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As you present your offer from a mindset of giving, your stress will diminish. You are just trying to help, but if the person on the other end of the phone does not choose to take advantage of your offer, it is okay. For some, cold calling stress builds just before they pick up the phone. It is the anticipation of feeling like you are on the spot. Your breath feels restricted and your mouth goes dry. What if you cannot speak when someone answers the phone?
Before you pick up the phone, do a visualization exercise to reduce that stress so you can make your calls confidently. Picture yourself making the call. Imagine you look and sound confident on the phone. Envision yourself talking smoothly through your script and stopping to answer questions when appropriate without fear of losing the attention of the person on the other end.
Visualize a successful call to reduce your stress, and then begin making your cold calls. Preparation is an important tool in sales of any kind. Actually, it may be more important to prepare for a cold call than an in-person meeting. You should not only know your script and understand your pitch, but you should know the product or service you are selling very well. Engagement is a sign of interest and could lead to success. If the person on the other end of the phone asks you questions and you do not answer confidently, you could lose that potential sale.
Study your materials before picking up the phone. Anticipate potential questions and prepare answers to those. You want to invite engagement, and that will go better if you are confident in your knowledge and able to answer any questions that come up. How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Feeling nervous about cold calling has to do with being self-conscious and insecure. The key to perfecting your act is to practice until it feels natural. Start with a mirror.
Read your script in front of a mirror and see if you look confident. At first, you will probably look as nervous as you feel. Most people are not used to seeing themselves as they go about daily activities. Keep practicing in front of that mirror until you look and sound comfortable. Try using a recorder or a video to capture your performance, and then play it back for yourself and critique.
In your practice sessions, try different poses and alternative timing. What happens if you pause after the third sentence — does that feel more natural? Try it and see.
Switch up your examples or your references until you find ones that sound the most natural. If there are certain words you struggle to pronounce, try to rework your script with alternatives. It may seem unnecessary since the person on the other end of the phone cannot see you, but body language is important in cold calling. People can hear stress in your voice, and it undermines your confidence and credibility. A smile will help you feel and sound more relaxed. Smiling reduces stress, even if you have to force the smile onto your face.
Try standing when you make your cold calls to give you a feeling of authority. If you make calls while sitting at a desk, sit up straight with both feet on the floor. This is a powerful position that will keep you balanced and feeling confident. Everything is easier when you tackle it with a buddy. Cold calling might be a solitary task, but you can use a picture of a friend or a loved one to get you in the right frame of mind.
Looking at a picture of someone you love can reduce stress and will make you happy. Placing those cold calls with a smile on your face can make them more effective. One problem with cold calling is that you are speaking to a stranger. With a picture of your friend or loved one, you can talk to the picture.
If you must cold call to build your business, here's how to do it right. if you're determined to "dial for dollars," here are the secrets from two true. Cold calling just may be the most commonly overlooked powerhouse for you to grow your business. Here are 7 cold calling secrets to help you.
By imagining you are talking to a friendly face, you will be more relaxed and be perceived as friendly by the person on the other end of the phone. Cold calling will always produce more rejection than success. If you can get comfortable with that, your stress will dissipate. It will take some practice, but you can learn to embrace the rejection. The rejection is about your offer, not you as a person.
Try tracking your calls by the number of rejections you get instead of the number of successful calls you make. You might be surprised at how many successful calls you end up with. Accept that cold calling is hard and comes with a lot of rejection. So I would start by asking, "Are you grappling with issues around your sales team chasing prospects who lead them on without any intention of buying? So, come up with two or three specific core problems that your product or service solves. Avoid generic problem phrases like "cut costs" or "increase revenue.
Let's return to the goal of a cold call, which is to create a two-way dialogue engaging prospects in a conversation. This new cold calling approach is designed to engage people in a natural conversation. The kind you might have with a friend. This lets you both of you decide whether it's worth your time to pursue the conversation further. The key here is never to assume beforehand that your prospect should buy what you have to offer, even if they're a percent fit with the profile of the "perfect customer.
If you go into the call with that assumption, prospects will pick up on it and The Wall will go up, no matter how sincere you are. For one thing, you have no idea whether prospects can buy what you have because you know nothing about their priorities, their decisionmaking process, their budget, etc. If you assume that you're going to sell them something on that first call, you're setting yourself up for failure. That's the core problem with traditional old-style cold calling. Stay focused on opening a dialogue and determining if it makes sense to continue the conversation.
Once you know what problems you solve, you also know exactly what to say when you make a call. You begin with, "Hi, my name is Ari. Maybe you can help me out for a moment. Probably, "Sure, how can I help you? It's a natural reaction. The thing is, when you ask for help, you're also telling the truth because you don't have any idea whether you can help them or not. That's why this new approach is based on honesty and truthfulness. That's why you're in a very good place to begin with. When they reply, "Sure, how can I help you? Instead, you go right into talking about the core problem to find out whether it's a problem for the prospect.
The purpose of my question is to open the conversation and develop enough trust so they'll feel comfortable having a conversation. The old way of cold calling advises asking lots of questions to learn about the prospect's business and to "connect. They know that you have an ulterior motive, and then you're right back up against The Wall.
These ideas may be hard for you to apply to your own situation at first because trying to leverage calls based on what we know about our solution is so engrained in our thinking. If you stay with it, though, you can learn to step out of your own solution and convert it into a problem that you can articulate using your prospects' language. And that's the secret of building trust on calls.
It's the missing link in the whole process of cold calling. For example, "enthusiasm" can send the message that you're assuming that what you have is the right fit for the prospect. That can send pressure over the phone to your prospect. You must be able to engage people in a natural conversation.
Think of it as calling a friend.
Let your voice be natural, calm, relaxed…easy-going. Andrea Sitting-Rolf and Wendy Weiss. If selling your product requires a face-to-face meeting, the goal of the cold call will be to set up that meeting.
Envision yourself talking smoothly through your script and stopping to answer questions when appropriate without fear of losing the attention of the person on the other end. One of the secrets that I was taught is to think to yourself that each cold call is an opportunity to make a new connection and have a good conversation. That leaves a lot of room for improvement. Simply increase the number of people you show a written proposal to and you will close more deals. You had an awesome discovery call. This is an area that's been ignored in the world of selling.
Similarly, if your company's sales process launches with a trial usage of a product, then your goal is to get the prospect to accept the free trial. Your cold call is more likely to be successful if you know something about the prospect, your prospect's company and industry, and the "hot buttons" that will cause that prospect to consider taking the action. As I explained in a previous post about cold calling , plan out ahead of time what you're going to say if you get through or get into voice mail.
If the former, ask permission before you speak.
If the latter, simply say "I'll be brief. Rehearsal transforms the scripted conversation into a more natural dialog. Work with a colleague until you internalize the rhythm of the call.
Then your statements and questions flow more naturally. Approach the call as if you have information and perspective that the prospect truly needs. Emphasize in your own mind that you can contribute to both the success of the prospect and the success of the prospect's business. If your offering truly has value, you're doing the prospect a favor by giving him or her the opportunity to talk with you.