Attaching a powerful podcast that I recently received. Podcast is with David Walter, author of Million Dollar Rebuttal. I like up front how he tackles the SDR role. Powerful podcast for all my fellow sales professionals. Enjoy!
Here are David’s top cold calling tips.
1. Cold Call with a Winning Mindset
According to David, it all starts with your mindset.
“When I set that goal, my subconscious mind started figuring out all the steps I would have to go through,” David says. “Anything’s possible. That was my attitude. I started with the end in mind, and the idea that if I start with a ‘yes’ at the end, what would I have to say to get every person back to that ‘yes’?”
2. Eliminate objections with the right questions
One of the obstacles David encountered was that although he was getting through the gatekeepers and talking to the right people, most calls would end up with the same answer: “send me more information.” But as every sales professional knows, “send me more information” is just a way for buyers to brush you off.
David got frustrated by that response and realized he needed a rebuttal to that objection. Instead of arguing with them, he would aggressively agree.
The million dollar rebuttal starts with agreeing with the prospect.
Contrary to what most sales reps are taught to do, David would answer excitedly, “I would love to send you some information.”
Such a response would throw people off. He would then ask, “What kind of information do you want? Customer testimonials, a brochure? Do you want the price?”
“It’s like throwing that red meat bait, they go for it.” David says. “What prospect wouldn’t want to hear the price before they ever have to deal with the salesman?”
The principle here is to get them to agree with what the sellers are saying, to get a “yes.”
But then David would try to talk them out of it and say, “I don’t really think you want the price. Do you really want it?”
This cold calling tip helped David disarm prospects who didn’t want to talk to him, and actually start a conversation about their needs.
Listen to the episode to discover the questions David asks during his cold calls.
3. Create a need for your potential client
Conventional sales wisdom says you need to find a prospect with a real problem or need to be able to sell your solution to them. But the first thing most prospects say after hearing a sales pitch from a salesperson is, “I’m happy with what I have at the moment.” According to David, if your sellers are going to make 15 appointments a day, they can’t wait to find the people that actually think they have a need or who are not happy with their current vendor.
“I realized that most businesses don’t know they have a need,” David says. “They can’t smell their needs because they get used to them. The issues with the slow computer, you know, all the different things that happen. That becomes their normal. Cold calling is easy. But it’s hard if you’re trying to find a need.”
Again, the secret here is to agree with people, agree with their perspective. “If I were in your shoes, I would agree with you.”
A subset of people who say they are happy with what they have are actually open-minded. That’s who your sellers should identify and say, “I’m sure you are happy but there might be something better out there, things might change in the future, right?”
People will end up agreeing with the sales rep and would like to hear more about the product or service.
In other words, the salesperson’s job is to become an effective listener and acknowledge someone when they say, “I don’t. I won’t. I can’t. It’s not the right time,” and then turn that into a sales conversation.
Make sure to listen to this episode as David tells some real-life cold calling stories where he used these tips to set more appointments and close deals.
Remember! Prospecting is the first step in the sales process and it is the hardest part of selling.
www.mattallendevelopment.com and let's discuss how we can help via mslonaker@mattallendevelopment.com.
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