Tag Archives: cold calling

Guess who’s our awesome SURPRISED Sales Expert Guest? (hint: @No1BestSeller)

Check out our most fun videocast where Shawn Karol Sandy of @SellingAgency and I cold call a BIG DEAL sales expert to see if he’ll come on our SellOut Show.

Besides the SURPRISE shenanigans, we touch on some cool sales themes. Like two things that top performing sellers NEVER DO!

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What are you doing still reading this??? Jump on over and check it out for yourself! While you’re at it, why not subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss a single fun moment?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0qBQt4o9Lk

And, don’t forget to…

…Love ‘em ALL UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

#TBT – WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!

As we conclude the week of “Gatekeeper Relations/Ethics/Methods”, Thanks to Tom Tenseth @smgamesafari https://twitter.com/smgamesafari/status/780440816602845184 – I want to re-publish one of my very favorite articles – this is probably the third time I have re-published! I like it that much!

This one is from June of 2013. Enjoy!

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

I was giving a cold-calling training yesterday and my participant told me that her boss wants her to come up with two scripts….one for talking to a GATEKEEPER and the other for talking to the DECISION MAKER.

Oh, those words he is using! Gatekeeper? Decision Maker? Seriously?

Let’s talk about Star Wars for a second.

Remember those Storm Troopers – dressed from head to toe in armor and tinted face masks? (If you don’t – be sure to Google the image, you’ll see what I mean).

Know why they dressed them this way? What I’ve HEARD is so that the audience doesn’t HUMANIZE them. So, it was OK to kill them. No one would feel a shred of conscience about rooting for the Rebellion to take them all out! Dead!

 Now look.

What does this have to do with my revulsion to the words GATEKEEPER and DECISION MAKER? 

Yup! It takes the HUMAN out of the mix. So, NOW, when you are talking with one of these people, you sound like a GREAT BIG DORK, because the foul language you are using automatically puts you at cross purposes with the HUMAN on the other end of the phone.

Continue reading #TBT – WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!

3 Things You MUST Know About the “Gatekeepers”

As many of you know, I despise using the word Gatekeeper when it comes to calling on the assistants of the people I am hoping to reach. Why use language that puts you at war from the start?

But, many of you have asked for more insights about how to deal with this role in your sales efforts, so I will share with you what I have learned and the approaches that have been successful for me.

Here are the top three things I think about when calling on executives who have assistants.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

#1 Thing to Know about The Executive Assistant – They have an enormous amount of power!

They are in tune with the entire company and they wield an incredible amount of power. When it comes to knowing what their boss does and doesn’t care about, they are the expert. When it comes to navigating the company, there is no one better. Often, a request from the executive assistant is taken as if the executive made the request themselves!

Continue reading 3 Things You MUST Know About the “Gatekeepers”

My Three Favorite Articles (So Far) About Sales Gatekeepers

Dear Tom Tenseth (@smgamesafari)

This week’s for you!

A couple of weeks ago – you asked for more information in dealing with Gatekeepers – you said it is your biggest challenge and struggle.

While I have a lot of opinions about working with gatekeepers – which I will share in Wednesday and Thursday’s blog articles, I thought I’d do a bit of research before I weighed in.

DISCLAIMER: If you’re familiar with my stuff, you know I hate the word “gatekeeper”! Why put yourself in an adversarial position from the get-go? That said, I promised a week of articles related to the topic, so here we go!

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

In my research, I found some articles I really liked:

  1. Interview with a Gatekeeper

This interview with “Alice the Gatekeeper” is quite informative. She is brutally honest about what she does and doesn’t like about dealing with salespeople on the phone. My favorite observations include:

“I like helping people, I really do.”  and “…I am a warm soul-filled person. Let’s have a real conversation and then be done.”

Want to get into the “gatekeepers” head? Read this one.

http://www.cobizmag.com/Articles/An-interview-with-Alice-the-gatekeeper/

Continue reading My Three Favorite Articles (So Far) About Sales Gatekeepers

What I learned about Gatekeepers from Clint Eastwood

clint-eastwood-394536Last week, I was watching the Katie Couric interview with Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, and Aaron Eckhart about the making of the movie Sully.

