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Cold Calling 101
 

rothyman's picture
HF
(King Kong, 1,163
 
Points)
 on 11/2/12 at 10:30pm
11731941-cold-calling-blues.jpg

Whether you're trying to land a position, sell a product, or simply network with others, learning the art of selling should be a vital part of your learning in any profession.

The most effective way to do all of the above is to learn the art of selling yourself. While there are many aspects to selling yourself, there are two core skills that all salespeople master.

A) Cold Calling
B) The Face to Face Sale

Cold Calling
Mastering cold calling opens you up to a whole new world. It allows you to efficiently obtain information and move your career forward in an efficient amount of time without having to wait for an email response that may never happen.

1) The key to a good sales person over the phone is someone who A) can appeal to the person on the other end of the line in under 10 seconds and B) asks the important questions that reveal 'the pain'.

'The Pain' is the reason you're calling these individuals. They have a pain and the whole point of the sales process is to reveal this pain so you can 'fix' them with your product. Good sales people have people 'bleeding all over the floor' within minutes. Why? Because they ask pointed questions which lead them to the source.

2) Being able to separate a 'feature' from a 'benefit' is key

People don't care about all the features your product offers. What they care about is the benefits. 'Saves you money' 'Reduces your costs' 'Saves you time'. These are all benefits. They can learn about all the features when they take the meeting.

3) STAY on the phone.

The worse thing you can do is hang up because you don't know what to say. Get in the habit of answering a question with another question.

"What can you offer me?"
"Well what are you looking for?"

When someone hangs up on you rudely, call them back and say "sorry, I think we got disconnected..". This is how you build balls to cold call. Repetition and staying on the phone.

4) Stop talking yourself out of the the sale

The biggest sign of a bad sales person is one that talks about themselves/their product for minutes on end without asking any questions. Remember, pointed questions help you find your victim's pain in the fastest, most efficient way.

Learn to be shut the fuck up. Awkward silence is good. For instance, maybe you ask a very bold question that takes the person on the other end of the line by surprise. This happens a lot when trying to schedule..

"How's this week for you?"
"I'm not free for another month or so.. not a good time."
"Oh okay, another month.. so into May? How's May 23?"
[Awkward Silence]

"Fine. May 23"

5) The main goal of a cold call is to obtain a meeting

95% of the time, sales are not made over the phone. Sales is a sequence of 'yeses' leading to the final yes (the close).

Series of 'Yeses'
a) Get someone to have a conversation over the phone with you - Yes #1
b) Have them admit that they could benefit from your product - Yes #2
c) Get them to agree to a meeting in person - Yes #3
d) Meet in person and gain their trust - Yes #4
e) Create a proposal and close the sale - Yes #5

And this is essentially how people successfully turn cold calls into sales.

More to come later on Face to Face Selling..

Tags:

Comments

blueslord2910's picture

Thanks! Will you have another

 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 2:59am

Thanks! Will you have another post on Face to Face too?

helpmepleasethx's picture

Great post, one of the best

(Gorilla, 524
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 8:42am

Great post, one of the best users on here, really appreciate the help with the resume a couple months back, SB to you

Anacott_CEO's picture

Very good points here. +1

CF
(King Kong, 1,259
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 8:43am

Very good points here. +1

MrDouche's picture

This is a good post, though I

EN
(Baboon, 117
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 9:17am

This is a good post, though I would add that on larger sales the key will be to not just provide consultative sales but to figure out how an organization's pieces fit together and to get those pieces to move together--an actual business advisor vs. a solution centered sale.

You learn that and you can hit the $20MM gross margin quota at several BB's/MBB with a 10% payout, or figure out how to get a larger payout in different venues.

I rich, smarts, and totally in debt.

Walkerr's picture

Great post! Keep in min that

IB
(Gorilla, 570
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 10:12am

Great post!

Keep in min that winners never quit. It's about staying motivated and staying focussed on one goal: achieving you goal.

SC911's picture

you dig?

(Baboon, 118
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 10:50am

you dig?

rothyman's picture

blueslord2910: Thanks! Will

HF
(King Kong, 1,163
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 11:08pm
blueslord2910:

Thanks! Will you have another post on Face to Face too?

Yeah, should have time to do that this weekend

rothyman's picture

MrDouche: This is a good

HF
(King Kong, 1,163
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 11:15pm
MrDouche:

This is a good post, though I would add that on larger sales the key will be to not just provide consultative sales but to figure out how an organization's pieces fit together and to get those pieces to move together--an actual business advisor vs. a solution centered sale.

You learn that and you can hit the $20MM gross margin quota at several BB's/MBB with a 10% payout, or figure out how to get a larger payout in different venues.

Right.

When you grow your sales territory, it's your job as a sales manager to make your work as effortless as possible. Great salespeople do this by building lead sources who they pass leads to occasionally, and occasionally get them back in return. However when you build maybe 50 - 100 lead sources (people passing you leads), occasionally becomes every day. As long as you keep sending leads one way down the street to good sales people, they should send them back your way. We call that a 2 way street.

