Category: References

Getting Started with Cold Calling


Empathy or sympathy?

Imagine for a moment that there’s a little Girl Scout on the street carrying boxes of different flavored cookies, and she is timidly trying to knock on her neighbors’ doors, but worried that somehow she’ll be booed or snubbed and the doors would just be slammed shut in her face after she offers her cookies for just a few cents? Would you, as a marketer, be empathetic with this little girl? Or sympathetic with her?

If you are empathetic with this little Girl Scout, then you might just have an idea of how she’s feeling just before approaching doors. Will her potential customers know that she is on official business and would just be selling cookies for the good of humanity? Will she be able to speak her rehearsed cookie scripts? Will she make her first order?

Little that we know, a lot of grown ups, even professional salespersons, experience anxiety at the mere thought of making their own cold calls. It’s so normal to feel butterflies fluttering up and down your stomach that just thinking of making the call (whether personal or business) could at times make some folks want to throw up.

The dreaded cold call

However, it is important for me to point out a more exact description of what a cold call really is. A cold call is a personal call, it can be a visit or phone call to someone you know a little or someone whom you really don’t know at all. The main reason for the call is to introduce something you are selling for personal or official business.

Others think that a cold call is only to be made to total strangers taken from phonebooks or referrals from other individuals or companies. On the contrary, this cold call can be made to someone you already know or to a prospect you’re already familiar with. It can be someone you met last month at a party or maybe someone introduced to you by a friend and you found him/her to be a good prospect to sell the product to.

That having been said, contacting someone you know will allow you to break the ice for a moment with some preliminary small talk. Either way, you should try to narrow your prospects in the beginning to the point where you feel comfortable; and once you’ve mastered the “comfort zone” technique you can then move on to more challenging prospects… even those you never even thought of approaching before.

Cold-call symptoms

The ordeal you have to go through at first is making that personal – meaning one on one – physical appearance or telepresence. This can make you so tense that you feel like quitting everything. There are even cold calls that make you feel like you want to disappear in a heartbeat.

Even professionals like doctors, lawyers and professors feel the same way; which is why they depend on friends or clients’ referrals for fear of losing their dignity and good name after making an unsuccessful cold call. But believe it or not, one deep breath can help do the trick.

Nothing can be as uncomfortable as prospecting someone for your cold call. The fear of being rejected, shouted at or being made to feel like a fool are roadblocks which keep you from selling. These very real apprehensions can be overcome with the right attitude combined with guarded planning, preparation and if possible – Training. Believe it or not, good salesmanship is an attribute anyone can acquire.

Take a look at these simple tips on how to Cold Call

Be positive, prepared and confident

Always be positive – Remember that cold calling is a powerful business strategy, but you must first be honest with yourself and have a positive disposition (attitude). Your co-workers and the prospects on whom you’re about to make the cold call should be the people to feel positive about. There must be enthusiasm in your voice that people can feel right away.

Prepare to be prepared – It’s just not enough however, to know the procedure and to have the right attitude. Preparation is a very important element in your approach; so you must prepare the list of prospects to be contacted by phone or in person.

Also learn how the introduction should be done and what prospects do; and perhaps the most important part of all is that your product or service should be something that could be of good use/value them. Being well prepared can turn a simple cold call into real solid business.

I am what I am – Never sound too over reactive or appear obviously nervous on the phone or when you shake your prospect’s hand. Never try to be somebody you are really not with an aim to getting the attention you need. Assume that talking to your prospective customer for the first time should be the key to a lasting relationship.

Cool, calm, poised

Calm down – It is important to anticipate rejection and have a response or responses in that event. However it must be understood that although rejection can be really hard to accept, it is never personal and should not be interpreted as an attack on you. Never interpret the refusal of your product/service as a rejection that could put you down and roll back your progress.

Be patient and learn from your mistakes. You will reap a good harvest if you commit yourself to being persistent, because persistency will also help you find a strategy that will work in the long run; so each turn down must be looked at as the next stepping stone. It is your way of “turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones”

The art of questioning – You cannot expect someone to believe you right away and just sign up after describing your company’s objectives, so you have to ask the right questions. Ask what they do correctly and promptly to help you use it along in the conversation. A surefire attention-getter when opening a conversation can be “May I ask you about something Mr./Mrs. prospect?” People want to help and this question lowers their guard.

The next question might be “Can you help me out about this thing sir/ma’am?” This question does not ask for a yes or no answer but would definitely give you a valuable response that you can use all throughout the interaction. If you imagined that the little Girl Scout on the street asked the same types of questions, then she would have left each doorway with 2 less boxes of cookies in her bag!

“How to be Invited for Interviews”

Once the application has been sent and the resume received the next thing that should happen is that the employer will be calling to test communication skills by means of an interview. Allowing yourself to be given the option on which employer is best fitting the applicant is one characteristic of being pro-active. Consider being called by multiple employers for a job interview in a day a good sign. This means that they were really impressed with the documents you submitted, therefore, deserving a personal communication on how most likely an applicant would land the job.

