The Power of Intention

 Filed under: All about; Getting Your Foot in the Door — Kevin Boyle @ Jun 7th, 2009

Do you fear rejection when you are making prospecting calls and trying to make appointments?

I would like to share some of my life’s lessons with you.

I am of the opinion that you can only feel rejection when you are trying to “take something” or you have an expectation of how things should go.

In fact, we can only experience true rejection when we try to take something from someone under the guise of giving. So right now I am asking you to look at the underlying reasons for why you prospect.

Do you have an expectation?

If so, why?

Is it not enough to know that you are enough? That everything that you know, all the knowledge you have, your experience, your wisdom, your history of helping people, of having impact on others – is not enough? You can only feel rejected if your hand is extending out towards the cookie jar and you are “caught”.

How about if you today made a decision to let go of wanting what’s inside of the cookie jar?

When you are truly in your power, all that it is you – then no one can reject you, for then there is nothing that you need from anyone else. When you take everything that you know, your wisdom, your skill sets – and you move forward, giving without expectation, asking for nothing, vibrating with love and generosity as your intention – you cannot be pushed away, for in this way you become irresitible and all powerful.

Have you ever met someone at an event and thought “wow, this person is so incredibly grounded, so incredibly powerful” I just have to meet them!

Do you understand where this power comes from?

It’s because you know on a vibrational level that they need nothing from you. As they furnish whatever they need for themselves. And you seeing this, sensing this, want that. Want that assuredness for yourself.

I have a gift for you.

In fact, you have a gift for yourself.

The gift is that you have this power within you.

Unfortunately, it’s your fear that prevents you for seeing how powerful you truly are.

Nobody can stop you from giving. Nobody can fault you for giving.

You cannot fault yourself for giving.

In what ways have you stopped giving to yourself?

In what ways have you stopped pursuing your dreams, your passions and your goals?

What if you were to let go of all expectation of yourself and others? How would this free yourself to live the kind of life you truly want?

1. Set your goals.

2. Set the intention to give out of a genuine desire to help others instead of expectation or “neediness”.

3. Prospect for new business from the point of view that you wish to become more “connected” - and come from a place of complete giving. Come from a place of just “being present” with the other person.

This will set your vibration on autopilot. You won’t even have to think. In fact the less “thinking” you do the better (trust me on this) -  “feel” your calls – be truly present and in the moment with the person you are cold calling.

Try it, and get back to me.

kevin@salesmasterybook.com

I really do love your comments and your emails. I am here for you 100%. If you need help, please let me know – I only want you to succeed and live the kind of life that you aspire to. A life filled with joy, peace and love.

Until next time, all my best!

CLICK HERE to learn How to Get Your Foot in the Door and get your prospects to return your voice mails!

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on prospecting for new business? Please feel free to add your comments!

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 Sales is a numbers game, let me prove it to you!

 Filed under: All about; Getting Your Foot in the Door — Kevin Boyle @ Oct 11th, 2008

Over the past couple of years several “guru’s” and so-called industry “experts” have tried to demystify the “myth” that sales is a numbers game.

Their argument is based on numerous conjectures, for example that the salesperson who goes for numbers is not interested in quality. That they are just unskilled salespeople using a shotgun approach.

That they will sell anybody with a pulse.

They will explain further that because the salesperson uses this “willy-nilly” approach that in doing so they’re actually getting bad customers. Bad customers who are difficult and represent most of your headaches, and drain you of your precious energy throughout your day.

I’m not going to go into how silly and preprosperous this is, any professional successful salesperson is always concerned about the quality of his leads. And any professional successful salesperson generally has clients who can be difficult at times whether they were a good initial fit or not.

This overgeneralization about salespeople going for quantity over quality is an oversimplification of the process, and demeaning to sales and business people in general.

Another argument put forward by our so-called “gurus” and “industry experts” is that their “system” which in my opinion is nothing more than a lead generating piece (a marketing piece for lack of a better term) is to entice interested prospects into contacting them.

So my response to that is while you are waiting for the phone to ring, what is it that you are doing with the rest of your time?

An interesting download on sales mastery…

The fact is any marketing piece or lead generating piece takes time to bring in qualified leads. Would you rather use a system that’s reactive (a marketing piece or lead generating piece) or a system that’s proactive?

Leaving those two arguments aside, I do believe sales is a numbers game and I want to prove it to you.

The professional successful salesperson proactively looks for quality leads, he or she qualifies each prospect carefully to see if there is a good fit for their product or their service. These are called sales skill sets.

