Cold Calling Scripts: Finishing Touches

These last several weeks we have just barely begun to scratch the surface of all there is to say about cold calling scripts.

Even though the subject is much broader and deeper than there is room to adequately cover in Blog Posts, many of you let me know how much you have benefited from coverage of this topic ... for which I am glad.

Yours has been an unusual opportunity ... to see the actual words used by your colleagues, perhaps your competitors, during cold calls. We've looked at real-life examples of how sellers open cold calls; we have delved into the body of their cold calls; now we examine closing lines.

To get the most out of this post be sure to read the words below and venture to give your opinions via post to this Blog or via email and ... then, come back to the same place, at the same time next week for my closing comments on cold calling scripts.

Here is how the majority of sales professionals close their sales calls:

"Mr. Prospect, do you have your calendar handy? What day would be good for you, towards the beginning or end of the week?

Do mornings or afternoons work better for you?

Thanks again for the opportunity to meet with you and for taking the time to discuss how we may be able to .... If anything changes on your side or if you need to reschedule, please take down my phone number and e-mail address. Otherwise, I'll reconfirm this meeting with you on ....I'm looking forward to meeting with you on ... at ... Have a great day!"

"Can I set up some time with you next week to learn about ....?"

"How does this Friday at 1:10 pm or next Monday at 10:40 am sound? Which would you prefer?"

At the risk of sounding like a trite-but-true cliche ... nothing ventured, nothing gained! So, what are your thoughts about using these words to close cold calls with Top Dog prospects?

Leslie Buterin (like butterin' bread)

Visit: www.coldcallingexecutives.com

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Cold Calling: Better Words. Better Understanding

Thanks to Greg for the phrase "Better Words. Better Understanding," which is the subject of this post!

We've looked at several ways to open scripts, now we're talking about the body of cold calling scripts.

Scroll down to the April 9 posting to find the "body" of several of your colleagues scripts. You will see that they (as you most likely do as well) use words like those below to entice prospects into becoming agreeable to a face-to-face meeting:

1. We can maximize your up time and save you money ...
2. We can help you monitor and influence important issues so you aren't blindsided by the government ...
3. I estimate your spend is $28.2 million annually, let's get together to discuss 3 points ...

What's missing from these benefit statements is the specific impact the caller's business will have upon the prospect's business.

Think of yourself as the "Alpha" Top Dog in your industry talking with the Alpha Top Dog prospect. You know the kinds of challenges your prospect is running into because you see them up close and personal ... every day.

You know the top 3 major mistakes your prospect is most likely to make if they fail to use your product/service, because you hear horror stories from clients who wised they would have used you sooner!

You know where prospects will be short-sighted in their decision-making in your arena. You know where and how they will fail to see the positive impact your product/service has to offer.

So use your vast knowledge of your industry to create a killer impact statement that your prospects will not be able to resist!

How do you do this?

You killer impact statement must address one or more of the 3 areas of impact that top-dog decision-makers have interest in:
1. how to increase revenues
2. how to decrease expenses
3. how to mitigate risk

With the top 3 in mind let's revisit the words used by your colleagues during their cold calls.

We can maximize your up time and save you money ...

Now, figure out:
- How much in terms of revenues lost does downtime translate into?
- How much in terms of increased expenses does fixing downtime create?
- How much of a lead will competitors gain because of the risk-exposure of not dealing with down time immediately?

We can help you monitor and influence important issues so you aren't blindsided by the government ...

Now, figure out:
- How much in terms of revenues lost does being blindsided by the government create for your prospect's industry?
- How much in terms of increased expenses are created by prospects who try to tackle these issues on their own?
- What's the upside of your prospects using your services to mitigate risk of decisions being made by legislators?

I estimate your spend is $28.2 million annually. Let's get together to discuss 3 points

Now, figure out:
- How much in terms of revenues generated should your prospect expect per million of spend, spent with you?
- How much of a reduction in expenses will your clients receive on average by entrusting their spend to you?
- How much of increase in coverage and reduction of expenses should your prospect anticipate while reducing how much significant risk?

The better words you use to speak directly to your prospect's interests the better your prospect will understand what you are talking about.

Creating an impact statement is not for wimps. In fact we spend on average 3-5 hours of coaching time per client to craft a killer impact statement that promises to open previously closed doors as well as increase annual sales revenues by more than 50% ... not a bad return on a couple of hours of work!

Make sure your impact statement addresses one or more of the Top Dog's top three concerns. Better words. Better communication. Bigger commissions.

Post your thoughts here for better learning!

Visit: www.coldcallingexecutives.com

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Here's THE buzz in the Sales Community Today

It is worth taking a quick peek at all of the free goodies these guys have amassed to go along with the book ... well done ... well worth your time to click on the "learn more now link" and take a look-see.

Visit: www.coldcallingexecutives.com

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Cold Calling Nuggets of Gold to be found in Scripts

Scroll down to look at last week's post for excerpts from actual cold calling scripts.

Many of you sent private emails to me with your thoughts about those excerpts. Those thoughts echoed what was said by the person who made a post, "sounds like everybody is doing the same thing and no one really knows what to do."

Yep, that about sums it up.

Using a lot of words when you are face to face with a prospect is acceptable, even desirable. When you move to the phone, however, the impact of using a lot of words is entirely different.

When I interviewed executive assistants and executives alike they honestly wanted savvy sales pros to know that:

1) using too many words leave the listener feel body slammed, pushed up against the wall
2) when a caller uses too many words the listener "glazes over" and tunes you out
3) the listener has a hard time grasping the purpose of your call when you use too many words

Said another way, although your intention in using the words you use is to introduce yourself, establish legitimacy by stating the name of your company, and giving your prospects a "heads-up" about what your company does ... the unintentional impact is that your prospects feel body slammed, ignored, and unimportant.

