[MUSIC] About 15 years ago I was sitting in my office at the management consultancy firm where I was working. And then suddenly, I was actually minding my own business but suddenly I heard [SOUND]. So I stopped and listened, and after ten seconds I heard [SOUND], again. And then I heard a phone call, my colleague in the other room was talking to somebody. And when he hang up, I just had to ask my friend, hey, Micah, what did you actually do, what did happen? And then he told me the following story. He had actually called a rather well-known CEO in our country. But after less than 15 seconds, this CEO said, hey, guy, piss off. You're not knowing anything on what you're talking about. You don't know who you are calling, and you don't know what we are doing. So I'm totally uninterested in talking to you. And then Micah said [SOUND]. And then the CEO said, what? So he said [SOUND], once again. And then the CEO said what, once again. And then Micah said, sorry, you're correct, I'm really an idiot. Could we take the phone call from the beginning? And he actually managed to get the phone call from the beginning. In average, these kind of phone calls would never work. So let's have a look at the more common situation of cold calling. Cold calling, that's calling somebody that we don't know. A person that, from a sales perspective, is actually rather cold customer compared to a hot customer. A hot one is the one most likely to buy. Let's have a look, or actually let's listen to a phone call and how does it work? What does happen? [SOUND] [SOUND] Martin, hello. >> Hi, Martin. >> Hi. >> It's Hendrick Blomgren from Synthesizers Inc Economic Software Development. How are you today? >> Fine. >> Nice. I'm just calling in order to, I thought you might be interested in our new economic app software solution. It's a drag and drop solution and, Well- >> Sorry, I'm not sure I have time for this. What are you trying to sell? >> Yeah, I'm calling about our new really cool software solution. It's a drag and drop, and you could directly get instant feedback concerning your investments. >> Sorry, I don't think that's anything of interest to us. I'm not really even sure what you're trying to sell. Well, what we're trying to sell is actually a drag and drop solution for economic analysis. And I think you might really have an interest if I just get the opportunity to present it. >> I'm sorry, but we but we already have analytical system for our financial investments. >> Yeah, but I mean, this is a new drag and drop solution that we got. And, well- >> Sorry, can you tell me in one sentence what you're trying to sell here? >> Well, it's a drag and drop solution for economic analysis that we got it in software solution that I thought you might be interested in hearing what we can, [SOUND] Whoop. >> What went wrong here, actually? Wow, nearly everything, right? Why did it go wrong? Well, it did go wrong for a couple of really basic reasons. He didn't know what he actually wanted when he made the call. So how to make a good phone call to cold person? How to make cold calling work. It's actually a couple of very small steps. First of all, hi, my name is, I work at, we have, and I think we can help you. Are you interested in hearing more? Are you interested in a meeting? And if they no, hang up. Call a new one. That's it. You gotta know why you're calling. And in average, if you call a person, what you are actually trying to convince them to, is to have a meeting or to tell them something more. If they're not interested, call a new one. Let's listen to another try with the same people. [SOUND] Martin, hello. >> Hi, Martin. This is Hendrik Blomgren from Synthesizers Inc. We're working on helping people to do better financial economic analysis than previously. >> Okay. >> And the reason I'm calling you is actually that we just last week did help a person in your neighborhood who actually did earn about $50,000 US with our new economic solutions. And we're- >> Okay. >> We're really confident that we think we can help you, too. >> Would you like to learn how? >> Yeah, sounds interesting. >> Well, would it be okay if we schedule a meeting, maybe for Monday afternoon next week? >> Not Monday, but Tuesday could work. >> Tuesday, yes, of course, what time is okay for you? >> In sales, we quite often talk about the sales funnel. We need 300 calls to a person to get 80 answers and 80 answers to get about 10 meetings and 10 meetings to get 1 deal, 1 customer. It means we have to call a huge amount of people to get them all the way in the sales funnel. That's part of phone calling. How many phone calls we need to get an answer depends on what business we're in, who we are, etc, etc. So it's difficult to know, but what we do know is that we need more sales calls than we get sales. Call centers are actually quite interesting when it comes to phone calling, because