Resumes can present an individual very well. Seventy-five per cent of employers say that applicants with resumes passing their standards would definitely be invited for a job interview. Allow two or more interviews. How? Here are some resumes tips that would give you not only one but more calls for interview:

1. The position that an applicant is interested in should be placed right at the start of the resume. Having this as an objective shows that an applicant is really focused and career oriented tells that he or she knows what is exactly the perfect career for him or her.

2. One of the best significant ways to get the employers’ attention is by using words that are really powerful that denotes strong capabilities of the applicant. An example of this is, instead of writing, “assigned to be”, write instead “in-charge of,” indicating that the applicant has active leadership skills that can be a step to the management position if there is any.

3. A bullet catches the eye of an employer at one look. Use these in itemizing achievements, career highlights, recognition, qualifications, and skills and interests. Words in bullet form forces the employer to read the information provided. These also create more clear space on the paper making the application form or the resume very neat and outstanding.

4. Make sure that the resume is very selective. Only apply for a certain position in one company or organization one at a time. Do not submit resumes with different job interests and positions applied for at one time. This will be a complete waste of time.

5. Ask a pro. Resumes are written with the help of experts who can actually see the applicant’s strengths and opportunities.

Aside from preparing an impressive resume carefully follow and read all the special instructions like how many spaces are provided for a specific answer or the number of words for the answer. Keep in mind that this is also a test to see how well an applicant can follow simple rules. Not only does it have to follow the steps, the application form should also be neat. Handwriting is also being considered and using a black pen will greatly add to the formality of the answer. As much as possible, never use a liquid paper or fold and bend the application form and paper.

When answering, be careful not to leave blanks unless it really does not apply. Use N/A only if necessary. Be truthful with all the answers but this does not mean that you have to provide a complete or thorough answer for every question. Always adapt the answers to the job being applied for. Only provide the skills and recognition received that will be beneficial to the new company or employer. However, see to it that the answers provided indicate the reason of being more qualified than the other applicants.

Choose references that can provide the applicant an objective description and information. Teachers, friends, and previous employers can be willing and honest enough to provide that information. The application form must be consistent with the resume.

“How to be Invited for Interviews”

Once the application has been sent and the resume has been received the next thing that would possibly happen is that the employer will be calling to test communication skills by means of an interview. Allowing oneself to be given the option on which employer is best fitting the applicant is one characteristic of being pro-active. Consider being called by multiple employers for a job interview in a day a good sign. This only means that they were really impressed with the documents submitted, therefore, deserving a personal communication on how most likely an applicant would land on the job.

Resumes can present an individual very well. Seventy-five per cent of employers say that applicants with resumes passing their standards would definitely be invited for a job interview. Allow two or more interviews. How? Here are some resumes tips that would give you not only one but more calls for interview:

1. The position that an applicant is interested in should be placed right at the start of the resume. Having this as an objective shows that an applicant is really focused and career oriented tells that he or she knows what is exactly the perfect career for him or her.

2. One of the best significant ways to get the employers’ attention is by using words that are really powerful that denotes strong capabilities of the applicant. An example of this is, instead of writing, “assigned to be”, write instead “in-charge of,” indicating that the applicant has active leadership skills that can be a step to the management position if there is any.

3. A bullet catches the eye of an employer at one look. Use these in itemizing achievements, career highlights, recognition, qualifications, and skills and interests. Words in bullet form forces the employer to read the information provided. These also create more clear space on the paper making the application form or the resume very neat and astounding.

4. Make sure that the resume is very selective. Only apply for a certain position in one company or organization one at a time. Do not submit resumes with different job interests and positions applied for at one time. This will be a complete waste of time.

5. Ask a pro. Resumes are written with the help of experts who can actually see the applicant’s strengths and opportunities.

Aside from preparing an impressive resume carefully follow and read all the special instructions like how many spaces are provided for a specific answer or the number of words for the answer. Keep in mind that this is also a test to see how well an applicant can follow simple rules. Not only does it have to follow the steps, the application form should also be neat. Handwriting is also being considered and using a black pen will greatly add to the formality of the answer. As much as possible, never use a liquid paper or fold and bend the application form and paper.

When answering, be careful not to leave blanks unless it really does not apply. Use N/A only if necessary. Be truthful will all the answers but this does not mean that you have to provide a complete or thorough answer for every question. Always adapt the answers to the job being applied for. Only provide the skills and recognition received that will be beneficial to the new company or employer. However, see to it that the answers provided indicate the reason of being more qualified than the other applicants.

Choose reference that can provide the applicant an objective description and information, teachers, friends, and previous employers can be willing and honest enough to provide that information. The application form must be consistent with the resume. Since many of these employers standardize and gauge the information the applicant is providing in his application form and resume, these must be full of complete and honest information. This will be their basis when considering to have a one on one interview to see if what they read is true enough. Arm oneself with positive strategies and knowledge to get those invitations for interviews come after you.

Remember that this will also be a marketing tool that any applicant can use for other future job hunting experience.Since many of these employers standardize and gauge the information the applicant is providing in his application form and resume, these must be full of complete and honest information. This will be their basis when considering having a one on one interview to see if what they read is true enough. Arm yourself with positive strategies and knowledge to get those interview invitations coming to you. Remember that this will also be a marketing tool that any applicant can use for other future job hunting experience.