My Biggest Challenge With Cold Calling
Doyle Slayton | Sep 27, 2009 | Comments 27
What is the biggest challenge you are currently facing when you are cold calling and prospecting over the phone?
Starting RIGHT NOW, I’m running a contest to help YOU improve your cold calling strategies and tactics!
What You’ll Win:
Win an hour long one-on-one “Cold Calling Superstar” session with me, Doyle Slayton, where I will determine the 5 things you can do to help overcome your challenges and immediately improve your cold calling results!
In addition, I will put together a customized cold-calling strategy just for you!
How to win:
Write a paragraph describing your biggest cold calling challenge. Post it on your blog, Facebook, twitter, or other social networking community with a link back to http://salesblogcast.com/2009/09/27/my-biggest-challenge-with-cold-calling/
2. Make sure you also post your paragraph in the comments section below this post!
Contest Rules:
I will review each comment and choose 3 winners on October 11, 2009. The winners will be selected based on how effectively you describe your cold calling challenge. I will contact you immediately via email to schedule your one-on-one session!
Good luck!
Doyle Slayton
SalesBlogcast.com
Check Out These Related Articles!
Filed Under: Blog • Fun-n-Stuff • Reader Questions • Sales
My biggest challenge is an old one and probably shared by many, and that is getting past the “gatekeeper” in those cases where I have no “ammunition”, such as eitrher a referral from a colleague of the target decision maker, or a clear understanding of those issues and challenges which most occupy the target client.
Congratulations! Your readers have submitted and voted for your blog at The Daily Reviewer. We compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 sales Blogs, and we are glad to let you know that your blog was included! You can see it at http://thedailyreviewer.com/top/sales
Cheers!
Angelina Mizaki
Selection Committee President
The Daily Reviewer
It’s just those first few minutes in either a direct conversation with the the contact or leaving a voicemail message. I think I’ve been “over trained” in the last year on what to say so now I feel brain-locked. For instance, should I leave a voicemail or not. There is advice on both sides.
I have found myself reverting to some tactics that I’m not proud of like trying to get 20 minutes to “interview them as an expert” for a column I write. I just have a block about being a sales person!
I’d really like to have a intro that grabs their attention and they want to continue the discussion. I sell myself so maybe this is a common problem, especially if you’re a southern woman!
Cold calling is something a lot of people avoid. It truly has to be part of a business development plan. I love this contest. I’ll promote it with my friends in sales and sales management!
The biggest challenge in cold-calling is grabbing your audience’s attention within the first 30-seconds. Too often it can sound like a canned or unplanned presentation. If the prospect is abrupt or busy, it can often lead to an awkward second of silence before you can react.
My biggest cold calling challenge is the script. I want to sound natural and not rehearsed, but I feel that I really need a track to run on for intro that grabs attention, overcomes objections and gets that appointment. Alot of times I get the appointment, but do not beleive that I have clearly gotten the prospect to sit up, take notice and be excitedly expecting our first meeting. I want to stand out – but as a health and life insurance broker, feel unsure about really how to craft the right script to do that.
Cold Calling
The Single Most Critical Success Practice:
Having a business dialog with a CEO or a key decision maker is all about the ‘HOW’ we talk to that individual. Our tone, pace, flow, is aimed to keep our conversations…conversational in tone and peer level in intonation. This allows our conversation to flow into a successful business to business discussion that compels a CEO and key decision maker to agree to a personal and private introductory meeting.
How We Get There:
Over the telephone there are two parts to gaining a successful agreement from a prospect willing to set a meeting. This first and most crucial is the ‘emotional’ agreement. We move the executive prospect to this agreement stage by ‘HOW’ we converse with them. Unless there is a hot red issue need , without the emotional connection he/she will not grant the request to come into his/her ‘C’ Suite (more about this below). The emotional agreement will open the door to allow the conversation flow to continue
The second part of the conversation is the ‘logical’ agreement. This is the part of the call when the prospects has dropped his/her guard and is now actually ‘hearing’ the ‘WHAT’ we have to say about the service offering being discussed. The prospect is making the logical determination based upon the validity of the offering and the needs and conditions of his/her business.
Once we make the connection from the emotional to the logical most often our conversation will result in a quality meeting opportunity for our client.
CEO’s and key decision makers conduct business and have business discussions with people that ‘sound’ like they do. They will invite people into their ‘Suite’ that they perceive that ‘sound’ like they do and ‘sound’ like the people they surround themselves with, such as other senior executives, key members of their team, customers and vendors. CEO’s and key decision makers have a keen ear for those types of people that resonate with them shoulder to shoulder, eye to eye.
How This Translates To Us:
We will achieve 80%-90% of our success based EXCLUSIVELY on the way in which we speak to our prospects. The ‘HOW’ we sound will translate to the prospect as either someone who is peer level or not. Someone he/she does business with on a regular basis. Peer level will satisfy the prospects’ emotional need to connect and then manifest into a conversation that flows easily. This conversation flows and has the give and take in such a way that the prospect will drop his/her ‘guard’ and actually listen to what we are offering.