Once you learn the ins and outs of your client's and lead source's business, your success has no limits. You learn how you can help one person, to help another, who will help you directly in the end (and so on). I'd like to go more in-depth on this in a later post this weekend.. but great point mr. douche.

blueslord2910's picture

Appreciate it! SB

 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 11:21pm

Appreciate it! SB :D

rothyman:
blueslord2910:

Thanks! Will you have another post on Face to Face too?

Yeah, should have time to do that this weekend

ST Monkey's picture

Don't ever be afraid to ask

ST
(Orangutan, 314
 
Points)
 on 5/24/12 at 7:25pm

Don't ever be afraid to ask the prospect on why they ask you that question they just did. Asking them why will reveal much deeper intel that you need and be able to question the prospect on the implications the problems have and how your solution can help.

Never ever sell features, that's what marketing does to put on brochures.

eskimo941's picture

Good post and ST Monkey is

O
(Monkey, 48
 
Points)
 on 5/24/12 at 7:32pm

Good post and ST Monkey is right on, too.

Febreeze's picture

Never ask yes-no questions -

(King Kong, 1,151
 
Points)
 on 5/24/12 at 7:49pm

Never ask yes-no questions - that's how you stay on the phone.

RIP WSO Chat.

rothyman's picture

ST Monkey: Don't ever be

HF
(King Kong, 1,163
 
Points)
 on 5/24/12 at 9:49pm
ST Monkey:

Don't ever be afraid to ask the prospect on why they ask you that question they just did. Asking them why will reveal much deeper intel that you need and be able to question the prospect on the implications the problems have and how your solution can help.

Never ever sell features, that's what marketing does to put on brochures.

Exactly. Leave no stone unturned.

A typical push back from people over the phone is 'send me an email with what you do and why you're so special and I'll contact you if necessary.'

My response to this is, "Okay. I will. But what is necessary to you?"

"Oh okay, so why is that necessary?"

Understand that you can't help an individual unless you know their situation. It's like going in for an interview and not knowing what positions they are hiring for. What is YOUR need?

"Oh okay, I see now. Yes, I can definitely help you with that. I'm actually so confident I can help you with that, I will let you try it for 30 days and you can tell me what you think." (Some bosses give you leeway like this)

All about asking questions..

Edmundo Braverman's picture

This is some old school

ST
(Human, 14,368
 
Points)
 on 5/25/12 at 10:29am

This is some old school boiler room shit right here. Nicely done, Rothyman. +1

BTbanker's picture

RECOOO !

IB
 
Points)
 on 5/25/12 at 10:02pm

RECOOO !

"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan

ram15's picture

Nice post rothyman,

IB
 
Points)
 on 5/25/12 at 10:21pm
captainkoolaid's picture

never pitch the bitch

HF
(Gorilla, 598
 
Points)
 on 5/26/12 at 12:32am
Hans's picture

Rothyman this was a very well

 
Points)
 on 5/26/12 at 8:51pm

Life is short. Find what you want, and take it.

rothyman's picture

Hans: Rothyman this was a

HF
(King Kong, 1,163
 
Points)
 on 5/27/12 at 12:17am
blueslord2910's picture

rothyman: Hans: Rothyman

 
Points)
 on 5/27/12 at 1:08am
Johnny Ringo's picture

Dont Pitch the Bitch

HF
 
Points)
 on 5/29/12 at 11:16am

Eventus stultorum magister.

njh's picture

rothyman: Awkward silence is

CF
(Chimp, 4
 
Points)
 on 11/2/12 at 1:03pm
ucmaroon47's picture

Very well said, nice job

PE
 
Points)
 on 11/2/12 at 2:10pm

And so it goes

WalMartShopper's picture

if they reject you, take

 
Points)
 on 11/2/12 at 11:04pm

If the glove don't fit, you must acquit!

thepman's picture

Very relevant, not only to

ST
(Monkey, 57
 
Points)
 on 11/2/12 at 11:41pm
BAlexander's picture

Great post, very informing.

CF
(Chimp, 12
 
Points)
 on 11/3/12 at 2:03am
Lao Bai's picture

+1 Homey. Good stuff.

EN
 
Points)
 on 11/3/12 at 8:19am
afaf4af34fys4h45h45h4's picture

+1 good stuff

(Monkey, 35
 
Points)
 on 11/3/12 at 9:18am
huanleshalemei's picture

rothyman: More to come later

(Gorilla, 518
 
Points)
 on 11/3/12 at 12:31pm

The Auto Show

Whiskey5's picture

rothyman: Whether you're

IB
(Gorilla, 704
 
Points)
 on 11/3/12 at 9:34pm
notatroll's picture

Cold Calling 101: Put

 
Points)
 on 11/3/12 at 10:48pm
rothyman's picture

notatroll: Cold Calling

HF
(King Kong, 1,163
 
Points)
 on 11/4/12 at 5:49pm
Astrogation's picture

Always Be Closing

 
Points)
 on 11/6/12 at 12:35am

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