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Cold Calling Cold Calling: Tips to Give Power to Your Scripts
What is wrong with this picture? Talented sales professionals use the same old tired cold calling script for predictably low to no results. Then, they go into a downward emotional spiral, begin to doubt their own amazing abilities, and in lieu of any good counsel to the contrary, conclude that cold calling doesn’t work - thereby depriving themselves of the most direct route to high-level decision makers. That is just plain wrong. In his book “Love is the Killer App” author Tim Sanders, Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo! articulates what we who sell know to be true, “Attention is one of the world’s scarcest resources and decision-maker attention is something companies are willing to spend billions of dollars to buy. Attention is money.” So if sales professionals know they should capture the attention of top decision-makers; and have evidence that they could do it with one phone call, then why oh why do we stick with a cold call prospecting script verbatim that continues to yield a low to no payoff? Actually, there is a payoff of sorts. The payoff is predictability and the feeling that we are doing something. And doing something is better than doing nothing. Right? Well, no. Frantic activity with little movement forward is just a lot of frantic activity. Better to think about each activity you engage in and then to keep doing what gives you desirable results; and let go of the activities with little yield. Top notch sales people know they are to speak "from" a script when making cold calls. These same sellers know that rookies and telemarketers "read" the script. What's the difference? Reading "from" a script gives the freedom you want along with the structure you need to maximize your cold calling effectiveness. A thoughtfully crafted script allows you to function throughout each call with laser- like focus; to pay keen attention to the realities of the call with your prospect; and allows you conversational flow that moves toward your advantage. To get through each cold call you must have a sense of connectedness with your prospect whether it is the executive assistant or the executives. You must be able to think about the impact of your words; what your prospect's words are telling you; and how to adjust your words accordingly. The more aware you become of the components of a cold call the better quality information you will have available to help you create a strategy and a process for dealing with subtle and not so subtle shifts in each conversation. You want structure so you can concentrate and leverage the opportunities at hand. Additionally, you want that structure to give you the freedom to think and the ability to make adjustments during each call. Eventually, you will build a high level of awareness of the details of your cold calls. This may even look easy and appear to be effortless to those around you. But it takes skill and concentration to maintain a crisp consciousness about what you are saying, what your prospect is saying, and what you need to say to keep a 90-second prospecting call on track for an appointment. ***** Forward this article to friends. They will thank you for it! For your mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit www.ColdCallingExecutives.com or call New Business Development Coach, Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time) (c) 2008 Leslie Buterin. All Rights Reserved.
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Leslie Buterin, founder Top Dog
Consulting |