Even the word cold can be an off putter for most when it comes to calling potential prospects. Who even labelled it as Cold Calling? I try to think of it as calling hot prospects. Why? Because I do my research before hand and I know I can offer these clients something that will value them. That’s not cold. It’s called adding value to someone who maybe doesn’t even realise they have a problem that needs solving yet.

Research is one of the most important elements of getting recruitment calling right. If you don’t target the right people it won’t matter if you have the best product in the world. If the person doesn’t have a problem where your product is the solution then forget it. It’s all about adding value. If you stop looking at your customers as dollar signs and start looking at how you can help them the dollars will be a natural by product.

Drawing up your prospect list

1. Brainstorm the benefits of your product.

2. Brainstorm all the problems your product has the solution for.

3. Brainstorm all the Businesses or types of people that have the problems or could potentially have the problems you listed.

4. Now go make your list.

Preparing for the call.

1. Google the Business and get to know them a bit more and what their values are.

2. Find out who the best person is to talk to i.e. the decision maker.

Relationship Building through Listening and Interrogation

Your objective for your call is to firstly ensure you understand that the company or individual has one of the problems you can solve and secondly to ensure they are very clear that this problem needs solving. To do that you need to ask the appropriate questions and listen actively to bring the problem to the surface.

You need to listen for what’s different no for what’s familiar. Treat each client as unique and this will help you communicate with them on a personal level. You need to create a situation where the person will tell you more about their issues, concerns and needs.

The biggest problem most people have when recruitment calling is that they talk too much and listen only to what they want to hear. You only have a small amount of time so there is a tendency to rush through to the end as quickly as possible.

‘Wisdom is what you get from a lifetime of listening when you’d rather have been talking’ Aristotle

Research has indicated that the less you talk, the more you listen. The more you listen the more impact you have. The more impact you have the more interesting and wise you come across.

How do I interrogate properly?

Explain in brief what you are calling for. Explain your objective is to add value to clients and maybe a few small examples of how you have done that before but in order to find out if you can add value to that person or Business you would like to have a very open conversation with them to establish if what you have is

1. Appropriate and

2. If they want to take advantage of what you have to offer.

Start with using you open questions. “How” “where” “which” will help you ask an open question.

Use things like

– ‘How do you see this problem?’

– ‘Tell me about your views on that’

– ‘What key issues do you see?’

– ‘Where do your priorities lie?’

When they are talking use probers and clarifiers to highlight the bits you need highlighted particularly around the problem.

– ‘Give me an example of that’

– ‘What effects will that have?’

– ‘Why is that such an issue?’

Summarise with closed questions

– As I understand you have xx problem is that right?

– It has the following impacts on you?

– As you see it your solution is to?

– If I told you I have solved this solution for other companies and have a solution for you would you be interested?

Remember people have hundreds, maybe even thousands of sales calls every year. You need to be unique, genuinely concerned in the individual and if you don’t have something that will be valuable to them then don’t try to sell it to them. All you do is set yourself up for rejection and destroy your reputation.

When you do add value to someone then be sure to ask them to tell a friend, a family member and a Business colleague about how you helped and what you do. If everyone you added value to tell 3 other people then you are getting free advertisement. Word of mouth is the strongest form of marketing.

One last thing. It is a great idea to call your customers at least once after you have sold them a product. This helps you collect feedback, maintain relationships and show good customer service. It can even lead to other sales and most definitely retention of existing customers.

Remember extraordinary customer care sells.

If you have an Online Business and you are struggling with your Marketing and converting your leads then you might want to take advantage of a full training programme that covers everything from getting prospects to turning them into sales. Go to www.businesswealthwithroberta.com. It will show you how to sell anything to anyone anywhere in the world.

Author Bio: I’ve been a Sales Coach/Manager for many years. The words cold calling sent most people running. Prospecting is one of the most valuable sources to gain quality customers. If you have an Online Business and struggling to get prospects or convert them then click here.

Category: Business
Keywords: Cold Calling Coaching, Cold Calling questions, Cold Calling structure, Cold Calling