The trade-off of doing too much qualifying on a Cold Call.
We’re asked consistently, “How much qualifying is appropriate on a cold call?”
Here’s our thoughts:
- The key point to understand is this. People will open up to us more in a face-to-face meeting than they will over the phone, so don’t qualify yourself out of a sale over the phone. There is no trust or credibility yet built on a cold call. We may still be lied to on the phone if the reason for the question is viewed as entirely selfish and a way out. “How many widgets a year do you think you buy a year, Mr. Target?” It’s pretty easy to get rid of us if they know we’re looking for a large number, right?
- Do you sell to a very broad audience or is it difficult to find them? The harder it is to find them, the more qualifying is appropriate. No sense wasting your time or theirs.
- The larger our territory is the more qualifying is appropriate. No sense wasting our time getting there and back.
- If you sell into large organizations, can you find out information on an Initial Appointment that would help you penetrate further into the target? If so, why not go on the appointment? It’s getting the door open that can sometimes be the greater challenge.
- Remember, our cold call targets don’t think they need us when we call. Add to that the fact we’re interrupting them. Ergo, we want to keep our calls short. If we’re using the concepts we teach in The Formula™, our target should have developed a good understanding of the value of seeing us by the end of the call. Therefore, it is entirely appropriate to ask one or two key qualifying questions after we’ve gotten their agreement to meet with us.
We like to use the following language: “To help me be better prepared for our meeting, do you mind if I ask you a couple of quick questions?” This approach won’t irritate the target as much than if they think we’re going to get into a long drawn out conversation, as we’re telling them we’ll be quick and it will help me make the meeting more productive.
- Be careful how you ask your questions. This actually happened to me. Since we generally are looking for larger sales forces, one of my favorite qualification questions is to ask how many sales people they have. In one instance, the number I heard was smaller than I wanted, but it was with the new indoor arena here in Dallas, so I wanted to go anyway. Turned out that this guy was able to hook me up with several related sales forces that also sold into the arena. His team was small. I’ve since rephrased that question!
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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