How to deal with objections during the cold call.

This question was posted on a LinkedIn group: When cold calling what are the most common objections you face and how do you overcome them? The most common objection I seem to face is “send me some info” or “send me an email” I would love to know how you handle that. Also would like to hear what objections you come across and how you might handle them?

Our answer is as follows:

You have to remember one thing and one thing only – cold calling is THE ACT OF INTERRUPTING SOMETHING IMPORTANT.

To get a better idea of what you are doing on a cold call picture yourself walking into a conference room full of people in a working meeting.  People are eating lunch and chatting and pointing to charts and having side meetings.  There are maybe 20 people in the room.

Seriously, close your eyes and do that …

Okay, what would you do if you walked into that room?

– give your pitch?

– say “I’m sorry” and close the door and walk away?

I think the most natural thing to do would be to say, “hey, I realize I’m interrupting you … can I come back at a time when you aren’t busy?  How would tomorrow at 4pm be?”

Right?

So point #1 – sell a follow-up meeting, not your product. You do this because you realize that cold calling is THE ACT OF INTERRUPTING SOMETHING IMPORTANT.

Now then, they will always, always, always say something back.  In the South they will say, “can you send me an email?”.  On the West Coast they will say, “we’re happy with what we have.”  On the East Coast they’ll say, “I’m always busy.”  … you get the point?  Everyone basically has a way to say something to you that they know will get you off the phone.

BUT HERE IS THE SECRET … they don’t mean what they say.  What they are really saying is … and I quote … “Hey!  You are interrupting me!”

Same with the points you raise in your question.  “send me some info” or “send me an email” is basically just them saying “Hey! You’re interrupting me!” … it’s a nice way to hang up on you without having to hang up on you.

If you say, “okay” or even “what would you like me to send” you are ignoring what is really happening here.  You are interrupting them.

So you respond as if that is what they actually said, “I realize I’m interrupting you.  The purpose of my call is to see if I can get some time when I’m not interrupting you.  How is next Thursday at 4?”

Again, picture this call as you opening that door in the working meeting and you’ll know how to do this naturally.

So point #2.  Respond to everything they say as if they actually said, “Hey!  You’re interrupting me!” and end it with a suggested time to meet later.

It’s very difficult to get into this habit … but it works.  In fact, I guarantee that 80% of the people you talk to will agree to meet with you later if you’ll stay on track, acknowledge the interruption, sell time later, respond as if they let you know you interrupted them.

Good luck.  It becomes a lot of fun when you realize that what you are actually doing is interrupting and the responses you get are simply the responses of people being interrupted … not people who don’t want to buy from you.

“Today I’m Selling” GIST

Here is the inescapable truth about doing business in 2009+.

You HAVE to be connected

You HAVE to spend a lot of time on-line

You HAVE to know what’s going on

You just can’t get by doing busy work anymore – you need to reach out and be reachable.

Gist is a brilliant product that tracks all of your contacts and prospects for you.  If they write a post, have a news event, are mentioned … you know about it without doing all of the work.

Nothing works better than a note to a prospect or customer, “I saw XYZ in the news … way to go!” … and you can do that in minutes a day using Gist.

“TODAY I’M SELLING” IS A SERIES DEDICATED TO PRACTICING YOUR SALES PITCHING CAPABILITIES. WE’LL POST A PRODUCT … WE’LL GIVE OUR BEST PITCH … AND THEN YOU GIVE YOURS. GIVE IT A TRY – IT WILL MAKE YOU BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO.LEAVE YOUR OWN PITCH IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OR LET US KNOW WHAT YOU LIKED OR WOULD CHANGE.  PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT AND PERFECT (IN SALES) CREATES FINANCIAL WEALTH.

“Today I’m Selling” CLIPIOLA ROUND PAPER CLIPS

Everyone pays attention to small details.  When you use an elegant paper clip on a mailing or letter they notice.

When you use a cheep one they notice that too.

What’s a few pennies when it comes to differentiating yourself as someone who pays attention to details?

“TODAY I’M SELLING” IS A SERIES DEDICATED TO PRACTICING YOUR SALES PITCHING CAPABILITIES. WE’LL POST A PRODUCT … WE’LL GIVE OUR BEST PITCH … AND THEN YOU GIVE YOURS. GIVE IT A TRY – IT WILL MAKE YOU BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO. LEAVE YOUR OWN PITCH IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OR LET US KNOW WHAT YOU LIKED OR WOULD CHANGE.  PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT AND PERFECT (IN SALES) CREATES FINANCIAL WEALTH.

