The short answer to this perennial question: If you’re going to crash call, stick to small non-retail prospects.
In today’s tougher economic times, more and more companies are pushing their sales force to make cold calls... in person. Indeed, a June 2010 survey conducted by A.S. Danier & Co. suggests that in person cold calling has increased 20% since 2008.
The rationale: It’s harder to avoid someone who is standing right in front of you than it is to get off the phone or ignore a voice mail.
What’s not so rational is that...
• It costs a company far more to have sales reps driving around town than dialing around. Even if sales reps are on straight commission, they can make 10 – 12 the number of contacts (calling, but not getting past the gatekeeper does not count as a contact) by phone than they can in the same time period when working the phone.
• +85% of decision makers hate it when sales people “drop by” without an appointment.
Executive comments include:
“It suggests a complete lack of respect for my needs and makes me feel less respect for the company that sent the rep in to big me.”
“I hate it and really resent the intrusion.”
“It’s unprofessional – no ifs ands or buts about it.”
• Less than 10% of companies that require sales reps to spend part of their time doing “drop-bys” provide any training on how to make this a successful practice... and reps who are forced to call on corporate clients unannounced only make one sale on average for every 150 such visits. Hardly seems worth the effort.
Bottom line: The vast majority of corporate decision makers are reluctant to do business with reps who cold call in person. In other words, stop banging your head against the wall... and stop wasting your time knocking on cold doors.
Are there any exceptions to this? Absolutely.
After talking with 10 sales reps who use in-person cold calling successfully, and contacting some of the authors of good online articles, we found that the method works under the conditions below. (Okay, it’s not statistically valid research, but the consistency of the results suggests there is merit to what they had to say.)
In-person cold calling works when all of the following conditions exist:
1) When your product or service is one that is ideally-suited for smaller businesses.
When a company has fewer than 25 people, it is often run by an entrepreneur, and the culture is usually less formal than in larger firms. As a result, it frequently possible for the unexpected rep to get in to see the decision maker for a couple of minutes.
If not, then there is often someone who will give the rep enough info for the company to be qualified as a prospect (or not). Barring that, it is usually possible for the rep to get the business card of the decision maker so that a proper appointment can be made.
Note: This does not work well with busy retailers, however, because interrupting their sales efforts will alienate them... and the constant interruptions of the sales pitch diminishes the likelihood of a deal being closed in any event.
2) When the cost vs. benefit balance makes the decision an easy one.
When the rep can get to the point quickly and show the decision maker how the product or service will help – specifically – then there is a good chance the cold call will result in a follow-up appointment, or even a sale.
3) When the sales rep is prepared to put in the time and effort.
Sounds like a no-brainer, but many sales people give up for the day after 15 – 20 sales calls, without having made a sale. This can make them reluctant to make more calls – which leads to a vicious cycle of losing confidence in their ability to make sales, getting in to see fewer people, feeling depressed and then making less effort, which compounds the whole situation.
In reality it takes about 40 – 55 in-person cold calls to create a sale... and most sales reps do fewer drop-ins than that a day.
If a rep is willing to do a little homework, find out which buildings and parts of the city are home to smaller firms, and will keep good notes relating to how each of the firms he or she contacts can benefit for his or her product or service, then cold call visits can indeed lead to future sales. Many future sales.
Showing posts with label Cold calling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cold calling. Show all posts
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
How to Make Yourself Make Cold Calls
Cold calling. For some people, just thinking those words makes their stomach hurt and sweat prickle their sensitive spots. Fear. Fear of cold calling is a powerful thing.
In June 2010 we asked 150 people with various job titles, working for different types of companies, and with different levels of experience, what they hated most about their jobs. 139 of these people put calling strangers, or even clients for whom they had to ask for help or for money, in the top 5 things they hated at work. With sales reps, cold calling made it to the top 3 100% of the time.
When asked why cold calling was so bad, most people cited something related to fear. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of looking/ sounding stupid. Fear of failure. Fear of... well the list was long. Really long. And the interesting thing is that most of the reasons or examples people gave to explain their answers were more about what they imagined would or could happen, rather than anything bad that they actually experienced. Or if they had encountered the problem, it was not a usual occurrence.
One way or another fear can wreak more havoc than many other things because it's devious. It's truly sneaky, finding myriad manner of ways to manifest itself.
No matter whether you are fresh out of school and trying to get your first job interview, or are well-established manager, or have been running your own company for years, that little inner voice can be a real problem when it comes to making phone calls. Nearly 90% of people who have to make calls for work say that they often procrastinate and welcome even the smallest reason as an excuse to talk themselves out of making the very calls upon which their livelihoods depend.
During this study, and over the years too, many business executives have told me that their self talk is more destructive than just about anything anyone else can do to them.
If you listen to the chatter of this little voice, it will wear you down faster than chalk being dragged over rough cement. So what can you do when you can't pick up that phone because it suddenly weighs 1,000 pounds?
