5 Worst Cold Calling Tips of All Time

There are always a few very nice, but literally misguided souls in my telephone sales workshops, cold calling seminars, prospecting programs, and telemarketing training sessions. They preface their questions with these words...

There are always a few very nice, but literally misguided souls in my telephone sales workshops, cold calling seminars, prospecting programs, and telemarketing training sessions. They preface their questions with these words: ?I heard somewhere that you should ALWAYS do such and such. What is your take on that?? I have to resist flatly saying, ?Never, ever do that!? Here are 5 of the worst tips that these folks have heard, ideas that you should trash right away because they?ll only keep you from reaching your goals.

(1) ?Never cold call.? This phrase is used to sell various things, including sales coaching services. My take: Always cold call! There?s gold in cold calling and that?s why it?s also called ?prospecting.?

(2) ?Don?t ask someone ?How are you?? after announcing who you are.? Leave this phrase, or something similar out, and you?ll sound like a recording and get shut down.

(3) ?Ask people early on: ?Do you have a minute to talk??? Sometimes referred to as permission selling, it weakly gives control to the listener while asking him to buy a pig in a poke. If he says yes, he could be victimizing himself with a talk-a-thon, so reflexively, out of self-protection, he?ll say no. Don?t ever ask if you can sell something. Just do it!

(4) Don?t manage objections; upon first hearing one. Instead, say: ?Thank you very much!? and go on to the next person, who may not object. I recommend using transition phrases to gently but firmly take the call to the next step, without hassles.

(5) ?Always ASK your way to a sale instead of TELLING your way.? In theory, this ostensibly consultative approach is a winner, a soft-sell, but in the real world we need to be prepared to close and to close again through tie-downs, okay?

The worst tips are usually offered by cowards that really hate selling and aren?t very good at it. They appeal to your weakness.

Don?t buy any suggestion that promotes avoidance and indirectness instead of meeting the challenges of selling head-on.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than a thousand articles. and several popular audio and video training programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated 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 some of the best academic credentials in the speaking and training industry. A Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at 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 and successful family owned and operated firms.

His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com and he can be seen on CNBC at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=417455932# and reached at: [e-mail]