Getting yourself upbeat when Cold-Calling!

Having a bad day in cold-calling / prospecting? Wishing to have a meaningful conversation with someone on how your product / services are helping them overcome challenges faced in their industry?  If you are going through one of those 'down' feelings' - you need a bit of 'time-out therapy'.  I call it 'time-out therapy' because it is a moment of pause to get you out of the cycle of having low energy levels and add a strong dose of feeling 'high'.  

Many of us don't realize that while we are focused and disciplined in our work - we lose that sense of contentment - the feeling that you are so happy and satisfied with everything around you, that you can't be more thankful for all the blessings that have bestowed upon you. Might sound crazy - but it works!  If you don’t believe reflect on this - when you are getting service, would you like to receive it from a grumpy expression or one that is beaming ear-to-ear with a smile?  Money is a big driver for salespeople - but we all subconsciously gravitate towards happiness more than money.  I know many will disagree with this statement - but I think suffice to say we all seek inner and outer happiness and probably a big way to achieve it is by money.

How to achieve the expression of happiness / contentment

There are several ways of doing this, here are a few:

• Music - music can lead us feeling happy or giving that high.  It’s kind of like being at a club on Saturday nights where everybody is happy and cheerful
• Go for a walk with someone - might sound bizarre, but going out for a walk with a friend and just talking (or sharing of energy) with each other helps out provided you each encourage one another.  Smokers really benefit from this as each time they go out they recharge themselves.
• Read / watch an interesting article - I always have something as a back-up to motivate me and keep me going, one of my most favorite pieces to watch is Napoleon Hill’s Laws of Success, here is a link to it in case you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS9c60wVNSA

Are all these methods the right ones?  No not really, try to find your own ones too.  

I hope I have helped you out in raising your spirits and joyfulness in cold-calling.  Enjoy the moment you are in and try to get back into the groove!

Matching and mirroring in a cold-call

So, I got a comment (the first ever!) on one of my blog posts and thought it would be an interesting discussion to begin this post with - in a cold-call how important is matching and mirroring?  Many people say that in order to carry a conversation in a cold-call (or any sales call) matching and mirroring the prospect is key or should be considered a major strategy.  What I would like to present are 3 reasons that warrant a discussion on the merits of match and mirror in a phone call.  If I have missed any or if anyone would like to add - please comment!


Intimidation - in my world and experience of selling to technical people, they are typically not aversed in sales and so they get intimidated with the salesguy that's speaking with them ESPECIALLY if you are over-energized!  In this scenario, I try to lower my energy, the challenge here is if you get too low, you don't sound too exciting to speak with.  VERDICT - find a fine balance and during the phone call try to slowly increase your energy level (by standing up from chair, pacing, etc.).  It would be interesting if this matches other industries though. 


Genuineness or humbleness - if you look at sales, it's the formation of a relationship with another person.  When you are in a relationship - you are there because of who that person is and accept them for who they are.  If you take a look around at your circle of professional friendships (not personal), you'll notice that there is a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, but yet we all get along very well.  It's about getting to know the person inside and appreciating them - and that's what ultimately gets the long-term relationship sale!


Personality matches - people require information differently based on their natural or adjusted styles (adjusted being in response to their environment).  The one I use is the DISC profile, which is fairly easy and simple tool to use as it divides people up in 4 categories.  It might be difficult to gauge people on a phone call, but senior people are probably more likely to be dominant, while researchers, accountants, etc. are more likely to be cautious fact oriented (you can read more about it at here at the Wikipedia article).  By guessing, you can be good at matching and mirroring the language and tone of the conversation.  


While, I have not answered the question on the importance of matching and mirroring, I think the clear answer is go with your gut as you don't want to sway yourself in too much of a different direction.  I leave this blog with the following question, if you were selling to someone, who was an exact replica of you and no matching and mirroring was required - do you think they'd buy?