Author: Artie Ruderman

*One in a series for Innovative Growth Solutions: CALL RELUCTANCE

She was beautiful, had sparkling eyes with an enchanting smile, and looked great in her cheerleading outfit. I was smitten and wanted to ask her for a date. As a fifteen-year-old and filled with all the desire of a coming-of-age teenager along with an equal share of anxiety I agonized for hours … should I … could I … make the Call? I did, and it worked out pretty well.

Today, the internet has replaced the phone and I would send her a text instead of making a call. In fact, according to a Stanford University study, around 40% of American couples first connect online.¹ Bringing that statistic closer to home, half a dozen of my relatives met their spouses or partners online.

“What’s love got to do with it?” And, what’s this have to do with business? Answer: The phone. Specifically using it to reach out to someone you want to connect with.

Online marketing, pay-per-click (PPC), search engine marketing (SEM), and mass emails, are all useful for generating a list of Cold Leads: Names qualified as having buying influence for your company’s products/services as well as Warm Leads: Prospects who have indicated an interest in your company’s products/services.

However, unless your company’s sales are transacted online, communication with a sales associate is necessary to convert a ‘lead’ into a ‘buyer. While marketing emails are the most popular tool for reaching out to prospects, following up with a phone call provides advantages over sending another email: Share on X

• • Contact from multiple points reminds prospects about your company’s products/services. Follow up an email with a phone call.²
  • Phone outreach has a response rate of 8.1%, compared to .03% for email.³
  • Phone calls are more effective to receive direct responses.³
  • Emails are often overlooked. Email open rate varies with industry; the average open rate is 18%.⁴
  • You can adjust your pitch in real-time in response to how your prospects react during the call

As noted, phone calls are quantifiably effective. So why are salespeople not making more phone calls? For many, it is Call Reluctance – a natural psychological phenomenon causing anxiety for making sales calls, which includes fear of real or imagined rejection, shame, and embarrassment.⁵ This anxiety is heightened when charged with making cold calls. The following is a summary of an excellent report on why and how to overcome Call Reluctance found on Cience website.⁶

Why Salespeople Experience Call Reluctance

• • The natural fear of rejection
  • Neurological predisposition
    1. Some people are more vulnerable to rejection than others.
  • Corporate culture
    1. The company endorses a policy, “Don’t come off as a salesperson.”
  • Lack of training and support
    1. New sales representatives are not familiar with your products/services
  • Calling the wrong prospects
  • List of low-quality leads
    1. Sales leads purchased from third parties may not be up to date

How to Conquer Your Anxiety of Cold Calling⁷

• • Prepare for the calls
    1. Prepare for all the possible scenarios and outcomes of the conversation.
    2. Be mentally prepared to hear an abrupt “No thanks,” and know how to react
    3. Be ready to handle objections or receive negative feedback
    4. Never take their behavior personally or let it affect your confidence.
  • Create a good sales script.
    1. Introduction and rapport building
    2. Briefly explain who you are, then immediately focus on the topics that matter to your prospect
    3. Key message: Start by giving the prospect the intent of your call: “The reason why I’m calling you today is …”
  • Appeal to the prospect’s values
    1. Based on the answers to your pre-qualifying questions, make an offer that builds value for the prospect and can widen their perspective
  • Create a dialogue
    1. End with a final call-to-action
    2. Ask more questions
    3. Use personalization
  • Put creativity into your process
    1. Listen to your favorite music to pump yourself up
    2. Practice the script with a colleague
    3. Try different techniques to develop your speaking skills

As noted earlier, call reluctance is a natural psychological phenomenon of anxiety for making sales calls. In addition to the recommendations above for overcoming call reluctance, I would like to share my techniques and invite you to start a dialogue about how you deal with it, too.

Start by only working for companies that maintain high ethical standards and whose products/services would be beneficial to its prospects. I mitigate call reluctance by telling myself that I am not calling a prospect, s/he is my friend or relative. There is a subtle but significant difference, you do not ‘sell’ friends or family, you reason with them. Responses to a prospect’s objections can become testy, even combative, s/he says this, and you say something to trump that and instead of evaluating the merits of the products/services, the focus has become a contest of wills. The mindset with a friend or family is you are a ‘giver’ not a ‘taker’’. Your persistence is tempered by a sincere desire for them to understand how they will benefit from acquiring the products/services. You are not ‘selling’, you are presenting the company’s product/service value and educating him/her. When done properly you have not sold a prospect to do what you want them to do, you have guided her/him to become a buyer who wants to do what you want him/her to do.

“What’s love got to do with it?” And, what’s this have to do with business? Making more phone calls will increase sales and you got to love that! Make the damn call!

About the author: Artie Ruderman: Partner, ITB Partners, Management Consultants / CEO, Innovative Growth Solutions, Fractional CMO & Business Development / Member: Billion Dollar Sales Club / Host: Business Developers Network Show featured on Pro Business Channel / Board Member: Auditory-Verbal Center: Teaching deaf and hard of hearing children how to interpret sound and speak fluently

Contact: Artie Ruderman – 404-557-5516 / Artie@IGScorp.Net

Credits & Resources:

• • That Company!: website
  • Inside Sales website: June 17, 2020|Martin Moran|Cold Calling
  • HubSpot: Website
  • Campaign Monitor: Website
  • PMC US National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health: website Emotional Responses to Interpersonal Author Dr. Leary: Rejection.
  • Cience: website
  • How to Get Over Your Fear of Cold Calling: 5 Best Tips, Tania Ilutsa, Content Writer atCIENCE

Photos:

Cheerleader: Pixabay

Tense person on phone: Unsplash

Businessman on phone: Pixabay

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