What Are The First 15 Words To Say To A Prospect To Get Them Hooked Into A Conversation?

Posted by Gavin Ingham on June 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

Here’s a question that one of my contacts asked recently that I thought I would share with you, “So I have got past the gatekeeper – after the introduction, what are the first 15 words (or so) I say to a prospect that’s going to get them hooked into a conversation?”

And here’s my answer…

One of the questions I always ask delegates in sales training seminars is, “How long do you have to make a first impression?” The answer they give me varies but is always no more than a handful of seconds. In today’s world, people make decisions very quickly and, upon receiving a cold call, even quicker still!

From a receiver’s perspective, they want to decide as fast as possible whether this call is a legitimate, business interruption or a nuisance, spam call. There are three things you need to consider to maximize your chances of achieving the former and minimize your chances of suffering the latter…

  1. Plan and prepare effectively. Understand why you are calling that individual, why now and how you can make a difference for them. Also, get yourself into the right mindset. Mindset is critical for cold calling (and indeed for selling) and I will be posting some sales training videos on this soon…
  2. Know how you answer their key question, “What’s in this for me?” If you can’t and don’t answer that, and quickly, you’re toast!
  3. Avoid coming across as a salesperson and using “crash and burn” sales phrases. I teach people how not to use these on my programmes but the easiest way of thinking about them for yourself is to think about the cold calls you get and think about what really puts your back up at the start of the call… and don’t do it!

For more on cold calling, have a look at this short video I did on 10 tips for cold calling.

Filed under Ask Gavin, Prospecting & cold calling, Sales training · Tagged with , , , , ,

Cold Calling Blues?

Posted by Gavin Ingham on January 28, 2010 · 4 Comments 

Just under a year ago, I bought a new car. Many of you may remember this as I mentioned a BMW dealer who showed a total lack of interest in my questions and enquiries. He effectively made my decision for me to buy from a different manufacturer. Anyway, I was reminded of this incident when I got this email from one of my readers…

We lease some cars for sales staff on contract hire.  Sales guy rings from the lease hire company and asks to be put through to me

“Hello Mr Smith.”
“Hi.”
“How’s the cars going?”
“Fine.”
“Good – give us a ring if you need anything.”
“OK . Bye.”

You would have thought with the state of the car market he could have a bit more to say!

2′nd call – this afternoon – I answer the phone – something I try and avoid.

“XYZ company, Joe Bloggs speaking.”
“Hello, can I speak to the head of marketing?”
“What’s it about?”
“Marketing.”
“No – he’s not taking sales calls.”
“Can I send an email?”
“No – Bye.”

Man – if he’d looked at our website my names there as the Director!

Idiot.

You’d like to think that these individuals were particularly bad wouldn’t you? Or maybe that they were just having a bad day. But that isn’t my experience of leasing companies… or of cold callers…

One of the biggest issues many of my sales training clients have is getting their sales teams doing the activity that they need to do to bring in enough opportunities to give them any chance of success. Helping businesses to improve motivation, increase lead generation activity and implement systems to support and improve their reach with new clients is a large part of my business but it’s not the only part…

You have to do it correctly too. Activity alone is not any good. There is no point repeating a totally ineffective cold call over and over again. As I am sure Mr. T might say, “Pity the poor busy fool!”

As a sales director, I used to get dozens of cold calls every day. Most did indeed go like this…

“Hello Gavin, how are you today?” (Ugggh!)
“Fine.”
“I’m calling from It’s All About Me Recruitment Specialists, are you looking to recruit any new salespeople at the moment?”
“No.”
“I have a really good guy I have just interviewed, can I tell you about him?”
“No.”
“Oh ok, bye.”

Pointless.

There’s no point cold calling your clients without thinking preparing first and then without bothering to find out what’s important to them. There’s no point going to networking events and then not following up correctly on the phone. There’s no point working to create a Web 2.0 presence to create new leads if you do nothing with them because you cannot structure your calls effectively.

For many companies, lead generation is something that they need to do more consistently but they also need to do it better. They need to be more effective, more structured and more professional. There is little point making more cold calls of the calibre of these unprepared and unprofessional fools above.

To be a successful cold caller you need to be focused, confident and prepared. You need the right structure and approach and you need to effectively warm your calls up so that they are relevant to your prospects. And then you need powerful questions that are all about them so that you can engage them and start a meaningful dialogue.