Additionally, professional successful salespeople and business owners have a high degree of belief in themselves and in this one life transforming principle:

“All it takes is one person or one opportunity to change your life.”

Really think about what you just read, and how that relates directly to the premise that yes sales is a numbers game.

My message to you is simply this, never stop knocking on doors, you never know who or what is going to be behind the next door and whether there will be that one person who will change your life forever!

All it takes, is one person to believe in you as much as you believe in yourself! That’s why sales is a numbers game. It’s about finding people who believe in you, and yes if you knocked on enough doors you will find people that will believe in you and your product and your service.

I have met some of my best friends and business associates from cold calling. These are people I would’ve never had the opportunity to speak to, these are the same people who take flyers and throw them in the garbage, I’ve asked them, they actually prefer someone who has the courage and the belief in themselves to call them. I’ve asked them about e-mails, they said more often than not they just hit the delete key.

When you cold call, and you leave voicemails, you leave a part of yourself with that person. If you are not getting the results that you want, it doesn’t mean that there is something inherently wrong with sales being a numbers game, or cold calling or prospecting in particular, it might just mean that your scripts or MOST importantly your approach needs a lot of fine tuning.

Let me be the one help you get the results you have been looking for!

Never ever underestimate how life-changing that next call with that next person can be. That next person could be and can be your next best friend, that next person who helps you out in lifts you up, that next person that gives you a referral into another account, or that next person who becomes your very best client.

But you will never know, you will never have that opportunity, if you do not have the courage to pick up the phone and use it.

Kevin, I need your help getting past the gatekeeper!

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Please feel free to add your comments!

Other Blog Articles on Cold Calling Techniques;

3 Rules to building a compelling cold calling strategy!

The best cold calling advice I can give you!

How to get your voice mails returned!

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 Are You “Overusing” Email As A Sales Tool?

 Filed under: All about; Getting Your Foot in the Door — Kevin Boyle @ Oct 3rd, 2008

Did you know that more than seventy five percent of today’s businesses have replaced cold calling with emails?

I would be willing to bet my next dollar, that the reason most salespeople and businesses do this is because they don’t want to feel the rejection of making that dreaded cold call. What most salespeople and business owners fail to realize is that according to studies up to 97% of those e-mails either end up trapped in a spam filter or deleted before their even read.

So what then?

I would love to sell you a program on how to “never suffer through another cold call again!” How to double or triple your prospecting results by just using e-mail! But I would be lying to you. The fact is unsolicited and one unwanted advertising is the same in any medium or form, it’s spam.

And no one likes it.

What determines whether a marketing piece is going to be successful or not is the effectiveness of the headline, targeting the right person or audience, and having a Client Centered Value Proposition that speaks directly to the recipient.

With the introduction of the internet sales people and business owners alike have access to new tools to communicate with their prospects and their customers. Some sales people and business owners may even think using email to sell their products or services is a great idea. But I would ask them, what is their real motivation, fear?

E-mail should be part of an entire cold calling and prospecting campaign. A campaign where cold calling is part of the overall strategy.

Why? In my opinion leaving a voice mail is still a better option than an e-mail.

And let me tell you why, when you leave a compelling voicemail, you are leaving your prospect with something that you can’t give them over an e-mail. You are giving them a sense of who you are; by your enthusiasm, by the tonality of your voice, and most importantly, by your presence. This is something you just can’t do by e-mail.

If you’re confident in what your product or service can do for someone and the solutions that you provide, you should be excited by the prospect of having an opportunity to tell someone about who you are and how you can impact their life.

That, is the attitude of a successful business owner and salesperson.

If you believe in replacing calls with e-mails, I invite you to really consider why? Why do you feel uncomfortable with calling someone? Why would you worry about someone’s perception of you that you haven’t even met yet? Why would you buy into the negativity that surrounds the two most evil words in the English language “cold calling”?

You show me a successful salesperson, and I’ll show you someone who is comfortable with picking up the phone and calling a prospect or client.

There is one exception in which I advise my clients to use e-mail as a prospecting tool to begin relationships, and that’s when the company that they are contacting as a rule does their business online. But I still strongly recommend a follow-up phone call.

Speaking to someone in person is the only basis to ensure that your communication is being received and understood and it is the best way to start a long-term profitable relationship.

Some e-mail tips:

1) Don’t put your company’s name in the heading of the email.

2) Put the persons name who you are corresponding with in the subject line instead.

3) Remember people tend to skim e-mails, so put your best stuff where it’s going be read at the top of the body of your e-mail

4) Mondays and Tuesdays are the best days to send emails.

