Friday, November 21, 2008

Cold Calling Mistakes - 8 Tips To NOT Do!

By Brian McCoy

1) Understand The Call Goal

Before you even pick up the phone, you need to have a clear idea of your intention and goal for the call. Do you have a direction that you want your prospect to head in after speaking to you? If you do not have a vision for your call, you are unlikely to achieve the end result that you want.

2) Don't Give It All Away Too Fast

This goal is simple. Do not give away all of your goods without knowing if the person will even take the time to look at them. If they want you to just send them the information so that they can get you off of the phone, don't do it. Do some digging to see what their level of interest is, or if they're 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 want to get a good idea about what your prospect thinks, you need to listen up. Make sure to ask questions, rather than monopolize the whole conversation. If you don't listen, you won't have success.

5) Avoid Making Your Fears Theirs

Although you might think that someone is pushing you off because they are busy at the moment does not mean that they don't want to speak to you. Request a better time to reach them and then call them back at that time.

6) Failing To Ask Enough Questions

There are things that you need to know about your prospect to qualify them, but also make sure to find out about what they want you to know. People love to talk about themselves, their families, and things of interest to them. You will build rapport with them by being interested in what interests them.

7) Not Being Prepared

You would not go into an important presentation and wing it, and the phone is no different. Spend some time role playing with a friend or your spouse. You want to grab your prospect's attention, not turn them off with you stumbling over your words.

8) Ask For What You Want

You want to push your client to action. Ask them to do their due diligence and research what you're telling them. By asking them to do something for you, you will be creating an opportunity for a callback to make sure that they have followed through with their end of the deal.

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