Schedule telemarketing time for more success

Schedule telemarketing time for more success

by: Stan Rosenzweig

Telephone canvassing, or cold calling, is the practice of sitting down with a long list of potential prospects youกve never met and telephoning them, one at a time, to learn which of them needs what you sell and then arranging to sell it to them.

Believe me, nobody likes telephone cold calling. Salesmen don’t like it because they perceive that cold calls are to unfriendly, unkind strangers who would rather see you in a California kickboxing ring, going oneonone with Governor Arnold, than see you in their offices. Itกs true. They are. They would.

Prospects don’t always appreciate cold calls, because they are from people they don’t know, asking questions they don’t want to discuss. These calls are unscheduled, intrusive and sometimes can be a general pain in the South Forty.

At other times, however, prospects do respond well to cold calls. They open up freely and give us the chance to sell them what they need.

So, hereกs the dilemma: If we don’t like doing it, and prospects don’t always know when they like it done to them, why is it that we all MUST make cold phone calls part of our selling strategy? There are countless reasons. Here are just a few:

1. Itกs the fastest way to qualify prospects and maximize valuable selling time.

2. It’s also the fastest way to them know what we do.

3. Itกs targeted. Itกs the best way to find the decisionmaker.

4. It creates a quick personal relationship with the buyer.

5. It keeps us productive when store traffic is down.

6. It reaches prospects we’ll never run across in our other selling activities.

Every time you sit down to make telephonecanvassing calls, can you clear your mind of selfdoubt? Concentrate on the goal of the moment and you will find that each new day will bring you new business, will raise you to new heights in professional productivity, and will give you a great sense of personal satisfaction.

About The Author

Stan Rosenzweig is a sales trainer, marketing consultant and author. He creates customized corporate sales training and directs strategic marketing, product development and cost management consulting for large and middle sized companies and offers free selling advice at http://www.salestipwebsite.com.

This article is copyright 2004, Stan Rosenzweig. Reprint permitted only if in entirety with attribution and web address. For more articles go to http://www.salestipwebsite.com.

This article was posted on August 05, 2004

by Stan Rosenzweig

7 Keys to Turning Cold Calls Into Warm Calls

7 Keys to Turning Cold Calls Into Warm Calls

by: Ari Galper

Let’s face it when it comes to cold calling many of us fear being rejected. What if I was to tell you I have come up with 7 keys to turning your cold calls into warm calls? Would you believe me?

Try these 7 cold calling ideas for yourself and see just how easy making a cold call can really be.

1. Change Your Mental Objective Before You Make Your Call

When making a cold call the traditional way, your main objective is usually to try and get the appointment or make the sale. The main problem with that is when you do make the call it is quite clear to the person on the other end of the phone that this is your goal and they usually think of an excuse to get you off the phone before they have a chance to hear what you have to say.

To turn your cold calls into warm calls you need to change your objective to creating a feeling of trust with the person you are calling. It is important to remember that the person you are calling needs to feel that you are calling to help them rather than just trying to make the sale.

2. Understand The Mindset of The Person Your Calling

This is an extremely important tip and one that can help you greatly with your cold calling success. By putting yourself in the mindset of the person you are about to call, you can move beyond making a sales pitch.

Imagine that you are that person receiving the call and you hear ขHello, my name is Clare and I’m with a company called Financial Solutions International, do you have a few minutes?ข What would be your immediate reaction?

You’d probably think ขSalesperson! How can I get them off the phone.ข Instead, try beginning your conversation with ขHi, my name is Clare, maybe you can help me out for a moment?ข Something as simple as that puts you smack in the middle of your prospect’s world of welcoming phone calls.

3. Identify A Problem That Your Company Can Solve

Knowing a specific problem that your prospect is having is how you can immediately create a natural conversation on the phone.

If your prospect feels that you really do understand their particular issues, then they are more open to hearing your solutions giving you the opportunity to see if you both are a good match.

Identifying the problem before you make your cold call really can make a major difference in the success of your cold call.

4. Start A Conversation, Don’t Give A Presentation

Giving a presentation is the old traditional way of cold calling which has the negative affect of creating sales pressure and viewing people as ขprospectsข.

Engaging people in a natural conversation is the only way to avoid rejection because you are relaxed as if you are talking to a friend. A genuine approach will always put your potential customer at ease from the start.

Never assume beforehand that your prospective customer should buy what you have to offer. Your prospect will pick up on this right away and you will be on your way to losing the sale.

5. Start By Asking A Question

After your opening cold calling statement, always begin by asking a question about how you can help them solve issues that you believe your solution can solve.

