Title: 
Make Fewer Cold Calls and Get Better Results

Word Count:
717

Summary:
The old-school sales gurus teach the essentially the same approach. "Focus on closing the sale. Keep pushing forward. Persuading and coaxing has always been considered a normal and necessary part of cold calling.


Keywords:
cold call, cold calling, sales training, phone selling, phone prospecting, sales prospecting, sales scripts, telesales, telemarketing, mortgage selling, mortgage cold calling, insurance sales


Article Body:
<p>Cold calling, the old way, has to be the most painful form of sales work you can experience. There’s a lot of rejection, fear, and deflated hopes.</p>

<p>But there’s a new way to make cold calling as pleasant and relaxed as picking up the phone and talking to a friend. Just follow these steps, and your cold calls can become an enjoyable part of your day.</p>

<p>1. Rip Up Your Sales Script and Start a Conversation</p>

<p>If you’ve been selling for a while, you’ve probably used a sales script. Perhaps using a script is the only way you know to start a cold call.</p>

<p>But people can almost always tell when you're reading from a script, even if you think you’re pretty good at it. There's just nothing personal about it, and people pick up on that.</p>

<p>A script isn’t a conversation. It’s a linear process designed to move the other person toward a sale. You’re not having a real dialogue when you’re using a script. So nothing is "real" about the whole encounter.</p>

<p>A conversation, on the other hand, is a living, breathing relationship. You’re two real people, talking normally and naturally.</p>

<p>So when you’re just being yourself, the other person’s walls can come down. Because you’re not coming at them with one-way sales strategy. So your cold calls typically last longer. You’ll make fewer calls, and have better results.</p>

<p>2. From "Dreaded Salesperson" to Trusted Advisor</p>

<p>The old cold calling strategies teach you to polarize the roles of buyer and seller. You’re trying to coax "prospects" into buying your product. You’re not thinking about their world – their budget, problems, or time constraints. You’ve been taught to think about the sale.</p>

<p>Well, suppose you were to focus instead on the things that matter to the other person. For example, their problems. What if you were to become a problem solver?</p>

<p>That’s exactly the place you want to be when making your cold calls. Imagine approaching someone with the idea of finding out whether you can help solve a problem. Imagine the kind of attitude this would convey to the other person.</p>

<p>You’re no longer trying to persuade. You’re not even thinking about the sale. You’re thinking about whether you can help someone solve a problem. You’re relaxed, comfortable, and authentic.</p>

<p>When you make your cold calls this way, you’ll find that others will engage you more. And you’ll also be able to really enjoy what you’re doing.</p>

<p>3. Gain the Respect You Deserve – Stop Pushing and Chasing</p>

<p>The old-school sales gurus teach the essentially the same approach. "Focus on closing the sale. Keep pushing forward. Overcome objections. Your job is to turn every no into a yes."</p>

<p>Persuading and coaxing has always been considered a normal and necessary part of cold calling. But it’s rooted in a kind of macho selling image. If you don't keep pushing, it means you're giving up. So you keep trying to move things forward, and you keep "chasing" with follow-up calls.</p>

<p>Even when your focus is on solving a problem for the other person, you can be coaxing and cajoling. But if you do this, how can you become the trusted advisor I spoke about earlier?</p>

<p>It’s really simple. Just let go of your attachment to the sale. When you do this, you can relax into being the professional that you are.</p>

<p>When you stop focusing on getting the sale, you can become a trusted resource. You’re no longer chasing, pushing, and cajoling. You’re helping. And that makes a world of difference in how people respond to you.</p>

<p>Follow these guidelines, and cold calling can become surprisingly enjoyable. You’ll find yourself spending much more time with each person. You’ll also see more positive results, whether or not a sale unfolds. Others will tend to respond to you more graciously. And your whole cold calling experience can become a pleasant one.</p>