Four Keys to Making Your Cold Call Stress-Free
by Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game®

From the traditional point of view, cold calling conversations should constantly lead towards making a sale. We’ve been given only one path to follow, and that’s getting a “yes.” 

This is why our language and energy feels stilted.  We aren’t being genuine, and we aren’t inviting the other person to tell us the truth about where they stand. 

Here are four powerful reasons to relax and stop trying to force cold calls into sales:

1.  When we’re carrying “forward energy momentum,” others feel pressured  

Most cold calls break down the moment potential clients feel a lot of “forward energy momentum.”  That’s because it brings a feeling of being pressured.  Noone likes to feel even a little manipulated, and that’s what pressure is all about. 

Sales pressure is a mighty saboteur that comes in all shapes, sizes, and flavors.  Making any cold call with the anticipation of a sale puts the whole conversation under pressure.  This doesn’t normally create good outcomes. It triggers resistance and tension.

2.  Anticipation of a sale blocks the flow of normal conversation

Most of us truly believe that our product or service can help others, so we assume that anyone who fits the profile of a potential client should buy what we have to offer.  Isn’t that one of the first things we learn in our sales training?

But this is a recipe for disaster when it comes to cold calling. When we make a cold call presuming someone will be interested, we’ve automatically moved into expectations.  This means we’re focused on trying to “guide” the conversation into a sale. Genuine dialogue goes into the back seat, and sales pressure climbs to the front. 

Move away from making any assumptions when making cold calls. After all, how much sense is it to have assumptions about someone you’ve never spoken with? How much can you possibly know about their problems, issues, needs, budget, or other key information?
If you approach your cold calls from a place of genuine interest rather than expectations, both of you will relax and the interaction will flow naturally. 

3.  When you explore whether you’re a “fit,” then you stop chasing invisible sales

If you’re always focused just on making the sale, then you’ll miss the signals that a prospect isn’t really going to buy from you. You find yourself chasing phantom sales and wasting a lot of energy.  You can diffuse this by first determining whether you and the potential client are a good fit.  Invite the other person to focus on this with you. Determine together whether a good business relationship might genuinely be possible.

When our honest objective is not to make a sale but rather discover the truth of the situation, we’re less likely to get carried away with “possibilities and potentials,” and more likely to hear the truth of what’s being said.  We can disengage from people who really don’t intend to buy from us, and focus instead on potential clients who have a problem we can solve. 

4.  When we’re always trying to close the sale, sincere interest doesn’t have the chance to participate in the conversation

Whenever our aim is to “get the sale,” we can’t relax and let the other person move things forward.  We’re high energy and full of pressure.  This means our potential client is always responding or reacting, rather than initiating anything.  When all you’re thinking about is leading the conversation to a "next step," you're trying to do two things at once. You're trying to have a sincere conversation while still controlling the outcome.  Your potential clients can feel this conflict. They feel suspicious and react by holding back the truth of their situation.  They simply don’t trust your intentions.

When you release any hidden agenda with moving your conversation toward a close, people feel that you’re focused on their needs and issues.  They begin to trust you.  Thus, they will share truthfully what their real needs are and whether your product is a fit for them. 

When you’re not focused exclusively on making the sale, then you can close with the phrase, “Well, where do you think we should go from here?”  This gives the green light for your potential clients to share clearly where they stand with you. 

You’ll be amazed at how often your prospect is the one who sets the appointment.

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 I am a... 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