Wouldn’t it be great if you could make cold calling pleasant for both you and the other person? Well, it’s very possible, if you’re willing to remove sales pressure from the interaction..
Why? Because sales pressure is the underlying cause of all tension in cold calling. You’re pressuring yourself to make the sale, and you’re also pressuring the other person to buy what you have to offer.
In the old traditional mindset, you’ve been trained to approach cold calling this way. You’ve been encouraged to be proactive, assertive, and maybe even aggressive in your sales efforts. But this creates sales pressure. It throws the entire conversation into a push-pull scenario instead of a relaxed, mutual exploration.
So if you remove pressure from your conversations, then your cold calling can become relaxed and productive instead of stressful and tense. But first it’s important to recognize some of the many hidden ways you can create pressure in your cold calls. Let’s look at three of them:
1. “Get the Sale” Tunnel Vision
If you're like most people who make cold calls, you're hoping to make a sale – or at least an appointment – before you even pick up the phone. The problem is that this mindset short-circuits the whole process of relaxed conversation. Whenever there’s a goal, there’s also an underlying “win or lose” tension that your prospects experience as sales pressure.
But when you’re focused on building a conversation, there’s no tension. You’re simply exploring whether you can provide a solution to someone’s problem. This provides a stress-free environment for a productive, mutual exploration.
So when your focus shifts from “making the sale” into “building a conversation,” you’re not introducing sales pressure. Tension evaporates. And now you’re free to enjoy the interaction. And as long as you’re sincere, others are more likely to enjoy it too.
2. Self-Oriented Talking
In the old traditional sales training, you usually start cold calls by talking about yourself and what you have to offer. But that’s an approach that quickly introduces sales pressure into the conversation. Why? Because whenever someone hears your mini-pitch, it’s clear that you want to make a sale. And now they have to respond to that expectation, which means there’s a push-pull feel to the interaction.
So instead, try starting your conversation by focusing on a need or issue you know the other person is likely facing. Step into their world and invite them to share whether they’re open to exploring possible solutions with you.
3. Orchestrating the Conversation
In the old traditional sales approach, you’ve been told to take charge of your cold calling conversations. But it’s important to recognize that whenever you do this, the other person almost always feels managed or maneuvered. And that’s subtle pressure.
You see, if you’re not letting the other person fully involved in the interaction, then you’re using pressure to try to control the outcome. This is a subtle but very powerful form of control that creates tension for both of you.
So instead, invite mutual participation and allow the conversation to flow. You’ll be surprised how relaxed and effective this can be.
Completely eliminating all pressure from your cold calling conversations will open up a much more natural and effective way of interacting with your prospects. The less pressure you project, the more successful you’ll likely be.
Related Articles
5 Keys to Humanize Cold Calling
By: Ari Galper | 15/05/2008 | Sales
It always feels artificial when we shift into our “salesperson persona” in order to make a cold call. It’s a dehumanizing process that -- unless we’re a born actor -- feels really awkward. And yet the old-school traditional sales mindset almost guarantees that role playing is a part of every cold call we make.
Determining a Fit in Cold Calling
By: Ari Galper | 03/04/2008 | Sales
One of the biggest challenges in cold calling I have to say is finding the truth in the prospects. It is hard for many of the prospects to open up to a stranger on the other end of the phone and without that trust quite often you are not getting the truth from them but hearing what they think you want them to say. This leads to chasing the prospect later in the sales process.
3 Cold Calling Phrases That Get Results
By: Ari Galper | 15/05/2008 | Sales
How can we possibly avoid rejection and still stay “real” while cold calling? Well, the truth is that the more genuine we are, the less likely we are to be rejected.
Once you understand why cold calling is so difficult, and you start to shift your mental view of the cold call, then you can move from thoughts to actual language that’s in alignment with this new way of thinking.
Forcing a Natural Voice in Cold Calling
By: Ari Galper | 03/04/2008 | Sales
Just as we often force ourselves to sound happy or force ourselves to learn the free cold calling scripts we can force ourselves to sound natural. This is a bad idea. If you have an agenda going in or are not being honest the prospect will pick it up. Forcing yourself to do anything in cold calling will tend to blow up in your face.
How to Use Your Right Brain When Cold Calling
By: Ari Galper | 15/05/2008 | Sales
Do you struggle with the process of cold calling? For many of us, it’s a grueling experience. That’s because we try to carry on a conversation from a rigid, linear place. We’re trying to follow a strategy or a script. So when it comes to having a relaxed and enjoyable cold calling conversation, it just doesn’t work very well.
How to Throw Out Your Cold Calling Scripts
By: Ari Galper | 15/05/2008 | Sales
Recently you may have received a cold call from someone using an old-style linear sales script. You probably recognized it as a cold call because the person sounded a bit robotic and kept talking without allowing the conversation to “breathe.”
New Ways to Open Your Cold Calls
By: Ari Galper | 15/05/2008 | Sales
Most of us design our cold calling around scripts and strategies. Isn’t that how we’ve been taught by the sales gurus? Scripts are linear and step-by-step so you can move calls in the direction you want them to go. And sales strategies do the same thing.
4 Ways to Break Into the Prospects World in Cold Calling
By: Ari Galper | 09/05/2008 | Sales
The World of Cold Calling is often a cruel and hard one. Many of us often dread the mere thought of placing cold calls. However it is a necessary evil we can not avoid in the world of sales. There are many difficulties we face when calling prospects. Learning to get into their world could help us break the ice and relieve stress on both sides.
