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Master the foundation for cold calling success Sometimes the finest solutions are the simplest. Focusing on relationships when making cold calls is one of them. It keeps us genuine, and eliminates our dread of making cold calls. We’re real people talking about real things. We’re interested in the conversation, and it shows. Most of us dislike putting on our “salesperson persona” when we make cold calls. We think it’s needed, however, because we’ve been trained to make the sale. And yet we’re interacting with a live, breathing person without having any real connection to him or her. It often feels fake, and it often is. Photo Credit noeknit This artificial role puts a great stress on us, and sabotages our cold calling conversations. When we aren’t genuine, it’s a red flag to the other person that we have a sales agenda. This puts nearly everyone “on guard.” They’ve never met us and are wary of possibly being manipulated. Have you ever noticed that most cold calls break down the moment we try to “move” things along towards a sale? It’s as if we’re getting ready for battle, and the tension pushes us along. But the person we’ve called doesn’t know us. The momentum we’re trying to ...

For generations fears in cold calling have been overcome by simply pushing past them. There are several traditional methods that teach us that they are to be expecting and working past them is the best solution. However this solution doesn’t help the prospect feel more comfortable with the call and generally creates a lot of red-flags in the eyes of the prospect. Red-flags in cold calling are signs that the call is a sales call. Stereo-types of salesmen are not friendly and paint the average salesmen today as a cold and "out for themselves" type of person. When usually that is quite the contrary. However a few rotten apples can spoil it for other sales people and even an entire business. Determining what type of sales person you want to be is very important in the beginning. Some general red-flags are: 1. Scripted Calls 2. Dramatic voice "Overly Cheery or Enthusiastic" 3. Pushing the sales 4. By passing objections made by the prospects 5. Encouraging the conversation in a forward direction When we are trained in sales we are conditioned to acquire these characteristics. We are taught that the more calls you make the more sales you will get. The numbers game while it has been affective in ...

Does that title sound like a gimmick? It’s not. It’s about the numbers. If you truly want to double your sales, you simply need to double a key aspect of your sales performance, asserts Stephan Schiffman, sales trainer and prolific author, in his newest book, Sales Essentials (Adams Media, 2008). His advice is rooted in the theory that when you measure and focus on a certain area, you’ll see improvement in that area. Here, he says, are five ways you can double your sales:

It's the comment heard more often than not in sales. "I need more leads." is how most sales people excuse the lack of deals they have or the the explanation for what they need to grow their territories even more. Marketing can run all the campaings they want and you can spend hours searching the web for companies that have been missed by them, or you can do what I have done and sign up for a free email newsletter that send new leads right to your inbox. ProspectsDaily is a site anyone in sales should take a look at along with their parent site JustSell, they seem to have what every sales person needs. sales tips, motivation and additional leads. I was passed along the link several months back by a manager that I keep in contact with and immediately signed up for the newsletters they offer. Since BACN is the new industry term for email you want - But not right now, this falls with in that realm. Loaded with news and industry contacts, this site can give you a fresh set of leads that you would not normally find in LinkedIn or Hoovers. Where do you get the news reported on ...

By Nigel Edelshain, Sales 2.0 The sales profession has a problem with words. We use words too loosely - without agreed upon definitions. "Cold calling" is one of the classics. Does it work or not? Well the first problem is that one man's "cold calling" in not another man's. Some people define "cold calling" as any time you pick up a telephone to call someone you don't already know. Other people define "cold calling" as when you pick up the phone to call someone you don't know and you don't anything about them or their company. Today, the latter version of "cold calling" is dead -- or should be. But the former version is decidedly not dead. Our outsourced telesales business calls into prospects daily for our clients and generates $100,000's of new business that was not generated by other means (aka marketing techniques without using telephone-based selling). Or consider that MarketingSherpa found that 30-50% of buyers said that as a result of a "cold call" they took an action that benefited the caller (such as attending a webinar or adding the vendor to their consideration for a purchase). The bar for sales people has been raised. Ignorant cold calling -- dialing ...

I was looking for some additional sales tools that people can use and came across Accelerated Sales Training by Ron La Vine. He has a few free articles that can help sales people and sales managers get a kick start to their groups. He also makes blog posts one that I found interesting is called Actions sales reps should avoid. Sales reps should avoid asking too many questions in a row. Too many questions in a row are frustrating because the prospect doesn't know which question to answer first and the conversation becomes confusing real fast. Remember one question at a time, then STOP! You'll have plenty of time to ask more questions and the prospect won't be defensive since they are unable to answer multiple questions at once. Besides having a blog where he talks about acceleraating sales skills, he has written a few articles you may want to look at. Accelerated Sales Training has a slew of products to fit whatever you are looking for. The blog, special articles and even a CD series. If you like what's in his blog, sign up for his e-zine and get emails with new tips on a regular basis.

I've been looking for some not-so-mainstream blogs to read that have more information that I can use as well as allow for some additional insite to some future posts. I have found a few ranging from cold calling to time management and wanted to share. If you know of any blogs that go along with the theme of this site that may like a reference in future posts, let me know by leaving a comment. A great post called Cold feet for cold calling Ways to increase website conversions You are the only person that can make a difference. A small article on Time Management This guy is going to publish his results from a fax marketing campaign.

I came across a great post from a blog I read call 'Selling to Big Companies'. Time and time again sales people are trying to get appointments with prospects and they do this by self promotion and a feeble attempt at the wow factor. Do you have any idea or put any thought into what your prospect goes through on a daily basis? No they do not sit at a quiet desk all day eagerly waiting for your call. They are just as busy, if not busier than you are and if you do not respect their time, you have found a one way ticket via the delete button to their virtual trash basket. I'm not one bit interested in your unique methodologies, extraordinary differentiators or one-stop shopping. Your self-serving pablum, while designed to lure me into your clutches, has the exact opposite impact. One of the primary problems facing sales people is that they think and act like sales people. Do professional police officers think like cops? No, they think like the criminals they are after and that makes them apprehend more. Start thinking like a customer. What is important to them? What are their issues that you can address quickly? ...

I received a great article in my Google Reader today. It was from Mark Hunter, "The Sales Hunter, is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability. For more information or to receive a free weekly sales tip via email, contact "The Sales Hunter" at www.TheSalesHunter.com. We all know that to achieve success in the sales profession, reps need to listen to the customer. But salespeople often hear so many different things that they tend to feel the need to provide solutions for all of their clients' problems. When this happens, sales professionals overwhelm and confuse the customer, and, ultimately, lose the sale. The article goes on with a topic I have discussed before and is continually discussed through sales professionals. "Stop trying to sell your customer" . You need to take the time and talk with your prospect about the primary concerns they have about their company to understand if your product is even a fit to them. Too often new and seasoned sales people go right into the features and functionality trying to wow the prospect into loving the product. In this day and age, that NEVER works. Your prospects want you ...