Cold Calling

Do you like cold calling? No? Well, you’re not alone. It’s not easy to contact a stranger to sell yourself and your product.

However, as Theresa Syer of Syer Hospitality Group pointed out at our workshop last week , if you’ve done your homework, drilled down to who you should contact and researched to see if you have a contact in common – it doesn’t have to be so intimidating.

Her first piece of advice is to make the calls at your best time of the day – no point in making the call when your energy level is low. You need to block of time for prospecting every day, she suggests, and plan your list of questions to uncover future opportunities.

Listen for opportunities within their answers so you can refine your questioning based on their specific information. And don’t jump in if your prospect doesn’t answer immediately. All too often we can’t stand the silence, and leap in, instead of waiting for an answer, she observed.

By the time Theresa finished running through her ten steps to finding new customers it struck me that sometimes we miss the obvious – like asking for referrals. There was much discussion about social networks, but that is clearly a topic for another day.

As Theresa emphasized, develop a positive attitude and persistence. Without regular prospecting, you run the risk of your revenue sources running dry. To learn more, you can always check out our upcoming teleclass on building your customer base.