Nashville Business Directory Members Address Cold Calling Mistakes to Avoid in 2011

With the economy in 2010 down, many business owners are looking for a strong 2011 for their sales. The age old process of cold calling continues to drive many businesses looking for work and sales, but mistakes can be easily made over the phone which can kill any offer before it is made. Learn some of these mistakes and how to avoid them in the future.

The biggest mistake cold callers make when contacting business leads or contacts is to think only of their needs. When cold calling, the process is usually most difficult to get through to the business owner. Many have buffers between the person on the other end of the phone and themselves to weed out any sales calls. Getting to the owner takes skill but once there it is easy to blow it by revolving the call around your own needs and not the needs of the person you are speaking with. While the focus is on the 'sale', proper precautions must be made to let the owner know it is about them and their business. Giving a sales pitch could be met with an immediate 'No thanks' or even worse of a hang-up. Using an approach of what problems is the owner facing might help to break the ice especially if your service or product could help.

A second mistake is not believing in your own service or product which will translate on the phone. Explain to the owner why they need your service and how it will benefit them. Owners want time savers or money savers. Letting them know how they can achieve either of these will lead to more of a chance for the sale.

Gary Pancamo runs a local Nashville business involved in party rentals insists on following a strict cold calling process that avoids anything about money, or a sale until he learns about the customer and how his service can help. Pancamo does not push every call for a sale and often suggest letting the caller go for now if rejected but to follow up in two weeks. Persistence can pay off.

Putting yourself in the customer's shoes is often forgotten when making cold calls. Focus is always taught to be on the sale, but forgetting to put yourself in the customer's shoes can have disastrous consequences for those looking to make business with an owner. Taking a step back and placing your needs to the side and seeing it from the customer's perspective can make the message more understandable and even might make a sale easy.





Added on 2011-03-09

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