Start watching at the 9 minute mark: https://socialfeed.info/watch-katie-couric-chat-with-clint-eastwood-tom-hanks-and-aaron-eckhart-3971287

Notice something very interesting…

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Continue reading What I learned about Gatekeepers from Clint Eastwood

My mom is the best cold caller I know.

rsz_laura-128Allow me to introduce you to the amazing and fabulous Laura Posey – Founder and CEO of Simple Success Plans (www.simplesuccessplans.com). She wrote this post on Cold-Calling. And, frankly, I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen on this topic! So, I asked if I could steal it and she said “GO FOR IT!”

So, thanks to the wild generosity of Laura Posey, I give you: My Mom Is The Best Cold Caller I Know. Enjoy!

“She’s retired now but she was so good at cold calling she lost her job. That’s because she sold the entire inventory her company had available. (It was cemetery plots that time)

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Seriously, she has sold everything from burglar alarms to siding to charitable donations starting with cold calls. And she was the top performer in every company she worked for.

So what is her secret?

It is so simple you’re going to wonder why you didn’t think of it. Here it is:

She never tries to convince anyone to set an appointment when she calls.

What???

Isn’t that the point of the call?

Not according to Mom.

You see, she views calling as a survey. The purpose of the call is to sort people into three lists:

  1. People who are curious about what you are selling
  2. People who are not ready to talk about what you are selling
  3. People who are too dumb to be curious about what you are selling

As she tells it, when you cold call someone who isn’t already curious about your product and you push to convince them to set an appointment, all you end up with is a crappy appointment.

Instead of wasting your time trying to hammer the wrong people into meeting with you, why not just call enough people and find the ones who are interested now.

Recognize that the ones who say “no” are really just saying “not now”. You can always call them back at a later time when they might be in the “yes” pile.

If you’re skeptical about how this would work, imagine this scenario.

I give you a list of 100 people to call. Your job is ask them 1) if they like chocolate ice cream and 2) if they would like a free sample if they do.

That’s it. I’ll pay you $100 to do the survey and give me the tally sheet of results.

Could you do it?

Of course you could! A survey is so simple to do because you don’t care about the outcome. You aren’t trying to convince people to like chocolate ice cream; you are just seeing who does and who doesn’t. And you only offer the free sample to people you know want it.

That is all that cold calling is – a survey.

Your job is to dial enough numbers to fill in your ‘’yes” column with quality appointments.

That’s it.

No more freaking out about…

  • “What if they hate me?”
  •  “What if they hang up on me?”
  • “What if they are mean to me?”
  • “What if I don’t know what to say?”
  • “What if I can’t get the appointment?”

You are just doing a survey – there is nothing to hate.

(And, while we are on the subject, even if they did hate you, they would forget about you the moment you hung up the phone.

Seriously, can you remember the name of the last person who cold called you?)

Your job now is to grab a sheet of paper and make four columns like this:

Screen-Shot-2016-05-10-at-10_29_01-AM

Write your list of prospect names in the first column. Then just start your survey calls, making tick marks in the appropriate column after each name.

That’s it.

I can tell you this technique saved my butt when I first got into sales.

And it has saved countless other entrepreneurs and salespeople over the years.

It requires no fancy software, no automatic dialers and no manipulative call sheets.

Give it a shot and let me know how it goes. I’m willing to bet you are making more appointments than ever by the end of next week.

For more ideas on how to generate consistent, profitable sales, check out our 144 other strategies for making more sales and growing your business.”

Did you love this advice? Check out Laura’s Simple Sales Magnetism Plan! http://bit.ly/29r10Xd

Love ‘em ALL UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

And go here to get the Truly Irreverent Tuesday Newsletter from me! http://bit.ly/IrreverentTuesday

When cold calls SIMMER!

When cold calls SIMMER!

This article is nearly 3 years old, but it is an all-time favorite!

Enjoy!

Wow! Did I have SOME FUN this week! 

