How To De-Ice Your Phone Line

A few weeks ago, while driving down California’s sunny coastline, my sister asked me what made me different from every other telemarketer in America. You know who she was referring to: those guys that only seem to call between 6 and 7 p.m. offering you authentic, discount Cuban cigar bundles straight from the tropical beaches of New Jersey. At the time I wasn’t sure how to respond. But the crisp weather of my native Missoula Valley has since jarred my brain into production, and I am now equipped to answer my sister’s query. The only problem is, she no longer cares about my answer, so I’m forced to blog it out…

Cold calls: the bane of many a salesman’s existence. Unfortunately, even though they are feared more than spiders and public speaking, cold calls are an integral part of any sales pipeline. And even though nobody wants to be on the receiving end of a cold call, the cards are down and it’s becoming evermore apparent that cold calling is not only effective but here to stay. Herein lies the problem: how do we (salespeople dabbling in the cold call) avoid becoming a nuisance and only dial calls that will yield some traction? How do we save ourselves from rejection after bloody, painful rejection?

Well truth be told, rejection is as much a fact of life as stubbed toes, and especially more rampant among the cold calling ranks. Rejection, that is, not stubbed toes. So while you can’t save yourself from ever being rejected again, you can increase the chance of acquiring a new client by learning from where I have failed. Here ‘goes: 4 Hints to Help You Be All The Cold Caller You Can Be. Go get ‘em tiger…

“How Are You Today?”…Interestingly enough, ‘experts’ on the subject advise not to open a cold call with the phrase “how are you today?” Rubbish, I say. I ask every one of my new contacts how their day is going the second they get on the phone. It’s what I ask my friends when we connect, so why not my clients? Sure, it may put strangers on guard, but when was the last time you got a door slammed in your face for asking how somebody was doing? I can’t remember either…

It’s my belief that if you are sincerely…well, sincere…it is not at all a mistake to start out with a “how are you doing?” The positive responses I receive to this greeting, even from strangers and new contacts, greatly outnumber the negative ones, and often pave the way for a smooth, free-flowing conversation.

Which brings me to my next point: in order to maintain fluidity within your conversation, it is important to listen. Just like every zebra is two-toned, every conversation has two ends, and both must work together to keep the conversation going. Listen. React. Suggest. Listen to what they have to say after you shut your yap, react to their objections, and suggest a compromise or, better yet, a solution. The other end of the line needs to feel that what they have to say is just as important, if not more, than what you can offer. In order to achieve this level of interaction, you must know when to stop talking and start listening. Take pains to speak slowly and speak lightly. Ask questions. If you both begin to speak at the same time, give them the right-of-way. NEVER talk over your prospect.

Think: ‘Tired Sloth’…What? Tired Sloth? That’s right. You should speak at the same pace as that of a tired sloth. Remember that while you know your product inside and out, by very definition your cold call target does not. In fact, it could be their very first taste of your industry so it is best to keep the technical jargon (i.e. ACRNYMS, abbrs., and anythingthatishardtopronounce) to a minimum, while at the same time uttering your layman’s terms with the image of a slow-moving tugboat in your head. The moment you begin to cram your words together, mumbling through your pitch at a pace rivaling most auctioneers, will be the moment your potential client loses interest and drops the receiver in your ear. This is especially applicable to those of you with easy-to-mess-up names. Nothing makes you feel less effective than when one of your prospects, somebody whose name you recognize and can associate with his/her organization on the spot, brutalizes your or your company’s title. Take, for example, my associate Lon: Ron, Don, John, Fawn. Or Goomzee: Gooney, Groomzee, Goodzee, Coomzee. To avoid the uncomfortable situation of correcting your new contact, slow down and take the time to pronounce each syllable of every name throughout your conversation.

Beyond simply enunciating and speaking slowly, it’s important not to push your prospect too fast. Don’t be afraid to shoot the breeze; talk about the weather in their area (however cliché it may seem), joke about a recent news story, talk about anything that helps to ease the formality of what is obviously a solicitation. Remember, the purpose of a cold call is not to make a sale, but to secure the opportunity to make a sale. This means your focus should be less on receiving a cut and dry commitment from the prospect, and turned more towards ascertaining their unique needs and wants. By doing this you will not only be better equipped to offer them the most productive proposal possible, but the overall tome of the conversation will be a lot less constricting than the usual cold call. When Joe Smith calls with his fake Cubanos, it is inevitable that you feel tied to the phone for as long as he is pitching his Jersey knock-offs. This is not the way you want potential clients to feel: trapped, under attack, and on the defensive. Instead, keep in mind that they are people, just like you, and enjoy a real, rewarding conversation, just like you. It is, then, your responsibility to come to them in a subservient matter, ready to do whatever you can to help them (and their business) out. This sort of approach will lead to valuable interaction that yields more than just a rejection-sore ear.

So what sets me and my co-workers apart from every other telemarketer interrupting your dinner hour? Well first off my office closes at five. Second: ‘consumer centricity’. When I pick up my phone in the morning, I mentally prepare myself. I remind myself who I am calling, what end result I would like to achieve, and then I put a smile on my face. I realize that my call is probably the last thing these people want to receive, thus my goal is to make the experience as painless as possible for all parties involved. I am polite, I lament their sorrows (most often the weather), and I constantly remind myself to not be too pushy and keep my prospect’s interests in mind. I can take constant rejection, but I have a hard time swallowing a bad referral because of my negligence on the telephone. I hope my lessons learned will help you to be all the cold caller you can be. Happy selling…