There are only three ways to generate leads -- marketing, networking, and cold calling. But you must use them together. Used separately, no one method generates enough of the right types of leads.
There's just one problem -- most salespeople hate cold calling because it is so labor intensive and can be frustrating when it doesn't work. But cold calling directly can make you rich.
If you look at the top-paying jobs in the United States, at least three of them (insurance sales, stockbroker, and technology sales) require cold calling. There is a direct link between top sales income and cold calling.
So why do most salespeople fail at cold calling? Most salespeople fail because they pick up the phone and put their value last when they speak. They are focused on talking to prospects like a vendor, not a peer. Prospects don't care about you, they only care about how you can help them. Saying your company name immediately on the phone or talking about what product or service you are selling are commodity cold calling methods that almost always fail.
The key to success
So how can you ensure that you don't fail at cold calling? Try these five tips.
1. Before you start cold calling, develop your top 10 sales objections list (with answers) that you anticipate you will hear. These will be different de-pending on the type of prospect you're trying to sell to. If you are selling to a finance manager in an auto dealership, their sales objections will be different from a retired couple thinking about buying an annuity.
2. When cold calling prospects, always talk to prospects about how your product or service drives business or personal results -- not the product or service itself.
3. Never use your company's name immediately in your phone call. Each word you say and don't say paints a visual brochure in the mind of the prospect, and often, prospects will jump to conclusions (sometimes incorrectly) about what they think you are trying to sell them based on your company name. Always remember: value first, company name or brand second.
4. When cold calling prospects, develop a prospect dictionary ahead of time in which you list words that are important to your buyers. Use these words during your phone call so they see themselves in you. This is called parallel imaging. If you are selling to a vice president of finance in a manufacturing company, then use words that a vice president of finance would use. If you are selling to a single working mother, use the words that a single working mother would use. Sound and act like a peer, not a vendor, and you will always sell more.
5. To increase your prospect's attention span on the phone, develop a unique sales value proposition to describe how you can help them.
And how do you develop a unique sales value proposition?
Unique sales value propositions are communication hooks that allow you to put your value first and show prospects how you can help them and why you are different from your competitors.
When salespeople say, "We have great service," "We are customer-centric," or "Our offerings are the best," they just sound like their competition. When salespeople market and sell like their competitors, they become identical to their competitors. Then, they have to price their product or service equal to or less than their competition to avoid losing prospects.
Sales value propositions allow you to bypass this commodity position. Here are five guidelines to help you develop a sales value proposition that will get your foot in the door.
1. Your sales value proposition should be short and use no more than five to seven words.
2. When developing your sales value proposition, you should always use the word "specialist." The word "expert" is almost a legal certification, and prospects see the word "specialist" as a separate category that you don't immediately have to prove. So if you sell health insurance to associations, you are not an insurance salesperson -- you are an association member benefits improvement specialist.
3. Your sales value proposition should use vertical market industry words so prospects see themselves.
4. Inside your sales value proposition, describe how your offering increases income, decreases expenses, manages your prospect's risks, or makes your prospect's life better.
5. Never use your industry's technical or trade words inside sales value propositions. Your industry's trade words are commodity words and scare prospects way.
Use sales value propositions in your cold calling script and you will increase your prospect penetration. Avoid cold calling, and you will never be a rich salesperson.
Paul DiModica is a speaker, consultant, and author. He also president of DigitalHatch (www.digitalhatch.com), a sales and marketing advisement firm, and publisher of the best-selling book "Value Forward Selling -- How To Sell Management." Mr. DiModica also is editor of the strategy newsletter BDM News.
