It always feels artificial when we shift into our “salesperson persona” in order to make a cold call. It’s a dehumanizing process that -- unless we’re a born actor -- feels really awkward. And yet the old-school traditional sales mindset almost guarantees that role playing is a part of every cold call we make.
Here’s a new way to be yourself and also be very effective.
1. Enjoy the process rather than focus on the outcome
Most of us enjoy meeting new people. So when we’re cold calling, why not be ourselves in this place? It’s perfectly appropriate to be interested, cordial, warm, and respectful of potential clients when calling them.
When we’re being ourselves in this way, the other person usually can sense our sincerity. How tiresome it must be to receive canned and robot-like presentations day after day. And how refreshing for them to talk with a real person who’s relating to them in a natural, cordial fashion.
In cold calling, we’re wanting to discover the needs of the other person, and if we might help them. We aren’t focused on the outcome, but are enjoying the process of conversation and discovery.
2. Be natural rather than calculating or manipulative
Avoid changing who you are when you make your cold call. There’s no need to be on “stage” or sound enthusiastic. Just be your everyday relaxed self, as if you’re calling a friend. People know when you’re being genuine, and when you’re not.
Set aside the traditional phrases and strategies calculated to win a sale. Simply be who you are, interested in your potential client’s point of view.
This will help get you back to the cold calling basics of treating potential clients like human beings rather than commodities. Your being natural opens the gateway to real human-to-human connection, which builds trust.
So, by being natural, you’re also bringing integrity back into selling. When you’re not playing a role, you’re working with the other person to build a sincere conversation.
3. Allow yourself to be flexible within the conversation
This can be a hard one. Throw out your linear sales script and generate a spontaneous conversation based on the problems you can help the other person solve.
Scripts feel artificial to us. And we sound artificial to the other person just as soon as we say, “Hello.” Formal scripts don’t give us the freedom to be flexible in cold calling conversations. We can’t adjust to whatever direction they’re wanting to go.
So view your cold calls as conversations that somewhat have a mind of their own. As long as your own intention is anchored in the idea of helping the other person, you’ll get along fine. Open a dialogue with the other person, and allow it to bend and shape itself into a relaxed interaction.
4. Adopt a holistic view of both yourself and the potential client
Let go of thinking “buyer-seller,” and view the person you’re calling as another person, not as a “prospect.”
The traditional cold calling mindset teaches us to polarize our roles. We’re trying to sell something, and we aren’t seeing the whole picture which includes the other person’s thinking.
The old cold calling approach has become so artificial that potential clients put up their guards almost immediately. It’s denigrated the sales process into a painful “push and pull” process.
Shift your mindset into seeing your potential clients as people first. This will help you relate to them better. And the broader picture will allow you find out whether your product or service can be of help to them without being pushy or artificial.
5. Stay open-minded and allow your cold calls to remain open-ended
Most selling programs are designed to coax the client into buying before you have trust and connection with them. But strategies and “forward moving” techniques are based on your world, not the potential client’s.
This usually causes an immediate negative reaction during your cold calls. People don’t like being pushed by someone else’s agenda, especially someone they don’t know.
So let go of “driving” a conversation forward. Instead, open your cold call with a statement focused on a problem they probably have, and one that will invite a question from them.
And also allow your ending comment to be more inviting than directing. For example, end with the phrase, “Well, where do you think we should go from here?” This lets the conversation move on its own without your herding things into pre-planned box.
Practicing these 5 steps will take your ability to communicate with potential clients to a level you never thought possible. You’ll avoid situations that turn into a buyer and seller role and the sales pressure this creates. You’ll also find yourself speaking in a gracious manner, and your potential clients will be comfortable with the interaction. This translates into more clients and revenue, plain and simple.
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