Strictly Sales: Cold calling rewards those with the skill to use it

WE HAVE all been told that asking for referrals and networking are better ways to prospect than cold calling. Cold calling can be fruitful, however, although it is harder and probably requires more skill than the other two prospecting methods.

The quality of the cold-call appointment is consistently higher than those of appointments obtained through referrals and networking. There are two reasons:

1) A referral or networking appointment may be seeing you as a favor to the person who gave you the pros-pect's name and not have any real need.

2) When a cold-call appointment is properly set, the person you'll be seeing will almost certainly be interested in what you have to offer.
To make cold calling work, you need a strong work ethic, a good opening, a unique message--in person and on voice mail--and a focus on getting the appointment, not selling.

Work ethic

The lack of a work ethic is the cause of 99% of the failures to make cold calling work. While the cold call is not inherently enjoyable, you can do some things to keep yourself motivated. First and foremost, remember that the appointment you get from cold calling is going to be one of the better appointments you can have.

To make cold calling work, set aside a specific time each week for the activity. You must not allow anything to interfere with it, other than a new-business appointment. Close your door and don't tolerate interruptions. Turn off the sound on your computer so you will not hear a new e-mail message coming in. Use a headset, so you can get up and move around. Cradling a phone with your chin affects your voice. By moving, you can--and will--be more expressive, and this comes through in your voice.

Call until you get an appointment. Don't quit. When you do get one, reward yourself--get a fresh cup of coffee, visit for a minute or two with someone around you, or do whatever makes you feel good. But remember, cold calling has its own momentum. Your voice and attitude will reflect the success you just had. Get right back on the telephone and capitalize on your success.

Begin each week with a specific goal for the number of appointments you want to make the following week. Forget the myths, like "Monday mornings and Friday afternoons are bad times to cold call." Actually, prospects are less likely to have their calls screened at those times. Also, don't hesitate to call before 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m.

When it comes to cold calling "No" means "Not now," and "Never" means "wait six months." Never quit. I recently sold an account with a $100,000 commission. My first appointment with them was in July 2005. My first cold call to them was May 2000 and I called them quarterly from that time forward. "No" meant "Not now."

A good opening

When you cold call, try not to sound like everyone else who calls. You will have about seven seconds to get the prospect's attention, so your opening statement must be unique and engaging. If you can make the person on the other end of the telephone laugh or smile in the first seven seconds, you have a great chance of getting the appointment.

I've found that one effective opening is to say, "Mr./Ms. Smith, my name is Fritz Koehler with Acordia. I understand that you are the person responsible for the risk management and property-casualty relationship for ABC Company. Is that correct?" If the person says "No," then I ask who is. If they say "Yes," I reply, "May I ask what you did so wrong that they put you in charge of this?" Hopefully, the prospect will be disarmed and engage in conversation, so I can make my "big fat claim," as it is called in the Dynamics of Selling Program. Others refer to it as a positioning statement.

When you get to this point of your call, make sure the next sentence out of your mouth interests the person on the other end of the phone. This sentence conveys why the other party should meet with you. (This also can be the voice-mail message that you leave when you do not get to speak to a prospect.) Work on this claim; it is vital to getting the appointment. For example, "Mr./Ms. Smith, you may not be familiar with our company, but we are quite different in how we work with our clients, compared with what you are used to. I would like to discuss these differences with you to see if our two companies are enough of a match to warrant further discussions. Is next Monday a good day to meet?"

Warning: Do not sell on the phone. Your mission is to get the appointment, not make a sales call. If the prospect asks you about the differences between you and your competitors, you can cite an example that you may think will hit home, given the prospect's industry or something else you know about the company. You may want to ask a question with an automatic answer: "Mr./Ms. Smith, may I assume that prior to your renewal you get a letter from your current agent asking you to update your values?" The answer will be "yes," because everyone does that. Your reply could be, "We think this is dangerous. A lot changes in your business during a year, other than your insurable values. We meet with our clients 90 days before their renewals to go over all changes in their businesses--not just values. It is the only way we know to make sure that your coverage is correct. The SALY--Same As Last Year--approach, in our opinion, is very dangerous."

Conclusion

Cold calling is rewarding, and the hit ratio from cold-call appointments is high.

Prospects meet with you because you establish rapport on the telephone and because the timing is right. Now, all you have to do is commit to cold calling.

Fritz Koehler, CIC, CRM, is a vice president and producer at Acordia in Houston, Texas. He has been the top P&C producer in his agency for the last nine years and also performs fee-based risk management consulting. He conducts education seminars for CPAs on business insurance and is an instructor for the Dynamics of Selling program. For more information on Dynamics of Selling, call (800) 633-2165 or visit www.TheNational-Alliance.com.