Cold Calling: Asking a stranger for directions
Over this weekend, one of my followers on Twitter asked if there were a way to cure phone phobia. She had been struggling to overcome the fear of using the telephone in business.
The only advice I could offer her was: Calling a stranger on the telephone is like asking a stranger for directions during a journey when you’re unsure of how to reach your destination.
Having sent that message out on Twitter, a handful of people replied or sent me a direct message saying that they liked the analogy and could relate to it.
If you are struggling to pick up the telephone and make those important calls, remember all you’re doing is looking for some facts. You’re on a mission to gather some information. How much information you’re able to gather will be in direct relation to the rapport that you create with the people on the other end of the phone.
To overcome the fear of making cold calls, one highly recommended and effective way is to call some people you haven’t spoken with in six months or more. These people could be friends, family or former colleagues. Better still, they could be suppliers, clients (past or present), or contacts you’ve met or spoken with before but been unwilling or unable to follow up effectively.
Whatever your situation I hope you find these tips helpful and easy to apply. Often what holds us back is not the thing we need to do, but what we think of it. To quote Shakespeare: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”.
Copyright: Shaun Gisbourne 2009
Call +44 208 133 0702 or +44 203 348 8702
Email: shaun@phoneforbusiness.com
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I like this analogy - maybe if more poeple treated telemarketing as ‘looking for facts’ rather than ’selling at someone’ they’d be better at it, and the industry wouldn’t have such a bad reputation…
My wife is in telesales and runs a team of thirty. She always advises that speaking on the phone is much easier than face to face as you can always put the phone down. I’m not keen on phoning prospects and tend to do the ‘easy’ calls first to build up coinfidence not sure if that’s the right way but it works for me.
Thank you Nikki. Without the full facts regarding a situation there is no basis for a sale. Rapport and building trust is important. Just because people holding the same title or role in other organisations have worked successfully with you to resolve certain issues doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be able to work with the person you’re speaking with, even if they have the same issues.
Daniel, your wife is right in many ways. Try telling some people that using the phone is easier than speaking face to face and they’ll say things like “I don’t have the visual cues telling me how the other person is thinking or feeling” or some other reason. If your approach works effectively enough for you to continue doing it, carry on. Thank you very much for your comment.