Think about it, how would you respond if someone genuinely knew what you were struggling with and had ideas to solve it?

By basing your cold call on honesty and truthfulness and knowing how to engage your prospect based on their issues, then all of a sudden your call becomes a twoway dialogue rather than a oneway pitch.

You will be able to open up a conversation and be able to build up trust at the same time.

6. Recognising and Diffusing Hidden Pressures

By being able to recognise hidden sales pressure you can turn your calls into pleasant conversations. And be aware, that enthusiasm can make your prospects feel pressure from you.

Learning to engage in a natural conversation can alleviate this pressure and leave your client open to the idea of hearing what you have to say.

Try to avoid controlling your calls in a way where your prospect feels you are taking them down a sales process. Give them a chance to share their concerns with you without having to worry about you trying to ขcloseข them.

7. Determining A Fit

Let’s say your call is going great and the dialogue is flowing well but the conversation is reaching its natural end. What do you do next?

Most people who sell assume they should try and close the person to an appointment. But there is a risk in that if the person’s problem isn’t a priority to solve. So it’s important that you first ask ขIs this issue a priority to solve or is it something that’s on the back burner?ข

Not only have you determined a need but you will also determine a time frame. This could save you months of wasted ขfollowupข calls.

Now it’s time to start putting these tips into practice. From personal experience, I can tell you that you if use these ideas on your cold calls, you’ll know how to turn cold calls into warm calls.

About The Author

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio minilessons visit http://www.UnlockTheColdCallingGame.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 07

by Ari Galper

Aikido and The Art of Selling

Aikido and The Art of Selling

by: Ari Galper

Imagine being in a crowded concert or bar. All of a sudden, a fight breaks out between two men whoกve had too much to drink.

You happen to be a few steps away, and the next thing you know, one of the men turns to you and looks as if heกs going to take a swing at you.

Whatกs your first instinct? Most of us will do one of two things. Weกll either try to step away, or weกll raise our arms to deflect him and fight back, which can result in harm to you or to your attacker.

But if you were trained in Aikido, the Japanese martial art that focuses on diverting an attackerกs energy, you could quickly diffuse the situation by immobilizing him without harming him in any way.

In essence, you’re diffusing the energy that heกs using to try and attack you in a way that takes the conflict out of the situation.

Unlock The Game and the philosophy behind Aikido have many similarities.

Traditional cold calling and selling are designed to focus only on the ขcloseข by presenting or in too many cases, ขpushingข your solution onto prospects, sometimes even when they’re not interested.

But if you focus only on your goal of making the sale before having a discussion about the problems that you can help your prospects solve, something happens.

They start feeling that you’re ขattackingข them. After all, you’re a stranger to them, and when you start talking about yourself and your solution rather than about them and their specific issues, you immediately trigger their suspicion and cause them to start ขpushing back.ข

This pushback is the resistance or energy that Unlock The Game teaches you to diffuse. Then both of you can quickly ขget on the same pageข and open a natural dialogue that will let you determine whether it makes sense for you to work together.

Letกs look at two real selling scenarios cold calling and ขgetyouoffthephoneข objections:

Scenario 1: Cold Calling

Suppose you’re at your desk and you receive a call from someone who says ขHi, my name is Jack Johnson, Iกm with XYZ Company, and we’re a fullsolution provider of…ข Is your first reaction to welcome and be open to his call? Or do your mental defenses immediately kick in and you shut down against this stranger ขsalespersonข?

Probably the latter, especially if you sense that the caller is focused on his interests and not yours.

Thatกs why this oldschool cold calling approach triggers the resistance and negative energy that prospects immediately throw your way.

The Unlock The Game way to make a successful cold call กsuccessfulข being defined as not triggering rejection is by beginning your call with, ขHi, my name is Jack, maybe you can help me out for a moment?ข That simple question is a very natural way of beginning a conversation with a stranger.

But you can’t just read this word for word, like a script. It won’t work. That would be like an Aikido instructor teaching a firsttime student the physical movements before he or she has learned the philosophy necessary to carry them out.

The same applies here. First you need to integrate a new Mindset that changes the goal of your call from making the sale, or getting an appointment, to engaging the person in a natural twoway dialogue.

To do this, your voice has to be lowkey. You have to avoid communicating any hint of typical ขsalespersonข enthusiasm, or any sense that you’re trying to direct the conversation to an end goal. Once you integrate the Mindset, all this kicks in naturally.

So, if you want to succeed in prospecting and cold calling, become aware of how you might be triggering the resistance or energy that instinctively causes prospects to push back against you.

