Cold Calling, the ‘whack-a-mole’ and the teleprompter.
When we teach telephone prospecting, we sometimes get pushback from the participants regarding ‘memorizing’ the opening scripts, transitions, Counters, etc. that are part of their prepared ‘Best Practices’. “That’s a lot of work”, we’ll hear. The good news is that not everything needs to be memorized.
Where we need to have memorized things is basically in two areas; the opening script and how we’ll counter the few and predictable negative responses we’ll receive because we did memorize our opening script.
The opening must be memorized, but since it shouldn’t be more than 15 or 20 seconds anyway, it’s not that difficult. Here’s why:
- We make our own job easier if we do. By delivering the same opening message EVERY time, we can predict the responses we’ll get into a manageable few. If we ‘wing’ it, we open the door to all kinds of responses as there is a direct correlation between what we say and the responses we hear in return. So why would we want to make our job any more difficult?
- We are better listeners (meaning, tonality, etc.) if we’re not worried about what we’re saying. We have all made a comment during a cold call that is in direct conflict with what the target just told us. It is embarrassing and generally leads to a lack of credibility we’re trying to build. That happens because we’re not listening with 100% of our attention.
The other area we must internalize (memorize) our Best Practices is countering the negative responses we hear. Our ability to handle these quickly and effectively now becomes like the arcade game of ‘whack-a-mole’. When one pops up, we must respond as quickly as we can, before it disappears and becomes a different one (or before the game ends – as in a hang-up). We can’t get really good at these unless we’ve done so. If we’re concentrating on finding the appropriate response in our Best Practices (in Klpz or in our Best Practices), we’ll not be listening as intently to what the target is saying and how they’re saying it. That will reduce our Appointment Ratio of conversations to appointments.
But like I said, not everything needs to be memorized. Enter the teleprompter analogy (thanks to my partner, Bob Howard, for the idea). One area that we can apply the teleprompter approach is voicemails. Because we don’t have to worry about the target responding, we don’t need to worry about splitting our attention and be listening. Also, when using The Formula’s™ approach, we’ll generally leave a slightly different voicemail on each call in the cycle, which means that depending on the number of steps in our standard cycle, there can be a lot of memorization. Once we’ve familiarized ourselves with each of the messages, it is okay to have voicemail script in front of us in Klpz or printed on our desk to remind us of what the appropriate message will be.
Another area where the teleprompter approach works is in responses to direct questions that might require specificity and/or a lot of detail. Those can actually be ‘read’ like a newscaster does off of their teleprompter. Once we’re familiar with the content and have practiced it a few times (and yes, newscasters do read through their material before they go on the air), we can make it sound conversational, and that is the key.
The last area where the teleprompter approach can be applied is in the area of secondary Bridge Questions. Bridge Questions are the key to the ball game when attempting to convert a negative response into an appointment. When someone does throw us something different than the predictable negative responses we’ve memorized, having our list of Bridge Questions to resort to and read if necessary can work. Of course, that also assumes we’ve got a written set of Best Practices to begin with!
Summary – we must have our Best Practices written out. Memorize the opening to limit the responses we’ll get and then select parts of the process that open themselves up to the use of the teleprompter approach and memorize everything else.
Oh, one last thing. No sales occur until we get in front of a target to begin the selling process. That means the most important skill we can develop is getting enough Initial Appointments. Suck it up and do it right. Those that have are truly glad they did!
Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.
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