“Today I’m Selling” READ INC. MAGAZINE

I don’t have time for much of anything anymore.  You probably don’t either.

I like to, and so do you, get my news and pertinent information from people I trust who recommend it on Twitter … or from great BLOGS.

But I stop each month, take two hours, and scour through Inc. magazine.  There is real power in a magazine that a staff of 30 have spent two months compiling, editing, clarifying, and simplifying.  And it is written about, by, and for business owners with the one thing you can’t buy – experience.

There are not many magazines or papers that are worth the time to read anymore – but Inc. is one you always walk away from a more knowledgeable business owner.

“TODAY I’M SELLING” IS A SERIES DEDICATED TO PRACTICING YOUR SALES PITCHING CAPABILITIES. WE’LL POST A PRODUCT … WE’LL GIVE OUR BEST PITCH … AND THEN YOU GIVE YOURS. GIVE IT A TRY – IT WILL MAKE YOU BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO. LEAVE YOUR OWN PITCH IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OR LET US KNOW WHAT YOU LIKED OR WOULD CHANGE.  PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT AND PERFECT (IN SALES) CREATES FINANCIAL WEALTH.

“Today I’m Selling” BASKIN-ROBBINS ICE CREAM

When you buy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream you get delicious ice cream and you support global warming reduction and seal fishing protection efforts of two very wealthy men.

When you buy Haagen-Dazs ice cream you get delicious, all natural ice cream and you support a family company started in NY that has made good and become a large international company.

But when you buy Baskin-Robbins you get delicious ice cream and you support a local small business owner and the college funds of the high school students they hire from your neighborhood.

The economy is tough enough … help your local small business owner out.  The seals are doing fine.

“TODAY I’M SELLING” IS A SERIES DEDICATED TO PRACTICING YOUR SALES PITCHING CAPABILITIES. WE’LL POST A PRODUCT … WE’LL GIVE OUR BEST PITCH … AND THEN YOU GIVE YOURS. GIVE IT A TRY – IT WILL MAKE YOU BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO. LEAVE YOUR OWN PITCH IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OR LET US KNOW WHAT YOU LIKED OR WOULD CHANGE.  PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT AND PERFECT (IN SALES) CREATES FINANCIAL WEALTH.

“Today I’m Selling” SLEEP 7-9 HOURS, NOT 5

By now you’ve certainly read this month’s Inc magazine spread on productivity.  The magazine had its expected sprinkling of over-the-top go-getter’s who sleep 3 hours a night (Donald Trump is the most famous of these).  While vastly successful this is not a model I recommend for one important reason; it’s too simplistic.

What’s more important is how productive you are in the hours you are working – not how many hours you work.

If I sleep 5 hours I have a lot of time in the day – but I generally get way more done if I’ve slept 9.  You probably will too.

“TODAY I’M SELLING” IS A SERIES DEDICATED TO PRACTICING YOUR SALES PITCHING CAPABILITIES. WE’LL POST A PRODUCT … WE’LL GIVE OUR BEST PITCH … AND THEN YOU GIVE YOURS. GIVE IT A TRY – IT WILL MAKE YOU BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO. LEAVE YOUR OWN PITCH IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OR LET US KNOW WHAT YOU LIKED OR WOULD CHANGE.  PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT AND PERFECT (IN SALES) CREATES FINANCIAL WEALTH.

“Today I’m Selling” CRAYOLA – NOT THE OFF BRAND

Let’s admit it; everyone’s kid is an artistic genius.  That first time they keep within the lines … or draw a human that has a head, a body, two arms, and two legs … it’s amazing.

For my family it was the first time my oldest son drew blood pouring out of a wound he’d inflicted on a robot with his light-saber.

Those pictures are worth keeping.  Not for the kids … but for you and me.  So we can pull them out 15 years from now and relive the great feelings.

You never know when that memorable picture is going to appear.  Why risk losing the opportunity for that great feeling by saving $0.50  on fake crayons?

