17 May 09 Cold Calling: How to?

In the last article on cold calling we discussed about the efficacy of cold calling techniques, and when we can use it. In this article, we will discuss about the structure of a cold call. Indeed, given the brevity of time that we get in a cold call, we need to structuralize the communication we have in order to create interest. You can consider using the following structure while making the cold call. These are the crucial steps that must be followed while making a cold call.

1. Begin with telling your name and company’s name, and do it as succinctly as you can.

2. Use this brief moment to gain access to more time, may be 45-50 seconds more. This can only be done, if you address the client’s problem in one single line. You got me right. You will need to do some research before making the cold call. No blind cold calls please!

3. Once you got the time you asked for, get directly to the point and build the case, so that you can get a chance to have a face to face meeting.

4. Give some detail about the problem you seek to address and hide some details. The idea is to build curiosity.

5. Let the client take the lead. Your objective is to get to the meeting table, not to practice the one-upmanship.

6. No one likes pushy sales person, so hang up if the person is not interested.

Tags: Address, Brevity, Cold Call, Cold Calling Techniques, Cold Calls, Communication, Curiosity, Efficacy, Face To Face, Meeting Table, Objective, Sales Person, Single Line, Take The Lead

Filed in Sales, Sales Resources with 0 Comments

17 May 09 Cold Calling: Is It Worth the Effort?

Yes, if it’s done right then it is worth the effort. Cold calling is one of the most cost effective and widely used lead generation techniques. Indeed, there are many much more effective ways of lead generation, but the utility of cold calling cannot be ignored. If you are running tight on budget, cold calling can help you getting your foot in the door, and from there you can begin your elevator pitch. Cold calling can be more effective than any other means of communication in the following three situations:

Introduction: There are situations in which cold calling is more effective than any other technique. If you are new in the market, and you want the clientele to take notice of you then you can consider using the cold calling techniques. Unlike introductory e-mails, a call to one of your prospective clients will buy you at least 10-15 seconds before they hang up. Use these 10-15 seconds to introduce your business, and if the call continues ask for 45-50 more seconds to discuss the things in detail. Use the time allotted to you very wisely. You do not need to supply all the essential detail in this 45-50-second time, just power pack the allotted time with an objective to fix a meeting by building interest in the services or products you are offering.

Database Tuning: A reply is not guaranteed when you send an e-mail to a random person from your database. The chances of your e-mail landing directly into trash bin are quite high, but when you make a call the person on the other end has to reply with either a yes or no; at time, people may be rude and just hung up the phone, nonetheless, you got the answer you were seeking. Use it to clean up the garbage from your database.

Sales Qualification: Use cold calling to see if your prospect is in the frame of mind to receive your salesperson or not. Given the complexity of sales life and the demand put on the organization’s resources (time, money and effort) cold calling can save hundreds to hundred thousands of dollars. This of course depends upon the size of your organization and resources you allot to prospecting and lead generation.

Be pushy and you lose the customer. This is guaranteed. No one likes pushy salesperson. Can you think of any more way in which we can use cold calling effectively? Write into the comment box below your inputs and suggestions. In the next article on cold calling, I will be giving a framework for a typical cold call.

Tags: Clientele, Cold Calling Techniques, Complexity, Database Sales, E Mail, Elevator Pitch, Frame Of Mind, Garbage, Generation Techniques, Hundred Thousand, Lead Generation, Means Of Communication, Objective, Prospective Clients, Random Person, Reply, Salesperson, Second Time, Time Money, Trash Bin

Filed in Sales, Sales Resources with 0 Comments

22 Apr 09 10 Everyday Sales Mistakes to Avoid (Part – II)

As we discussed in the first part, a friend of mine from X-Paper (codified name of the only organization I worked for) was not very successful in selling the ad space despite his glittering MBA degree from a reputed institution, whereas, my bosses, most of whom had just plain vanilla graduate degrees, made a killing out of it. This article will tell you why?

But before going deep into it, let’s figure out the mistake my friend was making. The methods he was employing to woo clients was creating a layer in front of his eyes, which he named professionalism, and the layer was so thick that it hardly let anything other than the works requirements, issues and problems pass through it. Whenever a client started speaking about other things, the salesperson would either shut their mind away from the question, or at worst they will try to cut the discussion short. Anything other than business related problems were prevented to enter seller’s mind.

To a pair of untrained eyes, it looks like utter professionalism: work at the time of work, no small talks, but to a mind that is well-trained in the working of human psychology this step will look utter nonsense. As a human, neither we are capable of, nor can we compartmentalize our thinking, every day we find ourselves sandwiched between our professional requirements, and familial demand. In the context of human relations with his surrounding, this is normal, and everything else is not. My friend did not understand that he was not dealing with a machine made up of blood vessels and synaptic nodes, so pure ruthless professionalism would not fetch any result, instead it would put off the person on the other side of the table.

In the recent time, the scene has changed a lot. People leaving in the post 9/11 world are no longer looking for stark professionalism. Now unlike the 80s, the speech or interaction devoid of emotion is no longer considered the epitome of professionalism. These days, people are looking for human touch in everything they do, as the societal fabric is getting torn and tattered. They want to deal with someone who is empathetic towards their needs, desires, goal and aspirations, so what if it is personal. The dividing line between the work life and personal life is blurring. Every salesperson need to understand that the person on the other side of the table is as human as he or she is, so providing them an audience when they need is not a waste of one’s time, rather it will help the salesperson develop a strong bond with the buyer that will last longer, as the connection is on human level.

As we have discussed the problem one can have if any transaction is devoid of basic human emotion. Now, it is time to talk about 10 everyday sales mistakes that you can avoid while dealing with clients.

Focusing more on the hard data and giving less consideration to soft skills.
Focusing too much on the strength and sporting an ostrich-like attitude on weaknesses, (if you cannot see it, it hasn’t vanished, so burying your head in the sand will not work).
Constant jabbering and not listening to client.
Continue to sell even after client is sold to the product, idea or services.
No follow-ups
Not sweating on doing the required background research for the client
Too self-conceit to ask for referral
Not reading the psychological and behavioral cues let out by client.
No knowledge of where to pull the plug and ask for order
Not enough knowledge about the products and the services you are selling.

Tags: 80s, Ad Space, Blood Vessels, Emotion, Epitome, Graduate Degrees, Human Psychology, Human Relations, Interaction, Mba Degree, Mistake, Plain Vanilla, Professional Requirements, Professionalism, Salesperson, Untrained Eyes, Utter Nonsense

Filed in Sales, Sales Resources with 0 Comments

17 May 09 Cold Calling: How to?

17 May 09 Cold Calling: Is It Worth the Effort?

22 Apr 09 10 Everyday Sales Mistakes to Avoid (Part – II)

Translator

Recent Posts

IT List Favorites

Categories

Gossimer Press Releases

Gossimer Promotions and Announcements