Today I’m gonna be talking to you about three cold calling violations that I see more often than not, they’re pretty simple but if you’re not aware of them, these are mistakes that you can make in the middle of a cold call that can just absolutely wreck the deal. So, lets hop right into this!
Number one, is the fact that you don’t listen. You probably have received these types of calls before, somebody gets on the phone and as soon as you answer and say “Hey, this is DJ, how can I help ya?” They just railroad you. There’s no listening whatsoever. That’s a huge violation of cold calling. The best way to engage with a human being is to listen. We have two ears one mouth, you guys have heard me say that, videos before. So, that’s the first violation, is that you do not listen.
Number two, is that outside chance that you’re pitching versus discussing. This kinda goes hand in hand with not listening, but when you’re pitching someone, versus discussing with them, where most people will make a mistake, or where you may be failing right now with cold calls, is that when you make the initial call to the person, you already have in your mind that you’re gonna pitch them as a prospect. The challenge with that is is that they may not necessarily be someone that you even want to do business with. I know it sounds kinda crazy, you might be thinking, “Coach I’m broke, dude, I need every dollar I can get right now,” or “I’m trying to get my business off the ground,” but the truth of the matter is that you don’t necessarily want to pitch every single person that you call. That’s why in a cold call, it’s very important to remember, our only objective is to set the appointment, the discovery call appointment that you may have. A lot of people make the mistake of as soon as they get on the call, they just pitch, pitch, pitch and there’s no discussion going on.
Number three is you should actually have a 30 second shot clock-you should never speak more than 30 seconds. This goes with pitching and discussing. If you’re speaking for more than 30 seconds, now you’re into a pitch and not so much a discussion. So, something that may go along the lines of
“Hey Mr. Johnson, I was just calling to see what type of advertising you do?”
“Oh, I don’t do any advertising.”
“Okay great, have a great day.” and I’m onto the next guy. There’s certain qualifying questions that you can ask when you’re in the cold calling setting that can help really save you a lot of time, cause I see a lot of guys, they’ll waste time pitching to people that’ll never be a customer. They’re never going to be a prospect, they’re never going to do business with them, it’s a complete waste of time.
So, let’s run back through those. Number one, is you’re not listening, you’re just over talking, railroading the person. Number two, you’re pitching versus discussion and number three, you’re violating that 30 second shot clock. So, those are 3 violators that will completely derail your day of cold calling. Don’t make those mistakes, you’ll be on your way to closing bigger deals in no time.
Here’s to your success!