There is a huge difference between spam cold calling and legitimate new business calls. Which side of the equation are you on? What do your prospects and clients think of your calls?

When done well, cold calling is one of (the?) fastest and most effective route to gaining more new business leads. Critically, there are times when it would be incorrect to use cold calling and something else would be more effective… but there are also times when nothing will beat cold calling and when cold calling may be the only way to reach your target market.

One of my friends (and an ex-seminar delegate) and his team, set up 250+ appointments, closed tens of millions of business and took a major market share through the use of professionally targeted b2b cold calling in a very short period of time.

What areas of your cold calling do you need to focus on to win more sales right now? How can you improve your cold calling? How can you improve your approach to be more professional, more effective and more consistent?

Filed under Gavin's rants, Prospecting & cold calling, Sales training, Stories · Tagged with , , , ,

Join Me At The First Recruitment Juice Live Event

Posted by Gavin Ingham on November 15, 2009 · 1 Comment 

I am pleased to be speaking at the first Recruitment Juice live event. If you’re in recruitment and you want to be more successful then grab this rare opportunity to see Roy Ripper and myself in January 2010 in London. Here’s the Press Release…

ISSUED 12 NOVEMBER 2009

RECRUITMENT JUICE LTD PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE FIRST EVER ‘JUICE LIVE’ EVENT “BOOST YOUR NEW BUINESS DRIVE” SEMINAR.

Recruitment Juice Ltd, leading supplier of innovative DVD training programs to the recruitment industry, is building on their success with the addition to their product portfolio of their first live seminar event.

The event, which will take place on Tuesday 12th January 2010 in central London, will be presented by Roy Ripper, host of their DVD programs and will focus purely on transforming the way recruiters approach new clients and generate more business – a topic close to many recruiters’ hearts working in today’s market.

“We hope the event will offer a great opportunity for recruiters to network, learn new strategies and techniques and get a massive motivational boost for their new business drive in the New Year. The seminar will be really high-impact and full of energy as we want the delegates rushing back to their desks desperate to use their newly learned skills and get started on new business!” said Roy.

Presenting alongside Roy, will be author and sales motivational speaker Gavin Ingham, who has been well known for over ten years for his inspirational and compelling approach to sales training.

Matt Trott, Director of Recruitment Juice commented, “We are extremely excited to have secured Gavin’s involvement in this event as we know he will bring something truly unique to the program. We are also very proud to have Dan McGuire, Managing Director of Broadbean Technology, hosting the welcome address and delivering some of his entrepreneurial flair to the delegates as he did when he appeared as an ‘expert’ in our second DVD series.”

For full agenda details and further information on the event visit Recruitment Juice Live or call 08700 677 567. The event is proudly sponsored by JobShop HQ, Broadbean Technology and media partner, UK Recruiter.

Filed under In the media, Live events, Prospecting & cold calling, Sales training · Tagged with , , , , ,

Question: “In A World Of Social Media, Is There Any Room For Cold Calling?”

Posted by Gavin Ingham on July 30, 2009 · 1 Comment 

Short answer, “Yes, there is.”

Longer version…

Today I mentioned in a status update that I was helping some surveyors to build new business leads through cold calling sales training. I was asked the question,

“Cold calling? In an era of social media and connection?”

The answer for so many reasons is… “Yes.”

A top-class, sales development, plan should assess and consider many routes to market. Sales development is about multiple routes to market. Recent economic times prove that what you do today may well not work tomorrow. Many companies thought that what they were doing a year ago would always be good enough. Many companies thought that they did not have to consider other options to carry on succeeding. Heck, even the government thought that they had eliminated “boom and bust” for ever. They were all wrong.
If life tells you anything it is that things change. Things don’t stay the same. So it’s a good job that variety is the spice of life.

So to cold calling…

Cold calling, done correctly, can be incredibly effective. Cold calling, done well, can be powerfully effective. Cold calling, employed successfully, can catapult a business from zero to huge growth with minimal budgets and with break-neck speed. For many industries and companies failing to consider cold calling as part of their route to market is every bit as short-sighted as doing nothing but cold calling for business and employing no other strategies whatsoever. What’s more, cold calling is eminently measurable, gets immediate and tangible results and is within the control of the individual.

Yes, cold calling done badly will waste time. Cold calling done badly is disrespectful. Cold calling done badly is no better than spam. Cold calling done badly will not work. And many businesses do cold calling very, very badly… but I wasn’t talking about doing it badly now was I? That’s what sales training is for.

