Ron Wacks, President of the Minnesota Homebased Entrepreneurs Association, recently asked me to deliver a program on “Overcoming Sales Call Reluctance.” The crowded room held many interesting individuals with diverse backgrounds who were all engaged in a range of entrepreneurial pursuits in various stages. A few of the attendees were just getting started and several had successfully started and sold multiple companies – true serial entrepreneurs! But even with that kind of diversity in the room, most could relate to “sales call reluctance.” It is almost universal even for experienced sales people. To get a business started some people must learn to sell. The inspiration for my topic comes from the real life experience of having an intermittent aversion to making prospecting calls even after having done it thousands of times.
I asked attendees what they’d like to cover and one said, “How do you pick up an 800 pound telephone?” Well, if you’re phone weighs 800 pounds you are doomed. It can’t be done! It’s like the old story of the way the elephant trainers used to condition a small elephant. The trainer would drive a large stake into the ground. No matter how much pulling, there was no way it would come out. Eventually the elephant would stop trying and the trainer could then hold even a full grown elephant with a much smaller stake. The elephant was conditioned by a belief that it was futile to try to pull up the stake.
Belief systems are like a great fence around your head and define your horizon of possibilities. If you think you will fail, you certainly won’t be too excited about starting. You will be deflated before you begin. You will make yourself right. If you tell yourself that you hate “cold calling” and “telemarketers,” you will not be able to persist. You’ll quit before you succeed. Here are some important points about the psychology of selling:
- To get new results, try new behaviors. To change a behavior, change a belief.
- Understand that fear of rejection is normal. Acknowledge it. It’s also normal for buyers to fear making a purchasing mistake. Re-interpret the fear as excitement.
- Observe your own self talk. Do you hear an inner critic? Capture any negative self talk on paper. Realize that the inner critic is committed to safety and status quo, not new results.
- Use affirmations to reverse negative self talk and doubt any limiting beliefs you are holding. “I hate making cold calls” becomes “I love making introductory calls.” Affirmations are one of the quickest ways to behavior change.
How else can you deal with the fear of prospecting? With supreme confidence! Confidence comes from many sources: living up to your values, keeping your word, doing something difficult, learning, maintaining a positive attitude, winning, acting as if, believing in yourself, finishing what you start, thinking of others, etc. Learn how to communicate skillfully in the first thirty seconds. Here’s how:
- Start with a good product or service that you believe in.
- Sell yourself first by identifying the competitive advantages.
- Use a strong opener. The opening statement must tap into a prospect’s self interest immediately and emotionally, appealing to his/her need, dream or hunger.
- Break the ice: Make your first call to someone with whom you want to speak.
- Make a commitment to yourself, your career, your company and your customer. Then find a way to succeed!
You can build a strong opener by understanding your customer from his/her point of view. Have you ever driven someone else’s car? Usually you’ve got to adjust the seat, mirrors and steering wheel. Adjust your position. What questions would you have if you were the prospect? Probably, “Who are you? Why are you calling me? What’s in it for me?”
Someone once said, “If they say ‘no’ they don’t have enough information.” That may have been true in traditional selling, but if they say “no” today, you don’t have enough information. You don’t know enough about the prospect’s self-interest, situation, problems, desires, hot buttons, how (s)he is rewarded or evaluated in his/her job. You will find this out only by asking questions:
- Why do your current customers buy from you?
- What do they like most about your product or service?
- What do they hate about dealing with providers in your industry?
- What are your prospect’s motives?
What about your own motivation? Motivation is “an interest, need, want or desire, held in expectation with the belief that I will achieve.” Note the word “belief.” If you have call reluctance, you must find the motivation to pick up the phone. This means you must have a strong commitment, a reason to act and the belief you will succeed.
If you want a breakthrough get nuts about learning! For more ideas, go to www.breakthroughbusiness.net and click “Articles.”
©2005 Paul Esch. All Rights Reserved. Paul Esch is President of Breakthrough Business Success, Inc. He works with business owners and executives to improve vital sales, marketing and management systems. Call 651-501-7979.
