The New Sales Prospecting Weapon

How the phone has become the most important business tool we own.

Alright “outside salesperson,” what in the world are you supposed to do now? You long for the time when your day was composed of a few morning pop-by visits to current customers, an hour of drivetime talk radio on your way to a client lunch at Chili’s, followed by a few “checking-in” visits with some old clients to wrap up the day.

Remember how great it was to shake a hand, make a friend, and grab a purchase order? Hey, I’m with you. Regardless of what they tell us, the DNA of an outside salesperson is engineered to like/love interacting with clients and industry friends. How are we supposed to grow our business when we can’t even hang out with them?

Here’s the answer: While nothing is as effective as an old-fashioned live visit and a handshake, the phone has now become the most important business tool we own. Yea, I know it sounds so 1980s, but now more than ever it’s our most important weapon. We just have to be better at using it. Make more powerful cold prospecting phone calls than ever, with the objective of creating enough curiosity to have them commit to a virtual presentation. More calls done more effectively will lead to more Zoom presentations. And more Zoom presentations (done well) will lead to more purchase orders.

The reason many outside salespeople don’t love cold calling is that they feel pressure. And pressure is what salespeople feel when they aren’t sure what to say. Let’s give you six steps that will help get you to more virtual meetings:

Step No. 1: Ask for help

While gatekeepers aren’t put on this Earth to make our lives miserable, they are there to weed out the valuable calls from the garbage. One way to buy yourself time on your cold call is to be nice and ask for help. It’s really hard for somebody to be jerky to somebody in need.

Example: “Hi, was hoping you could help me. I am trying to reach __________, and was hoping you could point me in the right direction.”

Be casual in your delivery and don’t sound like a stiff salesperson.

Step No. 2: Deliver the hook

Remember, the most important emotion you need to create in a prospecting call is curiosity. This means you need to craft and use a powerful “hook” early on in the call to make them want to learn more. Take time today to craft one or more of each type of hook.

Value hook. The value hook is a one-sentence statement that describes the value that your product or services offer. This hook isn’t about what your products do, but what they help your customers do or achieve. Example: “The reason I am calling is that we help businesses decrease their cost of goods sold.” A statement like this makes it difficult for a gatekeeper to respond with, “We don’t need that.” To develop your own, fill in this: Our (product) helps companies like yours to 1)___________, 2)_______________, and 3)_____________.

Name drop hook: Words like, “I was referred by____________,” “I was emailing with ______________,” “I connected on LinkedIn with ___________,” tell the gatekeeper that you aren’t a random stranger and that there may be little risk to let you through to the decision-maker.

Step No. 3: The takeaway

We never want the gatekeeper or decision-makers to feel pressure. Immediately after your hook (either with the gatekeeper or decision-maker) follow it up with:

• But I don’t know if you’re the right person to speak with.
• But I don’t know if you need what our services provide.
• But I don’t know if you’re a good fit for what we provide or not.
• But I don’t know if we can help you in the same way that we’ve helped others.
• But I don’t know if those are improvements you’re interested in.
• But I don’t know if those are areas you’re concerned about.

Step No. 4: Ask questions

The objective of the cold call isn’t to sell something. The objective is to get them to commit to a virtual/live presentation. Don’t begin sounding like a pushy salesperson by firing off a bunch of features about your solution. Ask how they are currently doing things, what’s effective about that, what’s not working, and how decisions are made. Then share a few real-world examples of how you helped others. We are simply trying to create enough curiosity for them to be interested to learn more.

Step No. 5: Close for the virtual/live presentation

It’s time to get the meeting. Reduce pressure with: “Thanks so much for your time today. But I called out of the blue and I’m not sure if now is a good time to discuss this a little further. With your permission, would you be open to a 30-minute virtual presentation where I can show you some examples of how we helped other practices like yours?”

Knowing what to say on a cold prospecting call will lead to more meetings, both virtual and live. The only other decision you have to make is how often you do it. Do it more, and you will get more meetings and more sales. Sell more, and you will be the rep who is picking up the Chili’s lunch tab when the world gets back to normal.

About the author

Brian Sullivan, CSP is the Founder of PRECISE Selling and a member of the National Speakers Association. Brian is the author of the books “20 Days to the Top” and “PRECISE Leadership.” To learn more about Brian’s Cold Prospecting Tips and Sales Process, reach him at bsullivan@preciseselling.com

Photo credit: istockphoto.com/Jane_Kelly