A conversation:
The Salesperson: "I don't cold call—I want to
build relationships."
Wendy: "Huh?"
Recently I've had a number of conversations with sales
professionals and entrepreneurs who tell me they do not
cold call because they want to build relationships with
prospects.
I'm confused.
Who says the two are mutually exclusive?
Every relationship whether business or personal begins
somewhere. Everyone whom you currently know, your significant
other, your colleagues at work, your friends, or your neighbors
were unknown to you at one time. Then, somehow, you met
and over time formed a relationship. It takes time.
In sales there are many ways to contact and reach out to
new prospects. There's direct mail, networking, referrals,
trade shows, the internet, public speaking and writing articles.
And yes, there is calling prospects on the telephone. These
are all ways to introduce yourself, your company and your
product or service to potential customers.
The telephone introduction is incredibly direct, easy,
efficient and inexpensive. First you target your market
and then you introduce yourself to the decision-maker. That's
one of the reasons I prefer the term "introductory
calling" to "cold calling." The call is an
introduction. It is not a sale or a relationship.
However you initially meet a prospect, after that introduction,
you still must take all of the necessary steps to build
a relationship. With every prospect that you encounter,
however you first encounter them, at some point you will
have to pick up the telephone and call them. If at that
point you do not represent yourself effectively and articulately,
you will not move to the next step. This means that even
if you are calling a prospect who did not originate with
a phone call, you will need to do all of the same preparation
that you would do if that prospect were a total stranger
and you were calling for the first time! You would still
have to determine how you want to represent yourself, what
points you want to make and what is the goal of your conversation.
Every sale has a cycle with four steps. The cycle could
be longer or shorter depending on the product or service,
the market and/or your skill level, but you must go through
every step of your sales cycle. Most sales cycles go something
like this: The first step is always the introduction. This
could be a phone call, it could be a letter or an e-mail,
but somehow the prospect must become aware of you. Usually
the next step is a meeting (or sometimes a series of meetings)
or an extended conversation (or a series of conversations.)
You personally introduce yourself and whatever you are selling
to your prospect and you learn more about the prospect company.
From there, if all goes well, you move to the proposal step.
This proposal
can be verbal and as simple as explaining your services
and fees or it could be a more complex written proposal.
The last step of this particular cycle is the close, when
your prospect accepts your proposal. This process could
happen in a day—or it could take a year, but however
long it takes you will never skip any of the steps.
The mistake most people make is in not understanding the
steps of the sales cycle and that you must pass through
each step to get to the next. The introductory call does
not lead directly to the close. What that introductory call
does is easily and quickly get you directly in front of
your prospect to begin your sales cycle. You will still
have to put in all of the work to show your prospect how
you can help. And you will still have to put in all of the
work to build a relationship with that prospect.
Many people do a lot of time-consuming, expensive things
to first meet prospects so that they can later follow up
with a phone call. My suggestion: Simply call. It saves
time and it saves money.
Wendy Weiss, "The Queen of Cold Calling," is
a sales trainer, author and sales coach. Her book, Cold
Calling for Women, and her interactive CD-ROM, Cold Calling
for Printers, can both be ordered by visiting http://www.wendyweiss.com.
Contact her at
wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get her free e-zine at
http://www.wendyweiss.com.
© 2004 Wendy Weiss
Building Relationships
