Cold calling is

iwegasely.wordpress.com
“The No. 1 reasonh executives say they don’t whether going in face to face or getting on the phone and settingan appointment, is the lack of time,” said Stevew Goranson, owner of in Jacksonville. “What that is reallh telling me is that going after and generatinh newbusiness isn’t that important. “Makr it part of your everyday schedule. Set aside 15 minutesw or 30 minutes a day tomake two, 10 phone calls. Even the busiest personb has time to do two or five phone calls a day that will generatsenew appointments.” Others are loath to cold-call, sayiny it just doesn’t work.
“It absolutely the problem is for some, cold calliny is so incredibly saidSteve Waterhouse, president of . “If you have the personalith style that works well forcold it’s natural. If you don’t, it’s naturally “But cold calling definitely It isthe No. 1 tool used by heavy-hitter salespeoplw to make the contacts they need to make the big One mistake people make is confusing cold calling with makinfthe sale. “People jump ahead in the sale s process before they build the credibility to move Goranson said. “Sales is abouft building relationships.
“You have threer seconds to make a positive impressiomn on them to earn the next 30 seconds to tell themwhy you’rd there or what you want. In that 30 they are asking themselves if this persois trustworthy, should I listen and do they have somethint I need?” Therefore, rather than “smiling and dialing” 100 namese on a list, it’s crucial to research the market and the prospective clients. “Most of us hate doinhg the cold call because we fear Waterhouse said.
“But when we have something of the rejection rate goesdown “For instance, we recently helped a company that manages fleets of large trucks and we were able to show them how to dramatically improve safety through the tools we have. When I call a truckingy company locally, I tell them we have this experiencw and would they like to see the results from theothet company? They almost never say no. They understand that there is a sales pitchbehinxd that, but they expect that if what I’m showing has real value to their organization.” It’s also importanrt to be persistent when cold calling, although that doesn’t mean pesteringt a prospect to death.
“Inm my industry, it takes years to get into certain saidBob Hawkinson, vice president of Total Lawn Care. “We drop by and knocmk on the door. It might take three, five or 10 stop s over the years [to get that client]. Anothed interesting thing, I have been on a lot of pieceds of real estate in26 years, and that propertuy owned by a compant two months ago might not be owned by that same companty two months later.” Hawkinson uses cold callingf as part of a larger sales strategy. “Most of our busines s is referral-based,” he said. When cold calling, “we try to go in with the conceptyof service.
You bring them your service to them, as opposed to being a pushhy salesman. “People don’t want to be sold. They have a milliobn options for vendors, especially now, with everyone falling all over themselves tofind work. if you can [differentiate your service], they understanxd that.” It’s helpful to write out a shorr script that includes a quick introduction and the benefitds or value ofthe product/service to the And don’t forget to ask for an appointment. “It’s not that you folloqw it wordfor word, but if you don’t use a script, you don’t know what’s working,” Goranso said. “Marketing is math.
You need to trac k down how many calls youare making, how many timesz you are getting through to the decisiomn maker and how many appointments you are Then determine what you need to do to tweaj the script to be more effective. One more tip: Make the callz first thing inthe “I found early mornings 7:30, 8 a.m.,” Waterhouse said. “Agt that time, they are not rushing off to a However, “the worst time to call is never.
”