“TODAY I’M SELLING” IS A SERIES DEDICATED TO PRACTICING YOUR SALES PITCHING CAPABILITIES. WE’LL POST A PRODUCT … WE’LL GIVE OUR BEST PITCH … AND THEN YOU GIVE YOURS. GIVE IT A TRY – IT WILL MAKE YOU BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO. LEAVE YOUR OWN PITCH IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OR LET US KNOW WHAT YOU LIKED OR WOULD CHANGE.  PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT AND PERFECT (IN SALES) CREATES FINANCIAL WEALTH.

Were you worried about $4 gas? How about your 10% sales close rate?

If I could find a way to get the part of your mind that was concerned about $4.25 at the pump to make the same connection to your 10% close rate, I could make you rich.  Fact is you shouldn’t just be concerned about a sub-50% close rate, you should be seeing red alarm bells going off.  $4 hits you in the wallet; what about the nine (or eight, or seven, or five) prospects that didn’t buy from you?  Four-dollar gas costs you and extra $100 a month; nine prospects not buying costs you $20,000.  Losing $20,000 a month is the equivalent of paying $320 a gallon for gas.

So why did those prospects not buy and what can you do about it?  There are two key reasons.  I discussed the first reason in a previous post … here is the second (of two) reasons.

REASON #2 of 2:

Those prospects don’t buy because you didn’t dollarize.

People make money to spend it – but companies make money to keep it.  Companies don’t buy products for entertainment value or to keep up with the neighbors.  Companies buy things so they can make more money.  If you haven’t shown the prospect how they are going to make money with your service, they are going to have a very difficult time separating themselves from their money.

To dollarize is to put things in dollars and cents.  Businesses speak in dollars and cents.  They speak in return on investment and profit and loss.  Businesses don’t speak in value; they have a hard time putting dollar figures around things like “you’ll have more time on your hands” or “you’ll have a faster network.”  Put it in dollars and cents and raise your close percentage.

KEY POINT:  If you only talk about the expense (otherwise known as price), your customer will never see you as a novel way to make more money – to be profitable.  Stop selling people on how much money they lose by buying from you; start dollarizing.

Four-dollar gas is no fun, but it is nothing like prospects walking away without buying.  Prospects buy when they are sick and you can heal them; show them how and you win.  Let me dollarize it for you:  take the average revenue from a new customer times the number that don’t buy each month … add the loaded cost of your sales rep times the percent of prospects that don’t buy:  that is your dollarized loss.  Convinced you need to work on your close rate?  Good, I can assure you these two principles work – my clients have a close rate much closer to 85%.

Were you worried about $4 gas? How about your 10% sales close rate?

If I could find a way to get the part of your mind that was concerned about $4.25 at the pump to make the same connection to your 10% close rate, I could make you rich.  Fact is you shouldn’t just be concerned about a sub-50% close rate, you should be seeing red alarm bells going off.  $4 hits you in the wallet; what about the nine (or eight, or seven, or five) prospects that didn’t buy from you?  Four-dollar gas costs you and extra $100 a month; nine prospects not buying costs you $20,000.  Losing $20,000 a month is the equivalent of paying $320 a gallon for gas.

So why did those prospects not buy and what can you do about it?  There are two key reasons.  I’ll discuss the first one today and post the second reason (and the solution) in an upcoming post.

REASON #1 of 2:

Those prospects don’t buy because they aren’t sick.

It is hard to sell a cholesterol-lowering pill to someone in perfect health. Likewise, prospects won’t buy our products and services if they don’t have an urgent need or a compelling desire.  If they aren’t sick, we can’t heal them.

To raise our close percentage we must immediately stop trying to sell to healthy patients.  Sit down with the senior thinkers in your company and answer this question, “which four ‘symptoms’ does an ideal target customer have?”  The symptoms should not be demographics; they should be things like immanent risk, lack of an essential skill or tool, inability to keep the money they make, a glaring hole in their offering or capacity, etc.

Now use a scale of zero to ten to score each prospect on each of the four symptoms.  Zero means they have no symptoms; ten means they should be at the emergency room.  Add the numbers up – if your ‘patient’ does not have a score of at least a 32 you will be doing a lot of selling, but no closing.  Get them out of your pipeline and replace them with someone that actually needs you.

KEY POINT:  Score every prospect every time you start working with them.  Don’t go more than two meetings into a deal if they aren’t at least a 32.