That's one of several major points that I noticed about the scripts posted last week ... they use just too doggone many words.

So, how many words can you speak before you must, must, must engage your prospects in conversation? 10-15. That's not many.

How will you rethink your calls to get rid of the undesirable impact and to leverage the desirable outcome?

Share your thoughts with a post, those who participate always learn the most! More from me next week.

Leslie Buterin (like butterin' bread)

Visit: www.coldcallingexecutives.com

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Cold Caller Who Used No Script Eaten Alive!

Take a minute to read the post from last week and you'll understand the comments at a deeper level...

Every once in a while a talented sales pro starts thinking like this and we never hear from them again. Of course they aren't really eaten alive but they do feel chewed up, spit out, and left on the side of the road.

Don't let this happen to you!

Did you know the most scripted comedian is Robin Williams?

Sure he looks spontaneous when he rubs the head of a bald man in the audience, makes an outrageous comment and leaves the audience in stitches. But here is his secret ... he doesn't see a bald guy and come up with a funny quip. In the quiet of his office he works through funny bald jokes then when he is "live" he searches for a bald guy so he can use his funny material.

As a cold caller be sure to learn this important lesson from Robin, have a plan, THEN make your calls to Top Dog decision-makers.

Sure after make enough cold calls you'll start to feel as though you are unscripted because you will know the words to say, you will have built confidence in what you have to offer, and you will know your stuff inside and out ... but know this,throughout your calls you have created a plan in your mind,that only looks effortless. Make the mistake of calling Top Dog decision-makers without having a plan and they'll eat you alive.

In another post a sales pro said what's missing from the scripted opening lines we looked at 2 weeks ago is "the reason why" the gatekeeper should let you into the executive suites.

At that time we were only looking at opening lines ... now let's get into the body of the script. That's where "the reason why and the purpose of your call" are stated. Here are statements that are representative of those of you who jumped right in and sent your scripts my way:

"Based on our client's experiences, we're confident we can maximize your up time, handle your daily and weekly routines, as well as updates and all the many other technical needs too numerous to mention now. And save you money in the process. Our meeting will determine if this quality, cost-efficient, IT support program is right for you. Just 20 minutes is needed. What works well for you, timing-wise, to meet with our technical representative?"

"Mr. Prospect, I don't know whether or not you have a need or an interest in our services. But, with your permission I was hoping to ask you a few questions regarding strategy execution. I will be brief and all information will be held in the strictest of confidence. (Seller goes on to ask 10 questions then says ...) Let's get together for 20 minutes to see if there's an opportunity here. Do you have your calendar handy? What day would be good for you, towards the beginning or end of the week?"

"We may be able to help you monitor and influence important issues. We've spent 10 years helping organizations monitor and influence legislation important to them. As a result, our clients are able to focus on other areas of their business while we focus on making sure they aren't blindsided by the government. Can I set up some time with you next week to learn about the issues important to you and to see if we can work together to ease your burden of monitoring and influencing federal legislation?"

"We are a fortune 500 company that represents today's leading manufacturers and draw from this pool to develop and support the best possible solution to address your needs. We have helped countless organizations tap into their lost revenues they had. At first glance, I have projected your current spend at $28.2 million annually. What I would like to do is spend 20 minutes with you to (here 3 topics are listed) How does this Friday at 1:10 pm or next Monday at 10:40 sound? Which would you prefer?"

Now, let's hear your observations via a post or with your "Reply" to the email...what about these reasons why work ...what doesn't work ... ? As always after hearing from you, I'll post my thoughts.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Leslie Buterin (like butterin' bread)

Visit: www.coldcallingexecutives.com

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Cold Calling Scripts: What They Reveal

Scroll down to last week to review the cold calling scripts and posted comments that we're discussing here.

Kudos to all who posted comments and to all who sent emails my way. Thanks in advance to all of you who post comments from now on! Discussion is where learning is revealed.

Some of you expressed discomfort with using a prospect's first name as an opening line.

This in and of itself is an IMPORTANT observation.

Why?

Because, what you feel throughout your call will be conveyed over the phone in the sound of your voice. What you feel about yourself, how you feel about calling this particular prospect, how you feel about the words you are using will all broadcast to the listener.

Think about it. If we were listening to audio clips on this post (not a bad idea) and all we recorded were different sellers saying, "Mary?" do you think you would be able to pick out the voices of those who were experiencing discomfort from those who were feeling comfortable using the prospect's (or gatekeeper's) first name? Absolutely you would ... no doubt about it.

Using a first name is ONE WAY to capture the attention of your prospect. You'll get positive attention if you are feeling comfortable, conversely, you'll get negative attention if you are feeling uncomfortable.

As a sales pro who makes cold calls the ideal mindset is for everything about you to clearly convey your sense of belonging, sense of being worthy to call high-level decision-makers, and the sense that you are THE expert in your arena as your prospect is in his/her arena. To anchor your position as "The Top Dog" in your field your thoughts, feelings, and words must be in sync. The prospect whom you are cold calling will make a mental determination as to where to "slot you" into their chain of command upon hearing the very first word out of your mouth.

Think about how your opening line does or does not engage the prospect, how it does or does not seem presumptuous, how it does or does not speak directly to the prospect.

Next week we'll examine the same opening lines for their impact upon the listener -- more about the desired impact and how you can get there!

In the meantime let me know your thoughts, what's your most significant insight about scripts so far?

Best,
Leslie Buterin (like butterin' bread)

Visit: www.coldcallingexecutives.com

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