Saturday, November 29, 2008

Cold Calling Mistakes - 8 Tips To Avoid

By Brian McCoy

1) Understand The Call Goal

Before you even dial the phone, you should have a clear understanding of your call's purpose and what your end goal is. What direction do you want your potential client to head in after the call? If you fail to plan, you won't achieve the goal for your call.

2) Find Out Their True Interest Level

When your prospect says, "Send me some information," that does not translate into them reading that information. Do not oblige them and send information just as a means to get off of the phone. Find out if they really want the information, or if they are just trying to get rid of you.

3) Bad Telephone Etiquette

We all know what good etiquette is, but sometimes we don't even realize when we're not following it. Avoid smacking your gum, eating, multi-tasking, or having distractions in the background while you're making calls. Not only will it be distracting to the prospect, but also to you.

4) Listen Up

If you are struggling to get a read on your prospect, just listen to them. It is easy to monopolize a conversation without even knowing that you are doing it. To get the best insight into your prospect, listen to them. If you don't, you are unlikely to be successful.

5) Don't Make Your Fears Theirs

Just because your client is busy at the moment does not mean that they do not ever want to talk to you. Do not read negativity into somewhere that it is not. Just because you are afraid that they don't want to talk to you, doesn't mean that they don't.

6) Not Asking Enough Questions

There are certain things that you want to find out about a person to know whether or not you would even want to do business with them. So ask some questions. People love to discuss themselves, their families, and other areas of interest to them. People will respond more favorably to you if you show an interest in them.

7) Be Prepared

You would be foolish to enter into an important presentation with little to no preparation. The phone is absolutely no different. Take some time to think over what you have to say. It might also be helpful to role play with a friend or loved one. Find out what areas you need to work on and smooth out the rough spots.

8) Ask For What You Want

You need to give your prospect a call to action. You want them to follow up with what you're telling them by having them do their own due diligence. By asking them to do something for you, you can then follow up with them and see what their own research turned up. - 15431

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