Cold Calling 1: Getting off to a Good Start



The is the first in a three-part series on cold calling, the skill of making unsolicited telephone sales calls.
Unsolicited means “not asked for.” So cold calling is the skill of making a sales call to someone who is not expecting you.

Cold calling skills are very useful in many parts of business life. To cold call successfully, you need to be persuasive.
And persuasion is fundamental to business success, whether you are trying to convince a customer to buy something or your
boss or colleagues to accept your point of view.

In today’s listening you’ll here two examples, one bad one good. We’ll listen to the bad one first.

Josh Knight of Nexus Communications International is cold calling Linda Darling, who works for the law firm Drucker and Smythe.
So Linda is Josh’s prospect, or potential customer.


Cold Calling 2: Clarifying Benefits and Making a Pitch

You can always make yourself more persuasive by asking well-considered questions and really listening to the answers. This principle is true whether you are selling a product or an idea. So now we are going to look at some key selling skills: strategically clarifying and summarizing your prospect’s concerns and incorporating them into your pitch to make it more persuasive.

Where we left off in part 1, Steve had just introduced his company’s services and asked Linda a needs analysis question.
Now let’s listen as he clarifies her needs and makes his pitch.

Listening Questions:
1. What’s the main issue or problem that Linda sees with her current system?
2. What does Steve mean by a “one-stop” service?
3. What does Linda suggest instead of meeting with Steve?

Cold Calling 3: Dealing with Objections and Closing the Call

Now, you’ll learn how to deal with several typical kinds of objections that a potential customer might raise.
When Steve first asked for an appointment, Linda didn’t agree right away, did she?
As you know, it’s normal for even a good prospect to give you one or two negative responses, so it’s important to be ready to deal with these and “turn them around” skillfully.

As you listen, pay attention to how Steve turns around Linda’s objections.

Along the way, try to answer the following listening questions.

1. When Steve asks for an appointment, what is Linda’s first response?
2. What is Linda’s second objection?
3. How does Steve deal with Linda’s objections?