A New Approach to Making Cold Calls

Cold sales calls are a tricky minefield to navigate for most sales professionals. If you type "why people hate sales calls" into Google, you'll get nearly 3 million hits! The titles range from the mild, "How Not to Make Sales Calls," to the downright angry, as in "I Hate Sales People."

A handful of experts suggest that sales callers should be brutally honest in their pitches by owning up to the fact that it's a sales call right up front, acknowledging that everyone hates sales calls, and promising never to call again if after 30 seconds you are still not interested. This approach hasn't really caught on, however.

There are several basic reasons why people hate sales calls. Here are four, from the point of view of the person receiving the calls.

1. Sales reps are seen as being untrustworthy. Car salesmen are generally seen as the least trustworthy.

2. As soon as they close a sale, some sale reps have no need for you anymore. They go from being a concerned partner to forgetting you altogether.

3. Sales reps have a reputation for not listening. Many potential customers feel like the rep's only interest is in "making their numbers."

4. They are not always available when needed. This is not entirely fair, to blame an entire profession on the sales floor associate at a department store who disappeared after offering to find you the right size slacks, but there it is.

With all the negativity associated with cold calls, any sales rep has a deficit of friendliness to overcome before he or she can even get the call recipient's attention.

That is why sometimes the best strategy is to turn the usual cold call paradigm upside down. The problem is, the "fake it until you make it" approach won't work here. If a potential customer thinks that you are only putting on an act by asking about their needs, they'll dislike you even more. In order for cold calls to be seen as less intrusive, they actually have to

be less intrusive. Pretending won't work.

How does a sales representative accomplish this? Here are four steps to diffusing the hostility that so often springs up as soon as a potential customer realizes you are making a sales call.

1. Rather than opening with a spiel about yourself, your products, and how they will improve the customer's life, it is better to make the call take place in

their world. To do this, you open with a question. That question should not be the typical, "How are you this afternoon, Miss Jones?" Nobody thinks for one moment that that is a genuine question. Instead, try something like, "I'm calling to see if your company has had problems with losing revenue because of vendor overcharges."

You'll run the risk that everything is fine and dandy with the vendors, but if they are having problems, suddenly you're inside their world with them, helping them face a real problem.

Do not let the "making the numbers" tone of voice enter into the conversation. As soon as the potential customer thinks you see him or her as another check-mark on your list, they will probably shut down the conversation.

2. People can detect fake enthusiasm a mile away. It is a huge turn-off for a person to answer the phone only to find a stranger who is unnaturally enthusiastic about a product or service on offer that will improve their life or business when that stranger can't possibly know the potential customer's needs. It is OK to acknowledge that you don't know much about the person you are calling. If your reason for calling piques their interest, allow them to guide the conversation, even if it doesn't strictly adhere to protocol.

3. Focus on solving one specific problem, even if you're not sure what that problem is. Make the conversation about them instead of you, and listen. If you can identify a specific problem you can address, then you can subtly offer up your solution to that problem. This is much better than rattling off a list of products and services that may or may not be relevant to them. When that happens, the call is no longer about them, and most people will resent it.

4. Let the customer guide the "solution" phase of the conversation. Involve them in the solution by saying, "What could we do to address the problems your department is having with lack of training support?" It may be a problem that they have mulled over for months, simmering with resentment that upper management is cold to their ideas. If you're on their side, they're much more likely to at least listen to what you have to say. The key is to lead the potential customer to their own conclusion on how to solve their particular problem, and to be receptive to their ideas.

The standard "foot in the door," or "door in the face" sales techniques are tedious if not downright provoking to people who have faced high pressure sales tactics either at work or at home. You have to set yourself apart by making a cold call be about

them, and about

their needs, rather than about your need to make your numbers for the month. Besides, if you make the customer feel as if he or she solicited the solution with your help, then you're more likely to have a loyal customer rather than one who simply wants to get you off the phone as soon as possible.