Questions received on a cold call are a VERY GOOD THING! However, we must adequately answer those questions if we expect to have a shot at gaining an appointment.

When making cold calls (or any kind of appointment making call) one of the predictable responses we consistently receive comes in the form of questions. Depending on who we are calling and what we are selling, the questions will vary, but almost everyone receives some consistent set of questions on a regular basis.

There are three reasons to be prepared to answer them and do it effectively:

1. Each of us only has so many hours a day to invest in our business (and set appointments with). If we fail at handling a particular question we’ve heard before because we’ve not thought through our answer, it is not very effective use of our time, is it? As a matter of fact is was a flat waste of time to make the call in the first place.

2. We must answer questions we receive in the sales process in order to earn the right to ask our own. Dr. Robert Cialdini, in his CD Influence, (www.influenceatwork.com) calls this the Principle of Reciprocity. Why would a stranger be willing to answer our questions if we refuse to answer their very first question inadequately?

3. Using the techniques we teach in The Appointment Making Formula™, we will immediately get into a short conversation which will provide us with the ability to build a little value in the reason they should meet with us

Take a moment right now (before you forget it) and write down the top three most common questions you receive when placing appointment making calls. Then make the time to figure out how you will answer each of those in a complete and concise fashion. The test of adequacy is to ask yourself if you were the one being called, was your answer on the mark, or did it leave you feeling the person calling was skirting the question?

Next week, I’ll tackle an example of how to handle the granddaddy of them all. How much does your solution cost?