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Q&A Powered by:
Latest Sales Articles
Tips for Purchasing a Suit
By: Mejo John | 21/08/2008
Advice float from any nook and corner, and every fashion designer or a fashion expert would advice you on the matter of a suit. They would say that it is essential that every man has atleast one nice suit. You never can estimate when you would require a good suit for a wedding or for a business meet where formal attire is a must.
Sales - a Dirty Word
By: Patrick E Cavanaugh | 20/08/2008
Salesperson - a pushy, loud and arrogant hand shaking backslapper. Right?
How Much Does it Cost? Estimating
By: Patrick E Cavanaugh | 20/08/2008
Nobody wants to work for nothing, but many painter do when they don't charge for all the things that are part of each job. If you intend to do a complete job, and your customer is asking for a complete job, then you should be charging for a complete job. Leave something off of the estimate and you are working for nothing.
How to Estimate a Paint Job - or It's not Guess Work
By: Patrick E Cavanaugh | 20/08/2008
You can do all things correctly; but, if you mess up here, you can get hurt. It's not rocket science to estimate a paint job. It's actually fairly easy. I have seen everything in the way of paint job estimates, from something scribbled on a torn off sheet of scrap paper to ones like mine which are broken down into each room, and within each room, the individual elements.
Work for Free
By: Patrick E Cavanaugh | 20/08/2008
I always felt crappy after having a sales call and spilling my guts, telling a customer everything I knew about the job, spending hours talking about product knowledge, techniques and such.
People Search Tools: People Search by Phone
By: Apolie Turtz | 20/08/2008
Locating someone whom you haven’t had contact for years can be very hard. And sometimes without anyone to help you, you can’t probably do it alone and contacting other people could be too time-consuming and still you will not be sure with the results. Hiring a private investigator can be an effortless action but paying an expensive service when there is a cheaper method can be impractical. You have to allot a large amount only to hire an investigator when you can do it simply online.
It can be
Job Costing
By: Patrick E Cavanaugh | 20/08/2008
Job costing is a technique for evaluating performance on individual jobs. It is also a way to maintain historical data, to use to estimate future work. The calculation of costs on a job by job basis helps to take our financial temperature. How is this crew doing? How are we doing on this type of work?
Work Less & Make More Money
By: Patrick E Cavanaugh | 20/08/2008
Is there anyone reading this that couldn't benefit from making more money? Generally speaking this profession is underpaid. When I look at what car mechanics, highway workers, and even municipal garbage works make, I know most painting contractors undercharge, or shall I say don't charge enough.
More from Ari Galper
3 Ways to Better Understand Cold Calling Prospects
By: Ari Galper | 18/05/2008 | Sales
Most salespeople who are trained in the old way of making cold calls rarely think about the people they’re calling. They’re too busy thinking about their product or service. But really, this is backwards. If you’re only focusing on what you have to offer, you’re not relating to the other person. And this means that that most of your prospects won’t find your cold call particularly interesting.
How to Avoid Hitting the Cold Calling Wall
By: Ari Galper | 18/05/2008 | Sales
Let's say you're at your office and you're working away. Your phone rings and someone says, “Hello, my name's Mark. I'm with Financial Solutions. We offer a broad array of financial solutions. Do you have a few minutes?”
What would go through your mind when you hear this pitch? Probably the same thing your prospects are thinking when they get a cold call from you. In other words, “How can I get this person off the phone as quickly as possible?”
How to Avoid the "cold Calling Wall"
By: Ari Galper | 18/05/2008 | Sales
Let's say you're at your office and you're working away. Your phone rings and someone says, "Hello, my name's Mark. I'm with Financial Solutions. We offer a broad array of financial solutions. Do you have a few minutes?"
What would go through your mind when you hear this pitch? Probably the same thing your potential clients are thinking when they get a cold call from you. In other words, “How can I get this person off the phone as quickly as possible?”
4 Forms of Sales Pressure That Sabotage Cold Calls
By: Ari Galper | 18/05/2008 | Sales
If you’ve been trained in the old traditional sales approach, your cold calling strategy is probably one of persuasion. That is, you use a variety of way to try to persuade another person to buy your product or service. You point out the benefits and features of what you have to offer, and use strategies to convince them to make a purchase.
But what you’re really doing is pressuring the other person to follow your own personal...
The Surprising Truth About Cold Calling
By: Ari Galper | 15/05/2008 | Sales
Haven’t you noticed the old "tried and true" cold calling techniques that were once successful in cold calling have completely lost their effectiveness?
That's why I’ve developed a new cold calling approach that will quickly and automatically put you ahead of the game, and in a league above your competition
New Ways to Open Your Cold Calls
By: Ari Galper | 15/05/2008 | Sales
Most of us design our cold calling around scripts and strategies. Isn’t that how we’ve been taught by the sales gurus? Scripts are linear and step-by-step so you can move calls in the direction you want them to go. And sales strategies do the same thing.
How to Throw Out Your Cold Calling Scripts
By: Ari Galper | 15/05/2008 | Sales
Recently you may have received a cold call from someone using an old-style linear sales script. You probably recognized it as a cold call because the person sounded a bit robotic and kept talking without allowing the conversation to “breathe.”
How to Use Your Right Brain When Cold Calling
By: Ari Galper | 15/05/2008 | Sales
Do you struggle with the process of cold calling? For many of us, it’s a grueling experience. That’s because we try to carry on a conversation from a rigid, linear place. We’re trying to follow a strategy or a script. So when it comes to having a relaxed and enjoyable cold calling conversation, it just doesn’t work very well.
Business 