Scenario 2: ขGetyouoffthephoneข objections

Hereกs another example. Forget the idea of ขovercoming objections.ข Doing that only triggers more resistance from prospects thatกs very difficult to diffuse.

Think about it for a moment. When prospects give a reason why they don’t want to proceed when they ขput up resistanceข youกve been trained to ขovercomeข their objections rather than to diffuse their resistance by acknowledging that what they’re telling you is their truth.

By applying the Unlock The Game Mindset™ and skills, you diffuse that resistance and remove the conflict from the situation, just as in Aikido.

Hereกs the Unlock The Game™ process for dealing with objections:

1. Diffuse the objection with ขThatกs not a problem… (Pause)ข

2. Acknowledge the truth of their objection (see the sample language below).

3. Reopen the conversation with ขWould you be open to…ข

For example, suppose a prospect says, ขWe already have a vendor.ข The path of diffusing and reengaging would go like this:

1. ขThatกs not a problem…(Pause)ข

2. ขI wasn’t calling to replace the vendor you’re currently using.ข Here, you’re addressing their suspicion that your only focus is on making the sale and on ripping out their relationship with their current vendor. You’re simply asking whether they would be open to different ideas that might help them solve a problem. This diffuses the tension.

3. ขWould you be open to some different ideas that you might not be using now?ข After the tension is dissolved, this lets you reopen the conversation in a natural way because they clearly understand that your goal is to help them. Then, if things are a match between you, you can decide where to go from there.

Keep in mind that this process will work only if you fully integrate the Mindset so it feels as natural to you as breathing.

In short, if you’re using any form of traditional selling, you could be triggering a resistance every time you communicate with your prospect.

But if you learn this new Mindset, along with words and phrases that remove any conflict or tension from the relationship, youกll have taken your first steps toward your black belt in Unlock The Game™!

About The Author

Ari Galper makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets that even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio minilessons visit http://www.UnlockTheColdCallingGame.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 05

by Ari Galper

Your Thinking To Breed Success

Your Thinking To Breed Success

by: Dave Jones

There is a place in the Northern Hemisphere where the night time dark remains most of the year and the sky is showcased by a flickering light show. You would all know this well as the Northern Lights.

This is the Artic at its very best and worst because the cold and winds collaborate to bring together one of the harshest environments one could imagine. It speaks well of the humanity who dwell there, albeit few in number, that they religiously celebrate each years return of what begins as a four month long sunny period.

This one occasion warrants attention and a special holiday so with deck chairs resplendent, the locals champion the cold to casually gather and watch the sun make its first tentative 25 minute pass of many more appearances. So begins day one of a very short summer, and with a community revitalized by sunlight, they party with every bit as much lunacy as any new years eve.

So, what is it that makes a people remain and challenge the very hardships such a place holds? That they should muster time and again some inner fortitude to while away those sub zero temperatures. When out of all places one could end up, for whatever reason, they choose to eke out an existence in one of the bleakest landscapes on our Earth?

The mind is a truly wonderful mechanism and when called upon, can adapt to just about any situation shaping the very best outcomes for those with a purpose. The thing is, and itกs in each of us, it’s entirely up to us how we control and apply our minds.

There are lots of external factors and most of those youกll have absolutely no control over, like the number of times you might sight the sun in a year; for example. The way you look at these challenges is everything and the more positive your view the greater your confidence within yourself and the better your likely prospects. But thatกs not the entire picture.

Think back to that last time you felt over the moon about something you did exceptionally well, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be as a result of any particular effort on your part. Iกm sure youกve been there, in that place where you’re on pure adrenalin because something has gone unbelievably well. Ready to take on any challenge. That hole in one on the golf course or at least a no effort golf swing that travels for miles or even that special result in an exam.

Now imagine if you could apply that same euphoria to everyday happenings. Well, thereกs nothing that your mind won’t accept if itกs repeated often enough over and over. Problem is that we generally tend to focus on the not so good. There it is in a nutshell, what your mind is used to seeing is how it will ultimately operate. I mean to say, how would you cope at our earlier sun watching celebration if the cold was too much of a challenge?

Giving up is not something I really have in me and it really stems from wanting to change and improve things until Iกm happy with them. I mention this because if you’re starting out in a business there will be times of frustration where youกll think nothing is working or going right. Bottom line though, you can only get better. From where ever it is that you actually start, the chances are you will only get better, and over time most always you will improve further.

Itกs fairly important then to apply as many of those good things that make us see that special place, into our normal day to day thinking; so that they then become the normal rather than highlights. A series of holes in one if you will.