10%-20% of our success will derive from the ‘WHAT’ we say. The ‘WHAT’; being defined as the precision worded statements that capture and convey the essence of our client’s service offerings, key differentiators, and quantitative results that are relevant to the prospects’ business. After we have established the ‘HOW’, we use the ‘WHAT’ to successfully close the meeting opportunity.
The prospect only hears the ‘WHAT’ after they have established in their own mind that we ‘sound’ like someone they are willing to listen to and have dropped their guard. If we fail to establish the critical emotional agreement and emotional connection, the prospect will wriggle off the hook and claim nine ways to Sunday why , “now is not the time, he/she is the wrong person, send them something ahead of time, they don’t have a need, they don’t use outside help, etc.” Our conversation ends and sometimes abruptly. However, for professional demand generation, lead generation individuals there is nothing more satisfying as when we connect with a CEO emotionally and logically and move that business discussion to a positive outcome.
Getting people on the phone. For a great blog post on call windows and phone stalking click here: http://www.vorsight.com/blog/2009/phone-stalking/index.html
My biggest challenge is voicemail, leaving the one that gets their attention to put the pieces of the puzzle together when I follow up with my marketing material and my second call confirming they received my information.
LinkedIn http://salesblogcast.com/2009/09/27/my-biggest-challenge-with-cold-calling/
The biggest challenge I face in cold calling is getting to see the person who can make a decision. I must develop a compelling enought 3p second intro to entice the front office person to pass me on or get me the right persons name. It is arduous task to send 2 or 3 hours CC and not getting any positive results.
I know this is not a question but I feel compelled to throw my two cents in anyway (sorry in advance). I think the main problem with cold calling and the inevitable voicemail message left is that most sales people think tactically and not strategically. A tactical person would call with some version of, “I’m Sam with XYZ to sell, call me if you need any XYZ’s.” While a strategic person might say, “I’m Rick and I help companies like yours lower the time and costs it takes to do (blank). I’ve read your web site and I’d like to get a better idea of how you’re performing (blank), and see if my team and I can be of some help.”
Granted that both examples I’ve given are terribly over-simplified but I think that they serve as an example of the different approaches. Sales people need to remember that people don’t want to be sold, others may not even be eager to buy, but everyone is interested in having their problems solved by someone they’re comfortable with and trust.
Approach cold calling as if you are asking to find out and later solve their problems and calling will no longer be a burden and can turn out to be fun. Also share stories and make it fun, if you enjoy the interaction so will you prospect, and that turns prospects to suspects and then into customers.
Doyle,
I love it when you say the CC words (cold calling). I have a new book on the subject that will be released in January called “Six-Figure Cold Calling.” Having once been a gatekeeper myself, I’ll share some insights into how they think. I’ve also cold called on behalf of some of the best known brands in the world including, SAP, Freighliner, and Salesforce.com.
Enough with the commercial. My biggest challenge in cold calling is dealing with the monotomy of it all. For the past five years I’ve done nothing but lead generation/appointment setting work (65-100 dials a day) and it drains the crap out of me.
I’ll post your challenge on my Facebook page.
Later,
Emanuel Carpenter
Author of “Dead Guys Don’t Buy”
http://www.cold-call-selling.com
Sorry about the typos. I was trying to work while typing.
I truly believe that cold calling is almost extinct.
There are too many effective marketing tools available at your fingertips today to promote yourself and your product.
If prospects aren’t contacting you as an authority- you shouldn’t make more cold calls, you just need to figure your marketing out.
Cold calling is DEAD- it’s gone the way of 8 Track Tapes and Record Players and Disco.
God I hope not. That means I’ll be out of a job soon. I’ve been working for lead generation companies, consulting firms, and individual companies for the past five years doing nothing but cold calling/lead generation/appointment setting. Most of the companies that hired us got a significant return on their investment. My current employer has seen over $2 million in revenue as a result of closing the qualified leads I provided. Plus I trained seven more people to do my job.
There are lead generation firms popping up all over the country. Doesn’t that mean cold calling is needed? This is especially true when organizations have salespeople who fear cold calling or are too busy managing accounts to make calls.
Small businesses don’t always have the budget for to advertise, and there is no guarantee of return either. At least with cold calling, you can begin to move the prosect along the sales cycle. Same goes for traveling to conferences, trade shows, and networking events.
The really smart business use their websites to capture leads, ask current happy customers for referrals, and get involved with associations that allow them to network with members.
Even with Web 2.0 and networking, you still have to pick up the phone and make a call.
I guess it all depends on what you sell and to what titles you sell.
I love comments like yours, it means that you and people who think like you have abandoned a large part of the market to those of us willing to do the work needed to fully succeed in sales rather than settle for left over’s.
The reality is that at any time only about 10% of your market is in play, i.e. those actively seeking “an authority” as you say. Bit what about the other 90%, what abuot all the potential buyers in that group?
But don’t you never mind about them, cold calling is dead, your phone will ring any second, really, just wait.