Many have predicted the death of cold calling many times over and many will again. Many have a vested interest in predicting this in any case. And many salespeople wish this were true as they don’t like doing it. Maybe one day it will happen but not today. Cold calling directly connects individuals to other individuals and that can’t be a bad thing in a world obsessed by email and faceless, impersonal communication.

Through sales training, sales seminars and sales consultancy, I have helped and seen businesses double sales growth rapidly by employing legitimate and professional cold calling tactics. I have helped individuals grow small businesses from scratch with proven cold calling strategies. I have helped SMEs take on international behemoths by outflanking them and taking the initiative by getting themselves in front of senior decision-makers using… guess what?… cold calling skills.

But what of social media…?

I love social media. I use social media. I spend time with social media. To a point… but it is not for everybody. Certainly, not yet anyway and maybe never. Everybody said that video would kill cinemas and, for a bit, it did but cinemas reinvented themselves and became popular again. E-books were supposed to kill printed books but Amazon, Borders, Waterstones and others (Harry “flipping” Potter to name but one)  changed this prediction.

Cold calling may change. It may be used less. It may be used more. It may stop working altogether. But, at the moment, I and many businesses have incontrovertible, black and white, bottom-line evidence that cold calling done well kicks ass in many businesses.
But as I said, I like social media too. Social media is incredibly powerful but what if…?

What if your clients have not embraced blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc? In some markets, the lion-share of individuals have not even heard of LinkedIn, they do not read blogs and many over 30 do not even have a Facebook account. To them Twitter is something they do not understand or see the point of.  I know many busy executives who make important buying decisions for companies who are “too busy to mess about on the internet” as they have “a real job to do”!

How do you reach these people through social media?

You don’t. Not yet anyway and maybe you never will. Some people do not have the time or interest for social media. Some people do not and might not “get” social media. Social media is incredibly powerful but you cannot use it to reach and engage with people who have not yet embraced it and who do not use it. Social media is powerful but it is not a wonder solution that wipes out all others. Social media is a “communication” channel and as such should only be part of an overall sales and communication strategy.

So, as I was saying…

Today I was teaching surveyors to cold call professionally to win more business. Cold calling might not work for you. It might not work for your business. But, then again, is it not possible that cold calling could be a powerful way of building business and generating sales leads for you, for your sales team and for your business? Want to know more about sales training and cold calling?

Filed under Ask Gavin, Marketing, Prospecting & cold calling · Tagged with , , , ,

The Sales Apprentice 2009: Sales Training Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 12, The Final

Posted by Gavin Ingham on June 7, 2009 · 1 Comment 

The final of the Apprentice. Cool, professional Kate versus passionate, entrepreneurial Yasmina. Their brief, design and pitch a new brand of chocolate. Sir Alan said they were his best candidates ever and that it was his hardest decision yet. Either could have won. Yasmina did.

So that done (!), I thought I would sum up some of the core sales training lessons from this year’s Sales Apprentice…

On sales motivation and mindset…

  • Top sales performers perform, they don’t talk about performing. Sales is not about what you say you’re going to deliver. Sales is all about what you actually do deliver.
  • Sales success is all about action. Success in sales does not come to those who watch the game. Success in sales comes to those who pick up the ball and play their hearts out, right the way to the final whistle.
  • Maintain your focus because sales superstars are focused. They know what they want. They work out how to get it. And they take action to achieve it.
  • Sales success is about taking responsibility – responsibility for yourself, your sales activities and your sales results.
  • Sales success is directly related to effort.

On prospecting…

  • Know your client, know your client, k-n-o-w your client.
  • Set objectives for all sales activities and prospecting calls.
  • Get proactive and get your prospecting done. Procrastination and lethargy are the enemy of successful new business winners.
  • Get yourself in the right mental state for cold calling. Attitude is your ability to access your skills.
  • Know where to expend your energy. Working smarter is the route to success.
  • Know your product. Know your product. Know your product.

On selling…

  • Under promise and over deliver. Delivering on your promises is essential in any business.
  • Develop trust and credibility if you want top class client relationships.
  • Always give 100%. Nothing short of 100% if good enough if you want to be a sales superstar.
  • When negotiating, sound like you believe in what you’re saying and plan your negotiation tactics and strategies.
  • Sell on value and not price.
  • Maximize the impact and effectiveness of your sales activities.
  • Understand your clients, their markets and their needs. Your sales presentations need to be matched and tailored to suit their wants and needs and not just your own.
  • Ask better questions. Listen harder. Seek to fully understand your clients.
  • Know that people buy on emotion and justify with logic.

