Red-Hot Cold Call Selling by Paul Goldner
Goldner's
bio: Goldner holds an MBA from the University of Rochester and
is also the author of Red Hot Customers. Paul built his first of two
companies up to an excess $100 million in annual sales.
Key points: The Selling Life-Cycle
Paradigm and his Ten Commandments of Prospecting.
Mr.
Goldner says that salespeople have two basic functions.
Responsibility number one is the servicing of your existing clients.
And the second responsibility is toward business development. Paul
says, “When you are not providing superior customer service, you
must devote your full attention and energy to business development
and prospecting. It is crucial to your selling success.” He goes
on to say, “Business development is a proactive process. You
cannot sit and wait for things to happen. You must go out and make
them happen.”
Though
the book was written in the mid-90's Goldner (updated in 2006) makes several astute
observations that are as timely today as ever. He says that, as
salespeople, we need not participate in the recession if we don't
want to. Paul makes numerous references to a concept that is very
important in the profession of selling. The fact of the matter is
that if you do something often enough a ratio will appear. In
baseball they call it batting average and in sales we call it our
closing ratio.
Goldner
says, “If you keep accurate records, you will soon learn that your
relationship between sales volume and dials of the telephone can be
as predictable as the sun rising in the East and setting in the
West.” If you've never tracked or measured your ratios I encourage
you to do so. Yes it can be tedious work and, yes the ratio will be
a lot smaller than you would have hoped. But the consistently
predictable nature of that ratio is truly a freakish phenomenon to behold.
It is
for this reason that Goldner confidently claims that, as salespeople,
we can set our income at whatever level we'd like. If we know the
level of income we want and we know our ratios, we will know exactly
how many calls we'll have to make to make the money we want. Paul
does go on to state the obvious, “During a recession, you have to
make more calls to yield the same results.” This simply means that
as the economy slumps our ratios will go down as well. But that doesn't
mean our income must go down as well. During a recession increased
prospecting activity will maintain your level of income and will
position you to soar once the economy rebounds.
“If we
do not make cold calls, we will have done little, if anything, to
further our business development efforts.” Goldner points out that
selling is essentially the transfer of enthusiasm. He notes advise
that you will hear from many a wise sales trainer, after success on a
call or presentation, immediately move to the next prospect. Your
elevated state of mind will have a dramatically positive effect on
the next response from the next prospect.
Now to
the Selling Life-Cycle Paradigm. Goldner uses this mindset to
become what he calls “rejection-proof.” Generally I would say it's a good frame of
mind to have. In Pauls' words, “One can never be rejected as
long as the selling process continues. By being persistent, by
continuing the education process, and by repositioning your prospect
in an appropriate position in your sales pipeline after a temporary
setback in the sales cycle, you have the ability to control the
ultimate outcome of the sales process and the ability to control any
emotions associated with an apparent rejection. In fact, given this
perspective of selling, you see that it is impossible to lose a
sale.” This goes hand-in-hand with the rejection of the premise that we only get one chance to make an impression. Something I wrote about in this post: Your First Impression
Sales can be a very emotional career. You can chose to deal with these emotions in a number of ways, Goldner's Selling Life-Cycle Paradigm being one of them. As it turns out, a fair number of people use alcohol and narcotics to deal with life's frustrations and anxieties. However, we all know the possible dangers associated with those two solutions. A big part of the value of the Selling Life-Cycle Paradigm is that it reminds us that sales is a process not an event. When you really internalize this idea, when you get it in your gut, a lot of anxiety and frustration should disappear. When someone tells you no, reneges on a promise, or cancels an order, you'll be better equipped to realize it's no big deal.
Success
in selling results, in large part, from having a full sales pipeline.
Your pipeline of course being the people in the various stages of the sales
process. When you get a 'no' you don't want to discard that
prospect, you simply want to reposition them in your pipeline. If
done properly you stand a good chance of getting that person's
business when the time is right. If you're reading these words
there's a good chance you've told me no, doesn't mean I'm done with
you. As an aside, I should mention that there is a good reason to
toss someone out and that's if the person is a jerk. Life's too
short to deal with jerks. When you come across one just throw them
in the waste basket. But rest assured my dear friend, you are not a
jerk, otherwise you wouldn't be here, you'd be in the dump.
Goldner
talks about the importance of defining your target market. This is a
very useful concept. The old saying says that if you try to be all
things to all people you end up being nothing to anybody. This
definitely applies to sales and marketing. Unless you work in a very
small market you will want to segment your marketplace. This will
help you know who to go after. One simple segment for a realtor
could be, “All homes within a five mile radius of my office.”