Here are some suggestions from "regular" people who are succeeding in small and/or spectacular ways (from "What Works For Me", a compilation of useful tips and thoughts that I started writing years ago):
"I get a glass of water to keep things lubricated and I don't let myself have a coffee until I've made at least 10 calls." ~ Fred B., Seattle, WA
"I make a list of 20 calls I need to make the next day just before I go home - along with notes about what I need to say. If I don't have the list, my mind seems to wander to any other task at hand so that I can avoid the calls." ~ Wendy M., BC
"I tape the phone to my wrist until I reach my day's quota!" ~ Unknown
"I don't check my e-mails until I've made the calls. That way I can't procrastinate by finding reasons to avoid getting on the phone." ~ Sharif Z., New York, NY
"I give my assistant $20. If I don't have the calls made by noon (and show her my notes), then she gets to keep the $20. It cost me over $200 before I got into a regular morning call routine." ~ Sylvia B., Chicago, IL
"I stand to make my calls because it gives me more energy. I don't get to sit down at my desk until the calls have been made." ~ Tammy H., CA
"I choose the least important call for the first one of the day. I tell myself that it's okay to blow it because it doesn't really count. Often I ace the call and get the appointment, the momentum just carries me. Even if it doesn't go well, that call has started the ball rolling and I'm okay once I get going." ~ Bill E., London, ON
If none of these ideas help when you're scared (yeah, I know, you have a different word for it), then remember this chant. It's one that Jack Canfield taught me years ago - one that always works to center me and give me a smile before getting on with the task. The only trick is to actually remember to do the chant.
And what is it you might ask? It's...wait for it... and sing it to the traditional Ohm sound. It's "Ohhhh what the heckkkkk, go for it anyway!"
Going for it "anyway" is really important. You need to take that first step, make that first call, because as soon as you start taking action, you will find it easier to keep going. People who force themselves to make calls find that they gain momentum and courage with each number dialed, and each call seems to get progressively easier. So just start and see what happens.
“Yeah, right,” you say. “But how do I get myself to take that first step?”
Tune in next time for Part II. aIn the meantime, we invite you to read for: "Getting better results through cold calling" (http://bit.ly/b5IlYJ) and remember, have fun and be prepared to “go out on a limb because that is where the fruit is.”
Jane-Michèle Clark
In June 2010 we asked 150 people with various job titles, working for different types of companies, and with different levels of experience, what they hated most about their jobs. 139 of these people put calling strangers, or even clients for whom they had to ask for help or for money, in the top 5 things they hated at work. With sales reps, cold calling made it to the top 3 100% of the time.
When asked why cold calling was so bad, most people cited something related to fear. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of looking/ sounding stupid. Fear of failure. Fear of... well the list was long. Really long. And the interesting thing is that most of the reasons or examples people gave to explain their answers were more about what they imagined would or could happen, rather than anything bad that they actually experienced. Or if they had encountered the problem, it was not a usual occurrence.
One way or another fear can wreak more havoc than many other things because it's devious. It's truly sneaky, finding myriad manner of ways to manifest itself.
No matter whether you are fresh out of school and trying to get your first job interview, or are well-established manager, or have been running your own company for years, that little inner voice can be a real problem when it comes to making phone calls. Nearly 90% of people who have to make calls for work say that they often procrastinate and welcome even the smallest reason as an excuse to talk themselves out of making the very calls upon which their livelihoods depend.
During this study, and over the years too, many business executives have told me that their self talk is more destructive than just about anything anyone else can do to them.
If you listen to the chatter of this little voice, it will wear you down faster than chalk being dragged over rough cement. So what can you do when you can't pick up that phone because it suddenly weighs 1,000 pounds?
Here are some suggestions from "regular" people who are succeeding in small and/or spectacular ways (from "What Works For Me", a compilation of useful tips and thoughts that I started writing years ago):
"I get a glass of water to keep things lubricated and I don't let myself have a coffee until I've made at least 10 calls." ~ Fred B., Seattle, WA
"I make a list of 20 calls I need to make the next day just before I go home - along with notes about what I need to say. If I don't have the list, my mind seems to wander to any other task at hand so that I can avoid the calls." ~ Wendy M., BC
"I tape the phone to my wrist until I reach my day's quota!" ~ Unknown
"I don't check my e-mails until I've made the calls. That way I can't procrastinate by finding reasons to avoid getting on the phone." ~ Sharif Z., New York, NY
"I give my assistant $20. If I don't have the calls made by noon (and show her my notes), then she gets to keep the $20. It cost me over $200 before I got into a regular morning call routine." ~ Sylvia B., Chicago, IL
"I stand to make my calls because it gives me more energy. I don't get to sit down at my desk until the calls have been made." ~ Tammy H., CA
"I choose the least important call for the first one of the day. I tell myself that it's okay to blow it because it doesn't really count. Often I ace the call and get the appointment, the momentum just carries me. Even if it doesn't go well, that call has started the ball rolling and I'm okay once I get going." ~ Bill E., London, ON
If none of these ideas help when you're scared (yeah, I know, you have a different word for it), then remember this chant. It's one that Jack Canfield taught me years ago - one that always works to center me and give me a smile before getting on with the task. The only trick is to actually remember to do the chant.
And what is it you might ask? It's...wait for it... and sing it to the traditional Ohm sound. It's "Ohhhh what the heckkkkk, go for it anyway!"
Going for it "anyway" is really important. You need to take that first step, make that first call, because as soon as you start taking action, you will find it easier to keep going. People who force themselves to make calls find that they gain momentum and courage with each number dialed, and each call seems to get progressively easier. So just start and see what happens.
“Yeah, right,” you say. “But how do I get myself to take that first step?”
Tune in next time for Part II. aIn the meantime, we invite you to read for: "Getting better results through cold calling" (http://bit.ly/b5IlYJ) and remember, have fun and be prepared to “go out on a limb because that is where the fruit is.”
Jane-Michèle Clark
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