Stop The Cold Calling Sweats

There are many places to get free or purchased business leads and once you do, the next step is to start cold calling the names on the list and start selling on the phone. Just the thought of phoning strangers sends me into a cold sweat and the phone seems to weigh 50 pounds every time I attempt to lift the handset to my ear. This approach to prospecting for clients would send most people into a cold sweat and the fear of rejection might be too great to even get the value out of your leads. So why do it all? My approach is to create my own list of prospects based on a criteria of what I believe is the ideal customer. In other words, I'm deciding/qualifying my prospects to ensure that my time is properly invested.

Do they fit the size of company I have had the most success with? For example; the number of employees and annual revenue. I use the 80/20 rule in building my criteria. When I look at my existing customers I generally find that 80% of my revenue is generated by 20% of my customers. These are my "A" clients. Therefore it stands to reason that I should speak to prospects that have the potential to be my "A" customers.

I ask myself what else makes my "A" clients different by looking at the industry they are in, how many years they have been in business, how did I get in the company, what products and services did they start with and what products and services do they purchase today? Do I have a connection with the Decision Maker or Approver of a decision such as sharing an interest or membership in professional or personal organizations, clubs, hobbies, etc? Once I answer all my questions I look for other companies in my selected territory that fit my criteria. Once this list is created I now have my leads to call and all it took was my time. But I still don't pick up the phone and call them just yet.

I look to see if any of my customers can provide me a referral and open the door for me with a great testimonial. I call these leads first.

Once these leads have been contacted I begin to make my calls by starting with I'm a "specialist" in their industry solving problems. I state a problem that appears to be the area that my "A" customers seem to have in common when they moved ahead with my products and services. The lead on the phone generally responds with, "That's interesting, tell me more." And so I do, as a dialog is now created. I don't tell them much, only enough to generate further interest in how I can solve their problem and suggest that we meet as "I will be available this coming Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. how does that work for you?"

I never try to sell anything on the phone. My only objective is to schedule an appointment. Most times the fear we have about cold calling is the fear of not being able to sell someone, a stranger, on the phone. We take the rejection personal. My stance is that I'm not selling. I'm prospecting for "A" clients who need problems solved. If I get a "no" or "not interested" then all I determined was that I did not identify the right problem. I will try them again in a week, this time face to face dropping off some bit of information that they may find beneficial from and about their industry. In my 5 minutes with them I will not try and sell anything but rather ask questions about their business; "how is everything, etc? If there is anything I can help you with just give me a call".

Now, as I keep working these leads I'm no longer calling on strangers. These are people who are now starting to get to know me and every time they see me I give them something that may be helpful to their business. Eventually I identify the right problem and will have created luck for myself. In other words; I will be there at the right time and in the right place to solve their problem.

Remember this: 'Any prospect worth calling on once is worth calling on again'.