Confident at Cold Calling? A Reality Check on Positive Thinking
by Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game®

Before you make a cold call, do you “gear up” first? Do you get excited about your product or service, and try to anticipate making the sale?

Well, if you’re following the old traditional cold calling mindset, that’s probably what you’ve been trained to do. But what you don’t know is that enthusiasm and confidence usually backfire on you.

Why? Because you’re talking with someone who doesn’t know you. Think about how you’d feel if someone you don’t know approaches you with a lot of zest and enthusiasm. You’ll probably take a step back. You’re a little suspicious and somewhat on the defensive in the face of all that enthusiasm.

It’s the same when you make cold calls. People don’t like the feeling of being pressured, and that’s usually what gets triggered when you approach someone with too much confidence. It’s called “positive thinking” in the old sales training strategies, but really, it’s overconfidence.

Here are two things for you to consider the next time you start to dial the phone:

1. Artificial sales enthusiasm is – artificial

When I’m coaching someone, many times I like to ask them to role-play with me. And often, just as soon as they move into their cold call presentation, everything changes. Their natural voice tone shifts, and they sound like a totally different person from the one who called and talked so naturally with me about their sales issues.

You see, sometimes just the idea of making a cold call causes you to talk more loudly, and with a lot of “forward energy momentum.”

But most cold calls break down the moment the other person feels all that enthusiasm. Why? Because with high enthusiasm, prospects feel sort of boxed in. They feel the pressure of your expectations. They feel pushed by someone they don’t know, and who knows nothing about them.

So it’s much better to talk in a natural, conversational way, just as if you were talking with a friend. When you’re being a relaxed and natural, the difference is amazing.

2. Assumptions feel like presumptions

The old cold calling approach encourages you to be confident that the person you’re calling should seriously consider buying what you have to offer. It’s a taken-for-granted assumption that if they fit your profile, your product or service should be a “fit” for them.

But really, how much sense does it make to have assumptions about someone you've never spoken with, much less had a conversation with? How much can you possibly know about their problems, issues, needs, time frame, budget, decision making process, or other key information?

Can you imagine how it feels to the person on the other end of the phone when you presume to know what’s “best” for them? They don’t know you, and they don’t trust you.  So people naturally move into a defensive place.

So it’s best to move away from making any assumptions when you make your cold calls. Approach your prospects from a modest, humble position. Avoid coming to the conversation already convinced in your own mind that they should be a fit. This way, you'll eliminate sales pressure, which triggers that defensive reaction.

Completely eliminating assumptions and high enthusiasm in your cold calling will help people relate to you as a real person instead of a negative-type “pushy” salesperson. And you’ll find that they’ll usually respond much more warmly and naturally.

To your success,

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? 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. 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.   "Unlock The Game is a breakthrough that takes the rejection out of selling"   "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  Want to learn more? Get FREE Access to The Teleseminar That Put the Old 'Sales Gurus'  Back Into Sales Pre-School!      Learn how to:   Make less cold calls - and get better results   Rip up your sales script and easily get your message across    Change from the "Dreaded Salesperson" to a trusted advisor in a matter of minutes    Get rid of your "Fear of Phone" once and for all    Stop chasing prospects and gain the respect you deserve  Take The Free Test Drive:  Enter your First Name, Last Name, Primary Email, Phone Number, Industry, Country below to get the first of your 10 free Unlock The Game cold calling audio mini-lessons: Country AustraliaUnited StatesCanadaFrance Germany Ireland IsraelThe Netherlands New Zealand SingaporeSouth Africa United Kingdom Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma (Myanmar) Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Columbia Comoros Congo Democratic Republic Costa Rica Cote d'lvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador East Timor Egypt El Salvador England Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland Gabon The Gambia Georgia Ghana Great Britain Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Italy Jamacia Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati North Korea South Korea Kosovo Kuwait Kyruyzstan Laos Latvia Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Lebanon Libya Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands AntillesNicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Northern Ireland Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian State Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent & The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome & Principe Saudi Arabia Scotland Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine Unated Arab Emirates Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam Western Sahara Wales Yemen Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe  To your success,    Email to a Friend   Print this Page