Doomed Before You Dial?

Several weeks ago, I conducted a “Mastering the Cold Call”
seminar for the Printing Industries of Connecticut and
Western Massachusetts. At the end of the seminar, a
participant came up to me and said, “Thank you! I learned
so much! I learned ‘Don’t Take No for an Answer.’” Another
participant standing to his side exclaimed, “No! What I
learned is, ‘Don’t Make No Your Answer!’”

How often do you do that-especially on an introductory
call? How often do you project your fears and insecurities
onto the prospect you are calling and decide that you are
doomed before you dial?

The definition of a cold call or an introductory call is
that you are calling a stranger. This stranger could be
having a good day-or a bad day. This stranger could be warm
and friendly or brusque and dismissive. There is no way of
determining this ahead of time. Beware of doing a mind read
of your stranger/prospect and basing your subsequent
actions on what you think your prospect is thinking.

“I don’t like calls on Monday morning”-therefore, no one
likes calls on Monday mornings. This leaves out all the
people who actually like calls on Monday mornings because
that’s when they plan their calendars for the week.

“I know my prospect is avoiding me.” How do you know this?
How could your prospect be avoiding you? Your prospect
doesn’t even know you.

We all have choices. You can choose to believe that your
prospect does not want to speak with you, is busy and not
interested, or you can choose to believe that your prospect
will enjoy hearing from you and will be open to what you
have to say. The first belief is self-limiting and does not
serve you. The second belief leaves you free to pursue new
business.

The emotional “baggage” that you bring to introductory
calling influences your attitude, which you then project in
your conversation. Your prospect can hear if you feel
unsure, afraid or uncomfortable, in the same way that you
can pick up on those uneasy feelings when speaking with
someone. On some level, you help create the attitude of the
person to whom you are speaking. If your expectation is
that your call will be unwelcome, this will make you
anxious and tentative. Your prospect will pick up on that,
and it will be likely to make her less receptive to you.

Put another way, there are the facts and there are the
stories we tell ourselves about the facts. The facts are:
You need to make some introductory calls. You will pick up
the telephone and make a call. You will either reach your
prospect or not. If you reach your prospect, you’ll say
what you have to say. Your prospect will say what she has
to say. And that’s it. Those are the facts.

The story: I’m interrupting my prospect. My prospect does
not want to hear from me. My prospect already has a vendor.
My prospect is avoiding me. My prospect hates me… And on
and on…

It is time to change your story. I invite you to use my
introductory calling story until you create a better one of
your own. My story: I will reach my prospect, who will be
delighted to hear from me. We will have a good
conversation. I will get what I ask for.

Wishing you all introductory calling success!

—————————————————-
Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” is a sales
trainer, author and sales coach who helps entrepreneurs,
business owners and sales professionals gain confidence,
reach more prospects, close more sales and make more money!
Pick up her free report, ‘How to Write an Effective Cold
Calling Script’  at http://www.queenofcoldcalling.com and
create a compelling script that grabs and holds your
prospect’s attention