Cold Calling Pro Suggests Asking "Hello, Bill?"
June 30, 2008
I used to compare cold calling to ice fishing, but then I learned a little about ice fishing, and it isnt that tough.
But there is one similarity: To get a positive result, you need to break the ice.
Prospects who come to the line and who dont recognize your voice or your name can be very frosty and forbidding and it is our job to warm them up, and fast.
Ive found one of the best ways is to ASK their name instead of STATING it.
So, lets say you have called Bill Smith, and he answers the line with a suspicious, downbeat, Hello.
How can you perk him up and thaw him out, instantly?
By all means do not echo his down-sloping tone, which is our natural tendency.
Instead, deliberately sound more upbeat than he does by ASKING his name.
Say: Hello, Bill? or Hello, Mr. Smith?
I assure you his voice will rise in pitch, instantly making him sound as if hes in a better mood.
Why do you want him to sound more cheerful, especially as a call begins?
(1) The initial tone of the call informs the overall receptivity to your message. If you leave a prospect down in the tonal dumps, hell tend to stay there.
(2) By elevating his tone you unconsciously make him more cheerful. We monitor our own emotional states and we tend to perpetuate them. If were whistling and we notice it, we convince ourselves that I must be happy! If Bill sounds receptive to you, hell convince himself he is.
(3) It is much more agreeable for you to proceed with someone who sounds warm than cold.
Try this technique, knowing from the get-go that more cheerful sounding prospects reject you less and buy more!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, customer service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than 1,000 articles and several popular audio and video programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary brings over two decades of sales, management and consulting experience to the table, with impressive academic credentials: A Ph.D. from USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies..
His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com and he can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com. His blogs include: YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS! and ALWAYS COLD CALL! at: http://www.alwayscoldcall.blogspot.com
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