If I were to ask you what type of movie is your favorite genre, how would you respond? If you are like my wife, you love horror movies and the emotional response they elicit from you. Personally, I am a horror movie wimp and would rather have my teeth pulled out than watch a truly scary movie.
Ever since I was in high school, I have been enamored with military movies. I love the action, drama, humanity, and history that is prevalent in those types of movies. Specifically, I enjoy military movies that feature snipers as I am fascinated with that type of military personnel.
Recently, I was watching “American Sniper” for the 26th time on HBO. It got me to better understand and articulate why I am so fascinated with people in the military that serve in that capacity.
The precision in which they conduct their business is second to none. They can literally win or lose a conflict with one single solitary shot. Additionally, they rely on their instincts, strategy, and ability to know where to look in an effort to defeat the enemy and protect their comrades down below.
How successful would a sniper be if he was blindfolded, spun around six times, not told where the enemy was congregating, and asked to fire as many shots as it took in order to complete the mission?
Do you think this mission would end in success? Would the sniper be able to complete his task using very minimal ammunition? Do you see this approach as a model of efficiency and effectiveness?
Just like it sounds ridiculous to imagine a scenario like that, it sounds equally ridiculous to me to see intelligent sales professionals approach cold calling in the same exact manner.
When you do not know where to look, you have to make more calls. If you do not have the right strategy in place, you will be calling more people at the wrong time that do not need your services.
If you are disoriented, confused, and don’t have the proper amount of confidence, you are going to have to make a tremendous amount of calls to schedule anywhere near the number of appointments that might be deemed successful.
Cold calling is not a numbers game! If you are calling the right person at the right time that has the right need and you have the right value add proposition to offer, you can schedule many appointments with very few calls.
If you have a customized script that is full of value add propositions that is built to meet the unique goals, challenges and opportunities of your business in a manner that does not sound salesy, you don’t have to make as many calls to schedule a certain number of appointments.
Those that tell you that cold calling is a numbers game don’t approach the process with the strategy, precision, science, and devotion that the mastery of this skill requires. Imagine if you could schedule 10 appointments per week on only 20 phone calls. What else might you do to fill your week?
Perhaps you could focus more on client retention and customer service? Maybe you could get out in the community more and attend more networking events and business functions? Or, rather than working in your business, perhaps you could work on your business and focus more on long-term strategic planning and goal setting.
Just like in the military, success with cold calling is predicated on discipline, strategy, precision, confidence, and thinking like your target. When done correctly, as is evidenced by our brave men and women in uniform, one can be very effective in hitting their target without taking nearly as many shots if they have put the work in on the front end first.
The same is true with cold calling. If we have all of the right pieces in place and focus our efforts on quality over quantity, we can hit the target again and again and again using very minimal ammunition. What could be more efficient than that?
Ready to work smarter, not harder? Are you ready to spend less time making calls and more time running appointments? Then give us a call today at 414-313-8338 and let’s get to work!
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