My biggest challenge in cold calling is my nerves. What happens if I say the wrong thing? I make sure to research the company I am calling ahead of time, and I know exactly what I am selling. I go into the call with confidence, and a positive attitude. The problem is that once I pick up that phone, I get really anxious and fumble my words. I know first impressions are everything, and sounding like a babbling monkey can’t possibly impress anyone!
I know exactly what you mean! Whether I am cold calling candidates or potential clients (I’m a recruiter) I often worry about the impression I am making. Researching the company as much as possible is a great idea (but don’t spend all of your time on research. You still have to pick up the phone!) Here’s something that helps me – you can’t live & die with each call. Just remember neither your career nor your commission check hinges on any one single call. If you have a bad call, hang up and dial the next number. Try not to dwell on the failed calls.
Besides, I’ll bet you sound better than you think you do.
The biggest challenge I face in cold calling is majorly confidence, and I know how to get that now. I think this will help others too: TO get that doze of confidence I use to ask question that can generate and interest, Also I ask before starting a discussion that is this the right time to talk to you.
I wholeheartedly agree with Emanuel – while technology has helped tremendously in targeting, identifying and ultimately “selling” C-Level Executives – you as a professional need to pick up the phone to compliment this technology.
A true “Hunter” can demonstrate his/her ROI based on the ability to walk into that cold call with passion, confidence and knowledge. Always, always add value with each call as referenced above. Know your audience. Tenacity IS VALUED by key Executives as this is what their expectation is of what their sales force should be doing. It’s all about passion, patience, knowledge and the confidence that you exude. It proves that you can communicate at their level understanding the organizations “pain” and consultatively addressing these issues as a solutions-provider.
Cold calling can be the hardest thing you ever do, however, it is also the most gratifying as the respect that you achieve, the on-going referrals and the ultimate success in closing a deal is priceless!
Joni Fisher, CSP
Fisher Search Group
The biggest challenge with cold calling and the reason most sales people stink at it is there unique selling proposition.
Most salespeople don’t have one. In fact, most salespeople have false data on what a unique selling proposition is. Most sales people are passing out platitudes and not powerful selling propositions. See Richard Harshaw’s book Monopolize Your Marketplace if you want to understand how to create real unique selling propositions. It’s a great read.
A real and powerful unique selling proposition is that absolute key to cold calling. Most of the time you will be leaving messages and it is that proposition that will generate interest and a call back. It is also that same proposition that will engage the prospect who does answer the phone.
Personally, my biggest challenge is chasing or seeming desparate. When someone seems uninterested in my solutions or is blowing me off, sometimes I will find myself getting desparate especially when it is getting late in the sales cycle. Although I know that someone is going to either be open to a discussion or they won’t be interested, it is difficult sometimes to stay in the confident, trusted advisor frame of mind.
Happy Selling!
Ben
I nearly live and die by cold-calling, and let’s face it, putting yourself on display for a stranger is no easy task! You can conduct all the prospecting you want, lead generating, etc…, but you still have to make that initial call to get the process started. I drive past potential accounts frequently and make a mental note to come back around and “stick my head in the door”.
I have tried many ways of getting the process started and the best way I have found so far is to not make any kind of sales pitch at the beginning, but ask for an appointment that allows them to prepare for you (and you for them). When I was a Freight manager, I hated having sales reps interrupt my day with a cold call, but if they only asked me for an appointment, I usually was able to find time for them in the next 7-10 days without too much trouble.
Ask them for an appointment and be ready to quote 2 different dates just in case they can’t make one of them, have your planner handy. I always try for an appointment between 9:30am and 11:30am and 2:00pm and 4:30pm. If you have your appointment made and you feel that the prospect has a fair demeanor, pull a “Columbo” ask “can I just ask you one more thing?”. Then make it a good one.
I do not mind cold calling. But my question is -How it differs from one market to the next. Being from a company that expects it to happen and our presence is global, is thre really one size fits all. Especially when our prospects are so diverse. The mindset is different in each market as well as the potential prospects. Couple that with the size of the calling area and it becomes an issue. I find of am often calling upon clients that have already heard from me -In a town with limited prospects…how can a cold call seem fresh?
WOW… great responses! I had a tough time choosing three winners. I narrowed it down to eight and then finally chose the champs!
And the winners are…
Mike Luttrell – Getting past the gatekeeper
Elissa Palmer – The script
Laura Abarca – Leaving effective voice mails
I will contact the winners via email to schedule your 1-on-1 Cold Calling Superstar session!
Sincerely,
Doyle
P.S. – Due to the amazing response, I’m not going to leave everyone else hanging. I will take all of the comments along with the information I get from the 1-on-1 sessions and will put together a webinar or training session that will help everyone improve their cold calling skills! Stay tuned
Looking forward to the update.
I have a question for the community. Most lead providers get their leads from online quote request and then they resell them like 4 or 5 times. I’ve been burned like this a few times already so my question is, how about telemarketing to generate insurance leads? I’ve heard good and bad things so if anyone has any feedback please let me know your thoughts before I spend even more money testing things out.