Voilá, you now know exactly who to go after. In real estate, or any
profession, you can extend your target even further. Indeed, chances are, you can be as specifics as
you'd like. Perhaps you only want to call on existing single family
homes of a certain value range in a certain zip code. No problem,
now there's no doubt who your prospects are. You could even ask
around for referrals by asking the people you know if they know
anyone in that particular zip code. You get the idea.
Here are
Goldners' Ten Commandments of Prospecting:
#1 Make
an appointment with yourself for one hour each day to prospect –
Prospecting requires discipline
and Paul assures us that the will will never be exactly right to
prospect.
#2 Make
as many calls as possible – Sales is a numbers game.
#3 Make
your calls brief – Two to three minutes is maximum.
#4 Be
prepared with a list of names before you call – Just like defining
your target market this will help keep
you focused and avoid wondering who you should call on.
#5 Work
without interruption – Should be obvious. Prospecting with a
definite goal and focus helps you
better reach that goal.
#6
Consider prospecting during off-peak hours if conventional
prospecting times don't work
#7 Vary
your call times – This pertains mostly to business-to-business
selling.
#8 Be
organized – The one who keeps the best notes wins.
#9 See
the end before you begin – Your confidence and enthusiasm with be
contagious.
#10
Don't stop – Persistence is one of the key virtues in selling
success.
Goldner
notes that it is important to use a script and to practice, practice,
practice. Some salespeople resist using a script, for whatever
reason. The fact of the matter is if you prospect repeatedly, you will
eventually use the same words anyways. The only question is
whether you're going to have an intentional script or an accidental
one. Paul says that the importance of how you sound cannot be
overemphasized. A well practiced script sounds the best.
Mail
should be sent to support your cold calling efforts, not in place of
them.
Goldner
is a big fan of Toastmasters International, a public speaking club.
If you've never heard of Toastmasters it's an organization that helps
you develop your public speaking skills. A long time ago I learned
that there is a connection between our fear of public speaking and of
fear of cold calling. Master your fear of public speaking and watch
your cold calling efforts improve as well.
Paul
talks about Unique Selling Points or USP's. The idea goes all the
way back to 1960 when Adman Rosser Reeves introduced the concept in
his book Reality in Advertising.
(Reeves actually called them Unique Selling Propositions, but
whatever.) Very simply, your USP's are the reasons your customers buy. And you want them couched in terms of what the buyer receives, not what
you provide. Meaning, you may have extensive knowledge about your
marketplace but the reason people buy from you could be because of
the enormous selection you provide. You provide the knowledge but
they receive lots of choices. This distinct is very subtle but very important.
Since
Goldner's example isn't so great, I'll give you the example I'm most
familiar with which is my business, LegalShield. First I will
list the benefit my clients receive and then I'll put the feature
that creates said benefit. Here they are:
- Time and Financial Freedom – When you have leverage and residual income you don't have to spent your life chasing after a paycheck.
- Location Freedom – LegalShield is a national company so our associates are free to live wherever they wish.
- Security – Since our associates own their business, they can't be fired or downsized.
- Tax savings – Business ownership has lots of perks.
- Protection and Empowerment – We give people unlimited access to top-notch law firms without having to worry about the high hourly rates.
Now it's
your turn. If you haven't already, create your USP's. This is a
great marketing exercise because people buy for their reasons not
yours.
We'll
finish up with Mr. Goldner by covering his discussion of measurement
and tracking. Paul says that it's important to track your numbers
and report them to your manager. (or anyone else that can hold you
accountable for results) Goldner says, “The classic argument
against sales reporting is that it takes away valuable selling time.
Although this may be true, sales reporting can also be a valuable
coaching tool and a tool used for strategic planning. I prefer to
view sales reporting as an investment in my own success. Sales
reporting ensures that you are working smart.”
Paul
recommends measuring the following six things: Dials, Completed
Calls, Appointments, Proposals, Sales, Commissions. This happens to
be based on the telephone but it works just the same if you're
prospecting in-person. There are three main benefits to sales
reporting:
- It keeps us accountable for results – what gets measured gets done.
- It demonstrates that we make money with each call – if it takes fifty dials to make a sale, each and every dial has value. (makes money)
- Helps with course correction – your numbers will tell you how you're doing and if anything should be changed. The great Ad-men understand that advertising is all about selling and salesmanship. I've heard the Guerilla-guy (Jay Conrad Levinson) say that the only person who should change your advertising is your accountant. Meaning, if it's making you money, stick with it. This applies to both advertising and selling. Tracking your progress helps you to steer the ship.
