Tag Archives: cold calls

What Are You So Afraid Of?

Have you ever heard of a salesperson who had to go to therapy because they stopped into a business and asked to speak with the owner? 

Neither have I. 

Yet prospecting can feel strangely terrifying. 

What if they’re busy? 

What if I interrupt them? 

What if they’re having a bad day? 

What if they say NO? 

What if they release the hounds? 

Okay, that last one is probably unlikely. 

But the fear is real. You’re definitely not alone. This fear causes a lot of salespeople to do everything except the thing that creates new business. 

They organize their CRM. Send emails. Research prospects for 47 minutes. Tweak a proposal. Check LinkedIn. Refill their coffee. 

All very productive-looking ways to avoid contacting another human being. 

One thing that makes prospecting less intimidating is knowing what you’re going to say before you make the call or walk through the door. 

Not memorizing a speech. Preparing. 

And know your goal. 

Your goal on that first contact probably isn’t to sell anything. It’s to get 20 or 30 minutes with them later. 

On the phone, keep it simple: 

“Hey Fred, can I steal a minute from you?” 

That’s pretty honest. You are stealing a minute.  

(I remember this from an audiobook I listened to years ago called “New Sales. Simplified.” By Mike Weinberg – and I really like it.) 

Then get to the point: 

“I’m hoping to visit with you for about 20 or 25 minutes next week. I’d like to bring you a couple of ideas, learn a little more about your business, and see if we might be a good fit.” 

Then stop talking. 

You don’t need a five-minute pitch. You need a reason for another conversation. 

Preparation creates confidence. And confidence usually doesn’t come before taking action anyway. 

It comes because of taking action. 

Pick a few businesses. Know who you want to talk to. Know what you’re going to say. Know what your goal is. 

Then make the call. Walk through the door. 

Worst-case scenario?  

They say no. 

Five minutes later, your life looks remarkably similar to the way it did before the call. 

Check your pulse. Still there? 

Good! Call the next one. 

Duane Christensen
Ens Media

If you’d like to learn how our SoundADvice program can help your entire Radio sales team open more doors, protect more clients, and create more revenue, email me at [email protected] to request more info. We’ll send you the important details ASAP. And it costs less than 3 lattes a week.

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How Did You Do It?

If you are a sales manager, you probably started in this business as a sales rep, and it was all about the math of selling. The number of cold calls and the number of “packages” you presented became part of your success formula.

Now as a sales manager, with probably very little management training, you’re expected to train the troops. Your idea of “training” might go something like this; “When I was on the street I …”.

          Stop it!   No one cares how you did it “in the old days”.

You know there have been dramatic changes in the world; changing technologies, changing station ownership, changing economies, changing, changing, changing.

What is it that makes you think the marketing and sales arena is the only thing that hasn’t changed from “When I was on the street”? Let’s look at old world cold calling as an example.

How do you feel when a telemarketer interrupts your dinner to sell you something you haven’t felt a need for? How do you think your prospects feel when your reps embark upon a door to door cold-call campaign to sell them a one-size-fits-all package of the week? Most salespeople don’t like making cold calls, and certainly, most clients view these interruptions to doing business as rude! So why do we do it?

 We’ve focused on cold calls because traditionally, that’s the beginning of the sales process.  Every step in modern strategic selling has changed today, and sales training has changed as well. Training is no longer a manager’s “show and tell”.

Like with all other aspects of your business, you can either embrace the changing world of sales and sales training or continue doing the same thing over and over. I’m sure you’ve heard what Einstein has called doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result…that was his definition of insanity.

In the new media world, there is a better way of training and selling. It involves creating warm calls rather than cold calls, using technology to build stronger customer relationships, and it’s been proven to grow your long-term revenues.

Business guru Jack Welch says, “There is always a better way. Find it!”

 Click here if you would like to discuss implementing our “better way” for 2018 and 2019.