Does it ever feel like your phone weighs a thousand pounds and, and you really don’t want to pick it up?
Probably many people’s least favorite thing to do in business is making cold calls. So I’m going to share with you some ideas on how to overcome cold feet when cold calling.
First of all, I invite you to examine your attitude about selling anyway. Do you feel like it’s pushy and annoying and offensive and manipulative and sleazy? If that’s the way you feel about it, why would you want to do it?
So I’m inviting you to try out what I call an 180 degree attitude adjustment that I think will be much more helpful when you think about connecting with people.
Instead of thinking of selling as being something that’s solely for your benefit; it’s really a service. If you have something that’s of value to other people and you’re keeping it a secret, you’re doing a tremendous disservice to the people who need what you have to offer.
Why do we get such cold feet when it comes to making cold calls?
First of all, when you are calling people from a list you got from somewhere, it’s a waste of your time. The vast majority of those people are usually not a good fit for what you have to offer.
And then the timing always works against you because if people actually do pick up the phone and answer you, it’s often the wrong time for them. And even if it isn’t the wrong time, they can certainly use it as an excuse to say it’s the wrong time and it puts you in a negative light.
It really feels kind of rude to call people and interrupt them in the middle of whatever, and it makes getting a sale much harder.
Time is something we can never get back again. So cold calling is a big waste of time–besides being very discouraging, which is why we don’t want to do it.
So what’s the solution to all of these issues? Don’t make cold calls.
“Wow,” you may be thinking. “I thought that making cold calls was necessary to be successful in business. Don’t make cold calls? What in the world is this woman thinking about?”
My suggestion is that you warm up the connection first before you pick up the phone.
How do you do that? You do it with effective self-marketing.
The first technique to use is when you meet people in person. This is the easiest way to warm people up before you call them. When you meet people in various situations, you can request the cards of the people with whom it’s important to connect. This is a really important. I want you to take it to heart.
The person with the card is the only one who controls the follow-up. Have you ever heard someone say, “Give me your card, I’ll give you a call.” Sure! When a certain part down below freezes over, you’ll hear from this person–maybe.
So right then and there you can invite the people that you think are good prospects for you to take out their phones and make an appointment right on spot. As a result, you have got the connection and the promise and it’s not a cold call.
Or if they say they don’t have their calendar or can’t do it right then, you can ask permission to send them an email so that the two of you can connect easily. That’s important to do because there’s no reason to turn a warm meeting into a cold call when you don’t have to.
Email is a second effective self-marketing technique.
There’s something that’s wonderful about email. It doesn’t interrupt people at the wrong time. It’s not rude. This is something you can use to warm up people you met some time ago and never followed up with or with people that you think would be good prospects.
It’s a good idea to use a subject line that will be a teaser and get people interested enough that they will actually open your email. That’s crucial because open rates have gone down tremendously in recent years. The more emails people get, the fewer they seem to open.
And given that you will create an effective subject line, the people who are getting it know what it’s about. If it’s of interest they will open it; and if it’s not of interest, they won’t.
But they’re not saying no to you personally so you don’t get insulted or feel personally rejected. Plus you totally avoid people’s fear of being sold when you send an email.
It doesn’t waste anyone’s time including yours because when you create a good email, you can send the same one to a bunch of people–but please!! Email each person separately, not in a bulk email.
And if they’re interested, they’ll respond. And if they don’t respond, you can follow up with a phone call asking them if they had a chance to see the information you had shared in the email you sent a few days before.
So while that may not be the warmest call you ever make, it certainly isn’t a cold one!
You will find more ways to warm up cold calls waiting for you in the video. Good luck!
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