Before we get started it is extremely important to know the very meaning of “Cold Calling” and I’ll explain why. Cold Calling means ‘to make an unsolicited visit or telephone call to a person in an attempt to sell goods or services’.
It is crucial that you understand EXACTLY what it is you are doing in order to be able to prepare for it. This is an unsolicited call, meaning ‘Not looked for or requested’, so what sort or amount of information you give the prospect is vital to either success or failure of your call.
Quite often over the years, while training either my sales guys or other companies, I have been asked things like ‘Do you want my job?’ or ‘How did you remember that?’
Like everything else that works time and time again, there is a formula and a system you need to recognise and understand in order to succeed.
Here’s how to get past the gatekeeper
Once you pass the gatekeeper (the receptionist) and you are talking to the decision maker, we simply follow a 3 step system:
- Value Assertion
What are our values?
This is your message to the market – your internal and external strengths. For example: talk about your product turn around time. Talk about your operations and how you manage your clients in an effective manner. You can also talk about the software system you might use to manage your clients to show efficiency.
Let your customers know what steps and processes you have built in your business to handle their needs or other hiccups along the way.
- Unique Fears and Concerns
This section forms the focal point of this system as it uncovers possible concerns. Therefore, allowing us to prepare a solution also forces us to think on an emotional level.
‘What could be going on in the prospects mind?’
- Asking Leading Questions
Leading Questions are questions so worded as to suggest the proper or desired answer. In this part we use a set of leading, unique and intellectual questions to expose fears and concerns of the prospect.
We then link these uncovered fears and concerns to the Value Assertion, effectively relieving the prospect of their concerns by showing them how we overcome their concerns through the effective systems, processes and resources we both have access to and are ready to execute.
For example:
Mr. X. I imagine quality is an issue for you correct?
When the prospect says yes, then you tie that concern to your Value Assertion by explaining the steps the company takes to ensure a 5 star service.
- ‘We overcome this by pairing you with the best designers who are qualified…
- We have a flow through system which effectively tracks each step of your business with us to ensure its success’, give examples…
The purpose here is not for any sales person to regurgitate this at all. You need to really understand your Value Assertion. This is thoroughly understood in higher management as they communicate more frequently with different departments, being Customer Service, Sales, Distribution or Design etc.
If you don’t do these then you’ll go by script and all your focus will shift on just giving information out without even considering whether or not the information you are providing is relevant.
What I’d like to point out is the myth that great sales people use “gift of the gab” or they use “magic language”.
This is simply not true.
Successful sales people simply more often are confident because of the amount of success they achieve.
Understand your Value Assertion and really explore EVERY concern you think the customer might have before you even speak to them and finally prepare your questions.