Avoiding Rejection When Cold Calling

In today’s selling world, buyers are under more pressure than ever before. With purchase decisions being more heavily scrutinised, this makes avoiding rejection when cold calling all the more difficult for sales people.

The challenging conditions have led some to claim that cold calling is dead.

Many sales training experts have even suggested that less traditional sales channels, such as social media and email marketing, have become increasingly effective in today’s marketplace.

But at Sterling Chase we firmly believe that, for many selling organisations, cold calling remains the cornerstone of new business development. Although more than 90% of sales calls result in rejection, those sales people employing the right techniques are still setting up hot sales meetings on a consistent basis.

Here are some quick tips that will help you to avoid rejection when cold calling.

Create a good first impression:

When making a sales call you usually have just 10 seconds to gain the gatekeeper’s interest. You then have just around 30 seconds to persuade them to set up a meeting with the real decision maker. To make an instant impression and get past the gatekeeper, follow our ‘4 Ps of Getting an Appointment’ (Prepare, Purpose, Process & Payoff).

Don’t talk about your products or your company:

One of the main complaints we hear from buyers is that sales people insist on talking about their products or their company’s achievements. In doing so, they fail to demonstrate a clear understanding of the client’s world. In reality, buyers DON’T care about your product or your company at this early stage of the sales process.

Communicate your insight of the client’s world:

Buyers DO care about their own business and their own performance. This means that you should resist opening discussions around the features, advantages or benefits of your product/company. Instead, open conversations around the external and internal pressures facing the buyer before aligning your solutions with their specific needs and desires near the end of the call.

Communicate the value your offer:

Tell the buyer exactly how you can help them improve their performance. This will make them see the tangible benefits of working with you and provide you with further opportunities to communicate your insight of the client’s world.

Communicate your credibility:

Let the buyer know exactly what you have done for other buyers in similar circumstances. Not only should this position you as an industry expert, but it should make the buyer feel more comfortable in the knowledge that rivals are experiencing similar problems and you have a history of turning things round.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase