Cold calling: More strategic way!

Cold calling typically refers to the first telephone call made to a prospective customer. More unusually these days, cold calling can also refer to calling face-to-face for the first time without an appointment at commercial premises or households. Cold calling is also known as canvassing, telephone canvassing, prospecting, telephone prospecting, and more traditionally in the case of consumer door-to-door selling as 'door-knocking'.

Good cold calling - performed properly and not as merely an indiscriminate 'numbers game' - is a fundamental and highly transferable capability, whose basic principles are found in the behaviours and techniques of all great entrepreneurs and leaders.

In essence cold calling is the art of approaching someone, professionally, openly and meaningfully, with a sensible proposition.

Cold calling therefore enables success, chiefly because cold calling is strongly focused on initiative and action.

Viewed positively and creatively , cold-calling is empowering and potent.

Cold calling actually enables the sales person to follwing:

• Supersede existing suppliers
• Pre-empt the competition
• Identify and create huge new business possibilities
• Become indispensable as someone who can make things happen and create new business
• Build (your) personal reputation beyond job title and grade
• Establish relationships and a respect (for you) beyond normal sales responsibilities
• And be an entrepreneur.

So, do you want to be the human equivalent of junk-mail, or do you want to achieve entrepreneurial reputation and success that will take you anywhere you want to go?

Steps in Cold calling:

1.Preparation - self, environment, knowledge, and who you represent

2.Introduction - key phrases explaining and positioning yourself and your purpose

3.Questioning - help, facilitate and enable rather than assume, sell and push

4.Objectivity - the mark of an advisor - do not sell

5.Listen and interpret - do not sell

6.Inform and educate - do not sell

7.Involve and coordinate - do not sell

8.Keep in touch - keep notes and keep informed - keep ultimate ownership (by now you will probably be selling)

In next few blogs we will discuss one by one it's steps in more details.......So till keep calling.

                                                                                               (Source: Mr.Alan Chapman BusinessBalls)