in average they are professionals. They're professionals in phone calling. What can we learn from a call center? Well, we can learn that huge amounts of them actually have a manuscript. They know what to say. The computer help them. They sit in groups when they call. Why do they sit in groups? Normally because they help each other and support each other when they do phone calls. They listen, they take notes, and they constantly learn from the sales call they make. They make a phone call, they realize what they did wrong, and then they change. Another thing we can learn from a call center is actually that they schedule time for calling. So if you want to call people, schedule time for it. In average, most of us try to avoid calling people, so you need to schedule time for it. And of course, there is also a lot of small detail tricks. One, small one, but rather good one, is actually standing up when you make a phone call, because in average, if you stand up, you breathe better, you feel more relaxed. There are some well-known facts here when it comes to phone calling. Most people are actually more scared of phone calling compared to death. Most people are actually really afraid of calling somebody. Most people try to avoid phone calling. Most people do even invent excuses for not making a phone call, like I have to check my email box before, I have to do my research, whatever. Few people really like the idea of maybe getting a no. Because in average, that's what you get when you call someone. They don't have time for you, and even if they had time, they might not be interested. It's part of cold calling, getting a no. And honestly speaking, who likes a no? Try to realize the simple fact that phone calling is complicated, it's tricky, and it's scary. But like every profession, the more we do them, the more we learn, the better we will do. In average, likable people get more of what they want compared to angry people. It means that if you're going to make a phone call, if you're a likable one, meaning a rather happy, a rather friendly person, you schedule more meetings than if you are an upset person. Know your audience. Could you give them a laugh? Could you give them a funny story? Or would they hate it? It depends. Try to know the audience. And of course, prepare. Particularly prepare with the help of the Internet before you call someone. You could Google them, look them up on LinkedIn, Facebook. And of course, you could utilize your corporate internal system. Do you have colleagues that know that person that you could utilize when they answer? Saying like hey, I'm calling you simply because my colleague that you know have a relationship with your company or a relationship with you. The better we know the audience, the better we will do. You can also prepare by using a friend. Try somebody that it doesn't matter if you make a fool out of yourself. So try to call your friend, try to call the colleague. Know your audience and get acquainted with the situation. When is a good time to call somebody? During the day? During the week? During the year? It depends. During lunch? Maybe, in some occasion might be a good thing. Early Monday morning might be a bad time. Late Friday evening might also be a bad time, but afternoon might be a good time. It depends on what kind of company we're talking about, cultural differences, and what kind of person you're calling. The first five seconds, they do matter. It's like a physical meeting, the first five seconds when we shake hands. Don't make an excuse for who you are. Don't start off by saying sorry for calling you. Don't say, okay, I can talk to you instead. Don't, don't, just try to be yourself. Hi, my name is Hendrick, I work for blah, blah, blah. I'm working with this and we've done it to a similar company like you. Would you like to hear more? Would you like to schedule a meeting? Give them the sale pitch in a condensed version, like 30 seconds. What do you offer? Why should they care? And why should they care now? There's something happening in the globe today, financial crisis or whatever. That's a good reason for having a meeting today. If you have time, give them a whole story, but only if you and they have time, and if they are interested. Normally, in business life today, people are occupied and quite often in meetings. So giving a whole story at a phone call is not what I, in average, would recommend. Try to schedule the meeting instead and keep the story till the meeting. Having that said, we know we need to prepare. The more we prepare, the better we will do. But the longer you wait for lifting the phone, the more scared in average we will get. I guess you heard the saying, the more reflection, the world will pass you by. So please, just pick up the phone. Call me. And I forgot to tell you, finally you will know when to say [SOUND] at a sales call. [MUSIC]
