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Sales Therapy 101:
Breaking Your Fear of Cold Calling
By Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game™
Almost every day, visitors to my Unlock The Game™ website click on my live instant-messenger chat button, which invites them to "Ask Ari a selling question."
And do you know what their most common question is?
Yes, you guessed it: "Is there any way I can break through or overcome my fear of cold calling?"
Most of us have at least some resistance to cold calling, and some people I talk with have such a paralyzing visceral and emotional fear of cold calling that they can't even consider doing it.
In some ways, the fear of cold calling is practically an epidemic -- but not the kind of epidemic that gets publicized on TV or in newspapers.
It's a silent and personal one, a psychological struggle that happens in our own hearts and minds.
The fear of cold calling is a painful, daily struggle for many entrepreneurs and salespeople who have been trained in traditional selling techniques.
Traditional sales trainers answer questions about cold calling this way:
"All you have to do is make more phone calls."
"All you have to do is think more positive thoughts."
"Just learn to accept rejection as a normal part of selling."
In other words, "It's your fault that you aren't succeeding in sales."
This is like telling someone who's terrified of jumping off a diving board,
"Don't be a wimp! Just jump!"
In my experience, very few people are able to overcome their fears that way,
because the underlying message is that, if you force yourself to do something
uncomfortable, "just doing it" will magically solve the problem.
But this is a response that shows no understanding at all of the psychological
barriers that underlie the fear of cold calling.
So, how do you overcome your fear of cold calling?
In my opinion, the solution actually is simple, and is based on understanding
three simple concepts:
1. It's Not Your Fault
We can't help thinking there's something wrong with us if other people
keep telling us that something shouldn't be a problem, but our own
inner feelings tell us that we aren't comfortable doing it.
There's a sort of "old boys' club" sales-conditioning mentality prevalent
in English-speaking countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia,
and New Zealand, that says, "I had to suffer to succeed in sales success,
so you need to, too!"
This thinking comes from traditional sales programs that continue to be
the accepted approach to selling.
What you need to understand, though, is that you may fear cold calling
because you have probably been exposed only to traditional
selling approaches, which triggers rejection.
These approaches teach us to make cold calls this way: introduce yourself,
explain what you do, suggest a benefit to the potential client...and then
close your eyes and pray that they won't reply with "Sorry, not interested"
or "Sorry, I'm busy."
If you're still using this traditional approach, you probably hear responses
like these the moment you stop talking.
They're rejections, and what they do us make you feel rejected -- and that's
reason enough to make you dislike, fear, and avoid cold calling.
How can cold calling be a positive experience if rejection
is the most common response you get?
2. Are Your Self-Perceptions Passive or Aggressive?
Whenever I chat with people about the fear of cold calling, they almost
always tell me that they're afraid to make cold calls because they don't
want to be perceived as "aggressive."
This is another part of the internal battle -- they beat themselves up for being
too passive and lacking the confidence to make the next call, but they don't
want to call for fear of being seen as aggressive.
Here's the good news: there is a middle ground between "aggressive" and passive."
It's a place where you can be who you are while still being extremely effective
with cold calling, without ever experiencing rejection again.
Unlock The Game™ shows you how you can be incredibly effective in cold calling without triggering rejection from potential clients. Imagine the possibilities (and the income potential).
3. Learn to Let Your Language Match Your Thinking
If you can center yourself into a place where you can let go of feeling that you
have to go on using traditional cold calling "scripts" and behaviors, you'll find yourself spontaneously using language that you would use in a natural conversation.
Using natural words and phrases -- speaking exactly the way you would with someone
you know, can transform cold calling into a refreshing and productive experience.
And, as you let go of the old-school cold calling model, in which
your product or service is your only way of generating a phone conversation
with a prospect, you'll make the most crucial transition of all: you'll begin thinking
of approaching potential prospects not from your perspective, but from theirs.
What do I mean by that?
Imagine what it would be like if you could hear your prospect's thoughts about
the problems they are having -- and that your solution can solve.
Even more importantly, suppose you could also make note of the words
and phrases they're using as they think about their problems, and that you
could take that language and embed it in your cold calling approach.
"Yes, but how would I do that?" you might ask.
It's simple. Just ask your current clients what three core problems
your product or service has solved for them.
When you change your thinking, you can't help changing the language
that you use, which lets you connect in a whole new positive way
with the other person you are calling.
If you can let go of your old-school belief system and open up to the possibility
that there is a more natural, comfortable way to cold call -- one that doesn't
trigger rejection -- you'll be surprised by how easily you'll break through
and overcome your fear of cold calling.
To Your Success,
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Is Selling Painful For You?
It's not your fault -- and there is a better way
Is this how selling is
starting to feel like for you?
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Old "tried and true" cold calling and sales techniques that were once successful have completely lost their effectiveness over the years. That's why I developed a new sales mindset and cold calling approach that will quickly and automatically put you ahead of the game and instantly in a league above your competition.
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OLD SALES GURU MYTH # 1 - "Cold calling is a numbers game." But, sales is only a numbers game when all you know is traditional selling. Yes, you can call people over and over, chase them until they listen to you so that you just go away. However there is a better - easier method of building trust and getting your product or service message across - all on one call. Simply by changing your sales approach you'll make FEWER CALLS and MORE SALES.
OLD SALES GURU MYTH # 2 - "Use a sales script to cold call." People can tell when you're reading from a script, even if you think you're pretty good at it and getting away with it. There's nothing personal about it and people can pick that up. Being artificial just puts you into the typical "Salesperson" category. If you can learn to get your message across in a different way, you'll eliminate the negative triggers that can lose your sale within seconds.
OLD SALES GURU MYTH # 3 - "Focus on closing the sale." Are you "going in for the kill" with your closing sale technique? - If you are, you could end up killing your deal instead. Old sales techniques do nothing more than pressure the client or prospect, and as a result they naturally want to retreat away from that pressure - and that pressure is you. By learning to avoid the "push and pull" dynamic between you and your prospect, you'll be able to move the sales process forward to get the result you want.
Welcome to Unlock The Game™
Unlock The Game is a radically honest sales and cold calling approach based on integrity and common sense. It challenges traditional sales thinking and helps you achieve better sales results.
It's the missing link -- a new mindset and language that converts selling into a natural conversation between you and your prospect.
It offers you a new way of thinking about selling, from cold calling -- the most dreaded selling experience of all -- to the end of the sales process.
You don't have to abandon the selling skills you already know -- Unlock The Game gives you a new approach and new tools to help you let go of old behaviors that bring you negative results.
It's incredibly effective.
Best of all, it's easy to learn.
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"Unlock The Game is a breakthrough that takes the rejection out of selling"
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"In a new age of frustrating and difficult selling challenges, more specifically the fear of cold calling, and starting new conversations without feeling rejected, Unlock The Game gives us all the answers to a natural way of engaging new prospects over the phone. Keep up the good work Ari!"
Brian Tracy is a leading authority on personal and business success. As Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, he is the best-selling author of 17 books and over 300 audio and video learning programs. |
Brian Tracy |
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