This applies not only in your business dealings mind you, but into every facet of living because itกs exactly this mindset that uplifts and brings success. The trick is to place it on auto pilot and keep it there.

So if you ever need a reference to stay your mind from an unshakeable negative, spare a thought for our erstwhile inhabitants in our Artic North and find yourself a better place that works for you.

Take a few minutes each hour and progressively go over all of those things that are good and right with you. In no time at all youกll have that sun coming up at the end of a long hard winter….and it will be all that you see. Apply that to your business and thereกs no conceivable frustration that will derail you from getting ahead.

About The Author

Copyright © 2004 Dave Jones, new to the Ecommerce game and hoping to be successful in several ventures. You can find more articles and insights by Dave at http://www.workathomecreateopportunities.blogspot.com located at http://www.workathomecreateopportunities.com

This article was posted on October 10, 2004

by Dave Jones

The Four Steps to Effective Cold Calls

The Four Steps to Effective Cold Calls

by: Mark Dembo

One of the mostfeared, and yet most effective, ways to develop business is the dreaded, and much maligned ขcold call.ข But, if you develop a consistent approach to your cold calls, you can overcome the fear of not knowing what to say or how to respond when the person on the other end of the phone actually answers!

First thing: remember the goal of your cold call. Your goal on a cold call is to GET AN APPOINTMENT. Your goal is NOT to sell on the phone. (If your job is telesales, then of course your goal would be to sell on the phone; we will be covering that topic in a separate article.) When you set your priority on getting an appointment and not on selling, it becomes much easier to for you to actually get in front of the people you need to see to make your goals and close more business.

Here are the four steps that go into a successful cold call:

1. Opening:

In your opening statement you want to get the other person’s attention (by using their name), give a brief ขcommercialข about your company and tell that person why you are calling (to get an appointment.) So, for example, your opening might sound like this:

ขGood morning Ms. Smith. This is (your name) calling with XYZ Company. We are the largest manufacturing of remanufactured widgets specializing in the giggabot industry. The reason I’m calling you today is that that we’ve recently successfully completed a project with ABC Company where we were able to help them reduce their time to market by using our widgets in their manufacturing process. I’d like to get together and show you how we were able to help them achieve this result. How’s Tuesday at 2?

2. Response:

The person you’re speaking with is now going to respond to you; most likely with an ขobjectionข – or a reason why they shouldn’t meet with you. Think about the most common responses you are likely to hear in your business, and be prepared to turn their response around.

For example, if you know that you will typically hear something like ขWell, thanks for your call, but we’re all set for nowข (and you probably hear that a lot, right?) you should have your ขturnaroundข ready to go…

3. Turnaround:

To turn around a response, you want to reassure the person on the phone that you’ve heard what they said, and that you understand their response – BUT, don’t just give it up. Your response should sound something like this: ขYou know, Mr. Smith, many of our clients said the same thing when we first spoke with them, until they saw how our widgets were able to benefit them. Why don’t we get together, and I can show you how. How’s Tuesday at 2?

4. Appointment:

After you’ve tried to turn the call around, you’re either going to the appointment, or you’re not. If you’ve tried two or three turnarounds, and the prospect still doesn’t want to meet, then it’s time to thank them for their time, and move on to the next call. Don’t spin your wheels expecting to get an appointment with everyone you speak with.

Will this approach work every time? No – but then again, nothing will work every time. Will you get more appointments if you use and practice these techniques? You can you will – absolutely. Guaranteed.

Copyright 2005 Lexien Management Consultants, Inc

About The Author

Mark Dembo; President, Lexien Management Consultants (http://www.lexien.com) Mark has over 20 years of sales, sale management, and business development experience, focused on improving the performance of individuals and organizations. Lexien Management Consultants provides sales training, consulting, and coaching services to organizations and individuals who are motivated to grow their businesses. Each month, Lexien publishes the Sales Success Newsletter, http://www.lexien.com/Newsletter/SalesSuccessNewsletter.htm

Lexien Management Consultants is an affiliate of DEI Management Group. You can contact Mark at 9146822069, or at [email protected].

This article was posted on February 04

by Mark Dembo

Imaginary Reality

Imaginary Reality

by: Daniel Punch

Our once concrete world is now dissolving into a realm of intangibility.

Itกs interesting to consider the ways in which the computer and the Internet have changed our lives. Tasks that once required visiting certain locations and interacting with specific people, such as booking a holiday or accessing your bank account can now be performed online. Often when you do go somewhere to talk to an assistant they end up performing the task online in the same way you could have done yourself.

Online banking intrigues me greatly. Weกve almost lost the need for real currency. I get paid by check, which goes straight into my bank account. I then access my bank account using the Internet and transfer some money over to my savings account, which is at a different bank to my regular account. If I ever need money from my savings account I log in and transfer it back to my main account. I have never given any ‘realก money to this bank, nor have I ever received any from them. The majority of my purchases these days are made using Eftpos. I hardly ever actually have cold, hard, real cash on me. Basically we purchase things with data these days. Numbers flit all over the place, being subtracted and added from one variable to another. Presumably there is still real money somewhere being couriered between banks but I generally never see it. It makes me wonder how long it will be until we actually don’t technically have money.

The stock market similarly intrigues me. Iกve never been involved myself but it seems to me that itกs the professional equivalent of gambling. People take a punt that a certain stock will go up or down, and they either gain or lose money depending on whether or not their bet pans out. What interests me more is the fact that in essence this is an economic reality built around the concept of buying and selling absolutely nothing. What you own are theoretically กpartsก of a particular company. Collect enough bits and you could own the company. In actuality you transfer a few numbers that represent money and receive a few numbers that represent stocks. When these numbers become larger numbers you sell them again, and receive in return a few more money numbers. Thereกs usually no real product or money (that you hold in your hands) seen in any of this process.

We have moral dilemmas now that just didn’t exist in the past. For example, is piracy really stealing? All you take is a copy of data. No one actually loses anything tangible out of the theft. Stealing a handbag means that someone no longer has their handbag. Stealing a car means that someone has to catch the bus for a while. Stealing a computer program means that another copy just กmagicallyก pops into existence and becomes yours. The futuristic supervillains of the past held countries to ransom with reallife weapons of mammoth size, often floating in space. The reality of our modern world is that you could hold a nation to ransom with nothing more ‘realก than a copy of a few files from a secure computer.

Virtual reality may not have eventuated in the way of realistic virtual worlds, but in a way reality is becoming กvirtualก. It may not be problematic or even surprising, but I find it interesting that cold, hard cash and cold, hard facts are fast becoming anything but tangible.

About The Author

Daniel Punch

M6.Net Web Helpers

http://www.m6.net

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 11

by Daniel Punch

7 Cold Calling Secrets Even The Sales Gurus Don’t

7 Cold Calling Secrets Even The Sales Gurus Don’t Know

by: Ari Galper

More and more emails are arriving in my inbox from people who hate cold calling. Hereกs what they’re saying:

ขCold calling terrifies me.ข

ขThe phone feels like a 10,000pound weight.ข

ขEvery time I have to make a cold call, I freeze up.ข

ขI feel like a fraud when I’m cold calling.ข

ขI can’t take the rejection when I do cold calling. It just kills me.ข

ขI’ve gone from top producer to ‘hermit’ because of my mental brick wall when it comes to cold calling.ข

Cold calling the old way is a painful struggle.

But you can make it a productive and positive experience by changing your mindset and cold calling the new way.

To show you what I mean, here are 7 tested cold calling ideas that even the sales gurus don’t know.

1. Change Your Mental Objective Before You Make the Call

If you’re like most people who make cold calls, you’re hoping to make a sale or at least an appointment before you even pick up the phone.

The problem is, the people you call somehow always pick up on your mindset immediately.

They sense that you’re focused on your goals and interests, rather than on finding out what they might need or want.

This shortcircuits the whole process of communication and trustbuilding.

Here’s the benefit of changing your mental objective before you make the call: it takes away the frenzy of working yourself up mentally to pick up the phone.

All the feelings of rejection and fear come from us getting wrapped up in our expectations and hoping for an outcome when it’s premature to even be thinking about an outcome.

So try this. Practice shifting your mental focus to thinking, ขWhen I make this call, I’m going to build a conversation so that a level of trust can emerge allowing us to exchange information back and forth so we can both determine if there’s a fit or not.ข

2. Understand the Mindset of the Person You’re Calling

Let’s say you’re at your office and you’re working away.

Your phone rings and someone says, ขHello, my name’s Mark. I’m with Financial Solutions International. We offer a broad array of financial solutions. Do you have a few minutes?ข

What would go through your mind?

About The Author

Ari Galper is the founder of Unlock The Game™, the only selling program that completely eliminates pressure from the selling process. His Unlock The Game™ Sales Program has helped thousands of entrepenuers and sales professionals worldwide.

Visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com to take a Free Test Drive!

This article was posted on April 12

by Ari Galper