The Cure for the Common Cold Call

[Doha]

The Cure for the Common Cold Call
by Heidi Anspaugh

Cold CallingSales teams easily slip into boring routines, and they come across loud and clear. This happens when employees feel like sales are driven by luck versus skill. Change the focus in your office and boost effectiveness by rooting out these common ills:

Wasting Time on Poor Prospects

If someone is unlikely to make a purchase, there?s no point in wasting your time. More importantly, those immediate rejections sap your sales staff of their motivation. Prioritize calls each day by starting with those who are most likely to say yes. Look for prospects with similarities to recent clients.

Dialing Without Doing Research

Yes, we know. Given the obligation to research for a cold call, many employees will spend all day on the Internet instead of the phone. So, don?t leave the task open-ended.

Sales training expert, Steve Richard, relies on the 3-by-3 researching model. He encourages people to take 3 minutes and learn at least three relevant things about his potential client. In an informal trial run with a friend, Richard found teams that followed the 3-by-3 guidelines were 70 percent more effective in setting appointments.

It?s important to understand why prospective clients are going to invest in your business. In order to do that, your sales team needs to know more than names and phone numbers. Customer intelligence counts. Obviously, InsideView can save serious time while generating the reports you need to make sales, but just keeping an eye on social networks can give you an idea of your clients? motivations.

Expecting the Worst

There?s an old saying: ?Expect the best. Prepare for the worst.? Unfortunately, many sales people start cold calls focused on the negative. They gear up for countering objections or convincing people into sales. If cold calling is really going to work for your business, your sales team must see themselves as a real resource.

In areas where you?re facing known competition, this means collecting intel on your competitors? problems and showing your staff your company?s benefits. If they don?t believe you?re the best investment, neither will anyone else.

Stop the Shame Cycle

Cold calling gets a bad rap, and so do the people dialing up prospects. Like used car salesman, there?s a particular view of phone sales and it doesn?t inspire jealousy. Change that in your office, and you will see an immediate change in productivity. People need to feel as if they?re doing something others cannot. Acknowledge the difficulties of cold calling by rewarding employees each time they pick up the phone.

An easy way to show recognition or appreciation is by utilizing simple benefits. You can give your employees praise for each call they attempt ? regardless of outcome ? in a number of public ways. The use of visual aids in the office can be very empowering, and allowing employees to contribute to them can get people excited about making their calls. It can be as simple as having staff members draw marks on a white board.

The following are ways you can reward staffers privately for their efforts:

    Walk through the office tallying calls ? ask each sales team member for the calls they?ve completed over the previous hour. Because big numbers will bring smiles, even hang up calls will be appreciated.
    Hand out small appreciation gifts an hour or two into a shift ? simple gifts like promotional pens or snack foods can provide the boost needed to keep energy levels up.
    Give out stamps of approval ? when facing the negativity that sometimes comes with cold calling, it?s the little things that can make the most difference. If you notice that someone is looking upset, stopping by their desk with a small note of thanks can help them move on and regain a positive focus.