How To Warm Up a Cold Call

While explaining something, in order to simplify the lesson, I usually make an analogy or use a story in a different context. With that said, I’m going to explain, using a story, how your customers view cold calls. I believe that we as human beings sometimes forget to take other people’s perceptions into consideration, and a cold call makes this very clear.

Think of this scenario:
You’re walking into your local electronics store, a new branch they’ve just opened at the mall. As soon as you walk in the door, you’re greeted by a gentleman with a massive insincere or “fake” smile. His name tag reads Mike!

Mike the “fake smiling sales guy” welcomes you by saying “Welcome to ELECTRONICS STORE. Will your purchase be cash or charge?”

Surprised, you simply say “I’m just here to look around, thanks.”

Mike replies with “Awesome, good to have you here. Should I hold on to your credit card while you’re walking around?”

As you can see, all that matters at this electronics store is how much you’re going to spend. It’s all about that moolah, closing sales!

My point is this, you have to make sure that your opening question/statement doesn’t make you sound like Mike up there. You don’t want to sound intrusive and aggressive! Why you ask? Because the relationship with the decision maker is brand spanking new, you don’t want to sound pushy or like you’re trying to get into his or her wallet. The perception you want to give is that you are there to be helpful and/or informative. If you jump in and start asking questions that dig into what he or she is buying or is planning on buying, you’ll push that prospect away.

Again, I can’t emphasize this enough. You cannot ignore your prospect’s perspective of you! You have to care how he or she sees your call. Being perceived as an interruption or annoyance will not only kill your numbers, but also result in them asking you not to call them again. Focus on creating relationships, like you would when you make new friends.

The chances of  getting questions answered go way up when you actually take the time to do your research on the business or person. That opening question or statement is crucial for the development of the initial perspective. For example:

“I noticed you landed a new account with XYZ Company, that must be very exciting!”

“Have you seen a big slump in your sales since the Real Estate market exploded?”

“We are using a similar water filtration system over here, how is it working out for you?”

Generating leads is completely different than making sales. The purpose of generating leads is to make sure the person or business you’re talking to is a good candidate for your products or services. Most sales professionals forget that their lead might not be in the market for what you’re selling right now, but when that lead is in the market, you’ll have a leg up on the competition. Never ever ask for the sale, unless your relationship is solid. Otherwise that work will be wasted.

For success to follow you, you need to leave your stinky sales coat at home. The secret to sales is simple, don’t sell. You can’t sell anything to anyone, until you know how you can help them. In order to know how you can help them, you need to be close enough to the person for them to tell you what they need. It’s all about trust and friendships, people with people. Don’t just look at the numbers and sales figures, remember that you have to make friends first.