How to “Surrender” Your Cold Calling Agenda

All the sales gurus have been teaching for years that we must be enthusiastic and aggressive in our cold calling tactics. We’ve been trained to focus on the sale and move our cold calling conversations toward a sales conclusion. 

What would you think if I told you to surrender your sales agenda entirely? Would you think it’s impossible to see more success without a “sales focus” than with one? 

This new mindset of cold calling actually does just that. It brings us out of the dark ages where we’re almost going into battle as soon as we dial the phone. It lets us get rid of “pitches” and “strategies” and “closing techniques.” And instead, we can become real people again. 

Why does this new cold calling approach work so well? You see, when we’re not aggressive about making a sale, then others respond much more positively. They don’t tense up as soon as they hear our voice -- which in the old way would immediately be presenting a sales pitch that puts pressure them. 

Old traditional cold calling techniques try to coax people into buying something. I don’t know about you, but when I feel pressure, my immediate response is resistance. So it just makes sense that potential clients feel a similar resistance. 

Whenever you make a cold call while holding a sales agenda in your mind, you’re triggering this resistance -- no matter how low-key you try to present yourself. When you have a hope or expectation around sales, it shows up in big and small ways. 

So the key behind this cold calling approach is to not have any sales assumptions at all.  Don’t assume that you can help this person with your product, because you don’t know their issues. You don’t know their budget or their needs in any way.

For example, what if you were to receive a call from a stranger who doesn’t know you, but they’re assuming they can help you. How would you feel? How would you react?

You’d probably feel it’s a bit presumptuous of them. Because you don’t know them. And naturally you don’t trust them. You’re thinking that their reason for calling you is self-serving, and so you must be “on guard.”

This is why it’s best to begin your cold calls in a conversational manner rather than with a sales pitch. If you don’t begin your cold calls in a way which is tied to the world of the other person, then you’ll find yourself being rejected. But even more, it’s best to relinquish your old sales mindset entirely. 

If you don’t have “making the sale” as your goal in cold calling, then what replaces it?  Well, your goal in the cold call is to overcome the other person’s fear of you and build trust. That’s the goal of the cold call, really. Because you’re battling the negative stereotype held around most sales calls. You’re not battling anything else.

The more natural and relaxed you are, then the more you’re able to convey that you’re genuinely honest and are not calling to make a sale that would improve your gain -- but to help the other person.

So, the conversation is completely focused on the client’s world and the problems they may be looking to solve. If someone asks, “What are you selling?” the answer really

is, “Nothing. I’m not here to sell you anything because I don’t know if I can help you in any way. I’m only calling to find out if you have any issues tied to improving

the sales performance of your company.”. 

By adopting this approach, you’ll be able to enjoy your job again. And for the first time, you’ll see other benefits to cold calling besides the actual idea of closing the sale. Once you begin to enjoy the idea of conversing and building trust with people, your whole being will shift into a new frame of reference.

As the idea of making the sale becomes less important, you feel more comfortable cold calling people to help them. So, in a way, it’s almost like the sale itself is anticlimactic. We as people enjoy other people. As we help them, we get amazing feedback like, “Thank you for helping us with our solution!” And perhaps for the first time, you’ll find yourself really enjoying your work again.