I am constantly amazed at how many people make excuses for their failures. Do you know someone like that? This is somebody who is running fewer appointments than they would like, making less than ideal money, and is stalled on one of the rungs of the Moving Up In the Organization Ladder.
If I had a dollar for every time someone gave me a tired response in defense of their ongoing mediocrity, I would have retired to my own private island in the Caribbean by now. It usually takes one form or another, but it sounds an awful lot like these:
“If only I knew people that could benefit from the services that I provide, I would be killing it”
“If only my timing was better, I would have closed that deal for sure”
“If only more people knew about me, I would see my sales increase exponentially”
“If only I could get the appointment, my product sells itself”
The road to Salesperson Hell is paved with the words “If only…” Personally, I hate playing the victim and I make for a rotten guest at a pity party. When it comes to the financial security of my family, nobody is going to have the final say on that matter outside of me.
When it comes to my ability to sell, I am going to have the ultimate decision on how many products I sell and the volume of services that I provide. When it comes to the number of appointments I run, I will limit myself only on the demands on my time for that particular week.
Do you get my drift? The only person who is going to limit my success is me. The only person who is going to limit the amount of appointments I run is me. The only person who is going to limit how much money I make this week is me.
No, I am not a clinically diagnosed narcissist, nor am I living in a delusional fantasy land. I am oozing with confidence and brimming with self-assuredness because I regularly employ the ultimate sales weapon when it comes to strategy, effectiveness, timeliness, and efficiency: cold calling.
Imagine you are a financial advisor who is seeking out divorce attorneys to network with so that you can position yourself for referrals of their clients in an effort to assist them during this financially traumatic time in their lives. How might you go about introducing yourself to these folks?
I suppose one could:
- Attend networking events
- Send out a mailer
- Scour LinkedIn for connections
- Collect e-mail addresses and send out a cleverly worded message
Sound like anything you’ve done before?
To be honest with you, I struggle with things outside of my control. I love public speaking because I am controlling what comes out of my mouth. I adore cold calling because I know exactly what I am about to say.
I stress out watching the Green Bay Packers because I don’t know what Aaron Rodgers is about to do, nor whether or not Eddie Lacy is going to put the ball on the turf. Why would you engage in any of the aforementioned activities with regularity when there are so many aspects of each that are far from the grasp of your control?
When you walk into the room for the networking event, are you in complete control of the guest list? Would it be an efficient use of your time to show up, work the room, and, two hours later, you realize that nary a single divorce attorney was present?
Would it be an efficient use of your time to go through all of the connections of your LinkedIn contacts and ask them for personal introductions to the divorce attorneys in their networks? By the time they reply to you, get around to contacting this person on your behalf, and assuming this divorce attorney wants to speak with a complete stranger, four months later, you have already missed out on copious amounts of business that I guy like me has taken from you while you were playing Connect the Dots.
If you think that these examples are efficient, brother, you are in the wrong business.
With cold calling, I control who is on my list of folks to call and can speak to as many of them as I desire based simply upon the number of calls I choose to make today. With cold calling, I control the number of appointments I run and who I elect to work with based upon the time and effort I wish to put into this matter.
You may have seen by now that I have a 98.6% cold call success rate. A huge reason for my success on the phone is I know exactly who I am calling, when I am calling them, why I am engaging in this activity, and how I am going to convince them, in a very short amount of time, to meet with me so I can get to know them better.
Are you the person who avoids cold calling because it is difficult and you have a low rate of success? Or, perhaps, you are the individual who refrains from cold calling because “experts” have told you not to. Something tells me that, if you fall into one of these two categories, you are also a person who feels at the mercy of circumstances beyond your control, which is hindering your overall level of success.
Stop hoping for a great year and start making it one! Stop dreaming that your ideal client will reach out to you and pick up the phone and show her what she is missing by not speaking with you! Your overall success level is determined by nobody but yourself and to think otherwise is a misguided error. Make 2016 your best year ever by including a robust cold calling program in your quiver and watch the goals you set get surpassed in no time.
Not sure how to get an effective cold call strategy in place? Unsure as to whom, exactly, your ideal clients are? Even if you did, would you know what to say on the phone? I earned fame with my seemingly impossible 98.6% cold call success rate and can show you just how easy it is to, simply by picking up the phone, run more appointments with individuals that are in need of the services that you provide. Contact me at 414-313-8338 or coldcallcoachllc@gmail.com to get started today!
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