of doing business better, faster or cheaper.
Finally you can remove your information hat and don your sales hat.
It is
time for the presentation. Assuming you and your prospect both agree
you
have the best answer or solution at a reasonable figure, the final
Agreement
and the beginning of a new relationship will take place.
Copyright, 1999, Ron S. LaVine, The Intellworks. Reprinted with permission
from Ron LaVine's "Sales llPs for Success Free Email Newsletter." To
subscribe, http://www.intellworks.com/, or mailto:tips@intellworks.com
with
"add" in the subject line, or call 800-975-1724.