On presenting…

  • To make powerful and persuasive sales presentations you need to know your stuff, you need to know what you’re presenting, you need a solid and proven structure.
  • Know your audience. Know your audience. Know your audience.
  • Do your preparation and planning.
  • Have a call to action. People need an incentive and encouragement to buy now.
  • Practise. Practise. Practise.
  • Give 100% and be yourself.

On sales leadership…

  • Watch out for sales terrorists in your business who focus everyone on the negative and undermine your business. In today’s turbulent economy you cannot afford to have negativity like this in your teams.
  • Utilize the skills of your team effectively. Different people have different strengths and different weaknesses and using these to best advantage is key.
  • Be approachable and personable so that your team will communicate with you, confide in and support you.
  • Encourage involvement and participation and create team spirit.
  • Take responsibility and make decisions.
  • Judge the reality of a situation not just what you believe it to be.
  • Learn to delegate. Being a great leader is not about being able to do everything yourself.
  • Get the right salespeople into your business to build high performance sales teams and get great sales results.

So that’s it for another year. What did you learn and what are you going to do differently to get the sales results that you want?

Filed under Influence & communication, Management & leadership, Motivation & mindset, Negotiation & objection handling, Prospecting & cold calling, Sales presentations, Sales training · Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Finding New Client Information, Video 3 Of 3

Posted by Gavin Ingham on June 3, 2009 · 1 Comment 

If you want to win new business you need to be able to find new client information. In this video, the third in the series, we look at 10 top tips for improving your prospecting and new business generation.

Follow these links to check out video 1 of Finding New Client Information and video 2 of Finding New Client Information. Don’t forget to join the GavinIngham.com success newsletter free too as we will be launching new videos and sharing more sales boosting articles regularly.

Filed under Podcasts & webcasts, Prospecting & cold calling, Sales training · Tagged with , , , ,

Finding New Client Information, Video 2 Of 3

Posted by Gavin Ingham on May 20, 2009 · 2 Comments 

Finding new client information is essential if you want to be more proactive, contact more prospects and win more new business. In part 2 of this free sales training video we will cover more of the core strategies required to find new client information.

Every sales and business person knows how important it is to focus on targeted new business generation yet many struggle to find client information and contact details. Watch this sales training video and ask yourself, “Do I do that consistently?” If you can more consistently apply one or more of these techniques in your business then you could see a huge improvement in your new business generation activities and your sales results.

Filed under Podcasts & webcasts, Prospecting & cold calling, Sales training · Tagged with , , , ,

Cold Calling Article In Winning Edge Magazine

Posted by Gavin Ingham on April 28, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Check out this article in the Institute of Sales & Marketing Management’s leading magazine, Winning Edge, on how to Warm Up Your Cold Calling – 9 steps that you can take to improve your cold calling results. Read Warm Up Your Cold Calling here.

Filed under In the media, Prospecting & cold calling, Sales training · Tagged with , , , , ,

Finding New Client Information, Video 1 of 3

Posted by Gavin Ingham on April 22, 2009 · 1 Comment 

The ability to find out more about potential clients and prospects is essential if you want to succeed in business. There’s no rocket science in this the first of three videos but there is lots of practical and usable advice…

Filed under Podcasts & webcasts, Prospecting & cold calling, Sales training · Tagged with ,

Sales Training & Business Tips From Better Business Focus Magazine

Posted by Gavin Ingham on February 28, 2009 · 2 Comments 

We have a small excerpt in Bizezia’s Better Business Focus magazine this month on cold calling. There are a few good business and sales training based articles in the magazine this month…

  • Retention in recession
  • 5 tips on how you can become a more confident and successful cold caller
  • Mind the gap
  • My word is my bond
  • Why people don’t buy
  • How much value do you give to your website visitors?
  • Can Joe the Plumber and Subway’s Jared help you grow your business?
  • A few maxims for the instruction of the over-educated?
  • Who are you?
  • Crisis talk
  • Buying assets from insolvent companies

Open Better Business magazine here.

Filed under In the media, Prospecting & cold calling, Sales training · Tagged with , ,

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