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My Webinar at Imperial College London Business School: How to develop Cold Calling Skills to Make Your Next Career Move or Generate New Business

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I was delighted to be a presenter on a Webinar at Imperial College London Business School in September last year. The title was “How to develop cold calling skills to make your next career move or generate more new business. The audience spanned a number of continents and we had Alumni from USA, Canada, Singapore, China, India and a number of Countries in Central Europe.

I started off by asking the audience to set aside whatever beliefs they held at the moment and what they could or not achieve using the phone to achieve the outcomes they wanted. I then asked the good old coaching question: just imagine they could get exactly the outcomes they wanted which were to : 1) bring in a million pounds worth of business 2) Get exactly the dream career role they wanted. 2)If they worked for themselves, to be able to avoid the “feast and famine” cycle of work and have a steady stream of work projects throughout the year. 3)If they were just starting off, to secure their first position in a career they had always wanted to do, rather than being pushed by relatives or recruiters to take a post simply because it was available.

I then invited them to think about the calls they needed to make in order to work towards these outcomes. Also about how they may be avoiding making these calls by finding other displacement activities as excuses for not making these important calls on a regular basis! I also asked them to assess their comfort and confidence in using the phone and give themselves a score from 0 to 10, where 0 is no confidence and 10 is completely confident. in this way they could assess how my tips and techniques could help increase that score.

I then asked the good old coaching question, ” what stops you”? I suggested that they did not want to sound or feel like a ” Cold Caller”.
I said that it was quite common for people to think that if they called someone they did not know, they would assume the behaviour and hence the identity of these irritating individuals who drag you through their script without drawing breath! I said that I was sure that everyone listening would be respectful and considerate in the way in which they engaged with their target audience.
Also that this fear of sounding like a cold caller was reinforced by the fear of rejection. Furthermore, this would often produce an uncomfortable feeling, particularly in the legs and the pit of the stomach.

I then said that the audience must be asking at this stage, so what is the better way to deal with all this? I said that the key points which I was going to mention were very obvious and people would know them. I stressed that knowing them was one thing and putting them into practice was another thing.

The key points to remember were:

1. To carry out research beforehand about the decision-makers they were going to contact and the business climates of their respective companies.
2. To distil this research into a “valid business reason” or “valid listening reason”
3. Then stand in the shoes of the decision-maker and ask themselves: if I was in the shoes of the decision-maker, would I listen to these?
4. Structure each call using mind mapping in order to anticipate which direction the call could take and the possible objections which could arise.
5.Then to mentally rehearse each call and notice how they felt. I said when I got my research and structure right and ran the call in my head, I would feel an excited feeling at the top of my chest. If I got it wrong, I would get this anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. This was evidence as to whether I had followed my process correctly.

Then I highlighted the possible road blocks they may hit, as they navigated towards engaging with their target decision-makers.

The first was “Gate-Keepers”; how to transform them into “Gate-Openers”

1. I said the first thing to do was to stop calling personal assistants and secretaries “Gate-keepers” and call them “Gate-Openers”. The presupposition is that they are allies
and by building report with them, they will help you open the door to the decision-maker rather than block you.
2. To engage with a personal assistant, I suggest introducing yourself and asking “I wonder if you could help me”? Then listen to the voice-tone to assess
how receptive they are to take the call at that moment in time. if they sound at all preoccupied, I suggest calling back at a more convenient time.
If they are OK to take the call, I then state the “valid business reason” for my call and any executive PA referral that I may have got on the way.
3. I then say that I would like to set up a 15-20mins telephone meeting with the respective decision-maker
4.The PA will then request an email which I tailor accordingly and then agree a time when I can call back to get some dates for a telephone meeting appointment.
5. The key in all interactions with executive assistants is to acknowledge their world about guarding the executive’s schedule. You should take her advice and guidance as
when the best time would be. This way they will be far more likely to give you access to the executive’ diary. Any attempts “to get passed them” will be counter-productive
as they will put a firm “lock on the gate”
6.It also saves you a significant of time trying to play “catch the executive when you can” game especially as you will get a dedicated time slot to speak to them. You will then
have plenty of time to deliver your value, rather than trying to get everything out in one sentence or getting obsessed about “what magic words will hook them”!

The next important road block to avoid is being in the wrong state i.e. not having the necessary focus and energy to get the outcomes you want from the call.

I mentioned a point I had heard from Tony Robbins years ago that “most cold calls fail because they sound boring”! So ensure you are in the right state by:

1. Make your calls at the time of the day when you feel at your best
2. Ideally make your calls when you have had a break, done some exercise and your mind is really fresh and focused.
3. If it is not possible to do this, then get up from your desk and move around, take ten deep breaths and focus on the specific outcomes you want from the call.
4. Another technique is to go back in your mind to a time when you made a really outstanding call and got exactly the outcomes you wanted. Please note it does need to be necessarily a business or sales related call. Just that you got what you wanted out of the call. Anchor the confidence of this call by what you were seeing, hearing or feeling at the time. Use the energy and focus that comes from this to make your calls.

The next important road block to avoid is to get your delivery right: So here are the tips and techniques I emphasised here:

1. Record your calls, by beginning to build an awareness of your natural delivery style, so that you can adapt this for different personalities. (be aware of the regulations about recording calls in your particularly country)
2. Delivery is made up of volume, speed, tone and pace of your voice; see how by varying these elements for different people, you can affect the outcomes of your calls.
3. Note in particular that people who process visually, will speak very quickly as they see what they are describing as a film or many different pictures in their mind. In contrast those people who interact with the world through their feelings will speak very slowly and deliberately.
4. Ensure that your adapt each element to be in sync with the other person. This will come with practice, focus on one element at a time until you can do this naturally.

Save time by exploiting the use of telephone meetings rather than traveling to face to face meetings: Also request these as part of the process of engaging more easily with senior decision-makers. Everyone which includes salespeople request face to face meetings. Get one over your competition by using these:

Here are the rules:

1. Request a small amount of time initially to get the Personal Assistant to agree to the time in the diary. Once you go to book, it is common for them to offer you a longer slot -e.g. 15-20mins can become 30mins and in some cases 45-60mins!
2. Always treat telephone meetings as serious appointments! Reconfirm the time a couple of days before. Ensure that the necessary documentation has been sent well before the date and that the PA ensures that the decision-maker has seen it and read it!
3. Record the call if possible so you can review it and follow up effectively, especially if in your enthusiasm you have missed something the other person said!

In my success stories I emphasised how:

1. My processes had been implemented, whereby the initial approach to the senior level contacts had been made based on “them and their business” not the product or service that was being promoted.
2. The senior level contacts were made effectively without a lot of high volume calling or “spraying and praying”
3. The sales cycles were reduced considerably
4. High value deals were gained and in the customer service case study, resolution of a problem was achieved in 5 hours with a problem that had been going on for 3months!!

I concluded my talk by saying:

1. Always do your research before picking up the phone and have a valid business or listening reason to engage the senior decision-maker
2. Throughout the call, put yourself in the shoes of the other person while remaining focused on the outcomes you want
3. Always be aware of your state, your focus and energy in the call, draw upon past successes!
4. Be mindful that your delivery can contribute up to 70% of the impact of the call
5 Record your calls and use the recordings as your brutal coach.
6. Notice what works particularly well and what does not. So do more of what works!!

To see the recording of the webinar please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my0G8zTKmg8


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