I was doing my cold calls. (Ugh, you think, COLD CALLS – So do I, by the way!)

But, I am always looking for creative ways to make my cold calls instantly WARM (like throwing them in the Microwave for thirty seconds – DING!)

I sort of surprised myself with this one.

Before I made one of my calls, I checked my contact out on LinkedIn.

Guess what! 

My key prospect contact is directly related to one of my rabid fans!

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So, what did I do? 

I reached out to my rabid fan BY PHONE – (PLEASE stop hiding behind emails. It SO doesn’t work –  it makes you feel like you’ve actually done something. You haven’t.)

I told her — “Carol, I am reaching out to ABC Company and I see you are directly related to Amanda who I’d really like to talk with.”

Carol called me right back!

She was so excited! She said “Yes! Amanda SHOULD be talking with you. In fact, her boss is even better. I am going to call them and make an introduction personally.”

Then, came the surprise – Carol went one better

Carol went on to tell me all about what the company was dealing with and why they needed to talk with me so badly.

Then, she said, “After you talk with them, call me right back. I will follow up and make sure they know why they should buy. Besides, you should be talking with Amanda’s boss – who happens to love me.”

Here’s something EVEN cooler. 

Carol is a prospect!

She hasn’t even bought our product yet. But, she was so tickled to get my request for her help that she told me that she had committed to buy and mapped out her own company’s budgeting process.

Carol and I are now partners! 

What a win!

If you could have ALL of your cold calls simmer like this, wouldn’t you LOVE doing them?

Tell me about YOUR awesome-sauce strategies. I want to hear. Perhaps I will feature you in my cold-calling boot camps!

Love your life UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

They won’t tell … and you won’t sell!

I just found a great new sales tool and can’t wait to tell you about it.

But, let me first set the stage…

The Feedback You Will Never Receive

Great salespeople are greedy for feedback! We record ourselves selling, we videotape ourselves giving presentations, we role-play and invite coaching. We work to get better and better.

But, there is a silent killer and it is especially dangerous because you don’t even know to look for it!

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

This killer is greedily devouring the top of your sales funnel. Effectively blocking entrants who could be your best prospects.

But You Will Never Know Because They Will Never Tell You

This beast is right now lurking in your email account.

“What is this terrifying killer?” you are compelled to ask.

IT IS YOUR VERY OWN WRITING STYLE!

You are very likely clueless as to how readers perceive your messages.  You may have insight into which prospects are opening your emails, but you have no idea why they immediately hit the delete button or sighed in disgust and passed right on by!

As a salesperson, you are defined by the messages you leave behind. Your voice messages, text messages, emails, InMails, and social posts are your go-to moves. So, they had better be good.

Ninja good.

Continue reading They won’t tell … and you won’t sell!

If you’re anything like me…you will LOVE this secret sales weapon!

I have a secret sales weapon.Secret-weapon

It is a sure fire way to get on the same side of the table as your prospect. Especially those who are resisting a sales conversation with you.

The secret weapon? A few simple words.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

“If you are anything like…”

This is one of the most dis-arming comments you can make in a tense sales conversation. It immediately makes your conversation personable.  Here’s how it works:

Continue reading If you’re anything like me…you will LOVE this secret sales weapon!

One More Call

I was reading Jeb Blount’s book last week. Fanatical One More CallProspecting.

And, if you know anything about me, you KNOW that I abhor most business books.

But, this one grabbed me. It made me think…HEY! I had NO idea I could do this stuff. I have never even thought this way. NO WONDER this guy’s a millionaire!

Seriously.

That’s what I thought.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Then I got excited. I have always KNOWN I could do better, I just didn’t know where to look to find the flaws in my performance (yes, *sigh*, even The Irreverent Sales Girl has flaws in her performance – until NOW *grin*).

One of the challenges Jeb puts to you is to make just ONE MORE CALL. So, it was Friday afternoon and I was cold calling my list. Yep, successful people still cold call. And I was tired, but I challenged myself to observe Jeb’s rule. Make ONE MORE CALL.

Guess what happened? Continue reading One More Call