5) Use a credible email address in your “from” field.

6) And lastly, listen to this…

All my best!

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on how to use email more effectively in filling your sales funnel? Please feel free to add your comments!

Click here to learn how to get past the gatekeeper and get your voice mails returned!

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 3 Rules To Building A Compelling Prospecting Campaign Strategy!

 Filed under: All about; Getting Your Foot in the Door — Kevin Boyle @ Sep 29th, 2008

I do not look at cold calling as an isolated event, I look at it as a long term investment in my business and ultimately in myself.

I do not take the attitude that I am going to fail. I know that one day you will become my customer.

Can you think of anything more important than a salespersons or business owners ability to connect with other people and get their ideas across?

In my mind cold calling is about starting a conversation and connecting with people and then educating your prospects as to why you would be the best person to do business with.

Begin with these goals in mind and you will have more success with cold calling and prospecting. It will also change your mindset about why you are cold calling.

When you change your mindset about cold calling and what your true objectives are it frees you and it also frees the person that you are calling.

Cold calling is simply the start of a wonderful relationship with a person who doesn’t know you yet.

That should be your mindset.

Fact – it takes an average of 6 to 7 contacts with a prospect in order to make a sale. I think this is the reason why most people get so frustrated with cold calling and prospecting. Not fully understanding the nature and the reality of the daily stresses and challenges of the people that they’re calling.

Today’s business owner and entrepreneur is simply overwhelmed with e-mail, things to do, and their own goals and agendas during the day. Not responding to your cold call is not a personal slight on you.

In fact, recent studies show that up to 97% of all sales and marketing email gets deleted or unread by the people who receive them. It’s called spam, and just because you are sending it – doesn’t make it less so.

So why send them another email that most likely is just going to get deleted?

I call it “busy work” – it makes you feel like you are actually doing something when in all likelihood most people use it as an excuse to not pick up the phone and initiate contact with their prospect.

As a sales person or a business owner when you make peace with this concept and the realities of the people that you are trying to connect with then you can give yourself and them a break. So let’s take a look at an effective cold calling campaign.

Your objective; Cold Calling is about building awareness of your product, your service and more importantly of you!

Rule #1 in prospecting.

a) People can’t have a relationship with you or buy from you if they are not aware that you exist.

b) People will always opt to have a business or personal relationship with someone that they feel they have a personal connection with.

Long-term strategy; cold calling is about believing in what you can do for other people and the positive impact that you can have on them and their business.

And believing that you are a good person who is worth knowing!

Rule #2 in prospecting.

I’ll say it again, just in case you missed it the first time – it takes an average of 6-7 contacts with a prospect over a period up to as much as 18 months in order to build a sufficient relationship with them, and where enough trust exists to make a sale.

Are you giving up after the second call? Are you following up throughout the year to continue to build your profile with your client to be, so that when they need your product or service they will call you?

So how does knowing this key piece of information affect your cold calling strategy?

Well first of all realize that in business to business selling as we have stated, is all about building relationships, and building relationships takes time.

We know it – yet we procrastinate or allow our fear to control us. The time to start cold calling is not when your sales are in the tank, cold calling is about building sales for 1, 2, 3, 4 months from now.

Rule #3 in prospecting.

Always think in terms of value and speaking directly to your prospects concerns and challenges. Remember, your prospect is always asking themselves, why should I listen to you? Why should I respond to you?

It’s called having a “Client Centered Value Proposition”

Do you have a strong “Client Centered Value Proposition” that helps you win over new accounts?

Do you have a strong “Client Centered Value Proposition” that helps you get your voice mails returned?

Start a form, label it A B C and D

A – are companies who are interested and want to do business now
B – are companies who have indicated interest and are not rdy now
C – are companies that could use your product but have shown no interest in you
D – are companies who have purchased from you, and are moving from column A – for future business, referrals, testimonials and follow up.

A is pretty simple – make an appointment to go see them

B & C – develop a plan to continue contact with your prospects

- press releases
- articles that may interest them
- develop a piece – reason to do business #7 with your company
- a survey
- a referral for them
- an invitation to an upcoming trade show

After you have listed the activities that you can use to keep in contact with your prospects – then you need to map out the time frames, delivery means and the content.

For instance after your cold call you find out that they are not interested until Feb – that 5 months from now. A common mistake a lot of salespeople make is to phone back in Feb – and say hello its John from Grand Widgets we spoke last Sept and you said to give you a call.

And they are left wondering who you are.

Where a savvy prospector – would have sent a thank you note after the cold call thanking them for taking the time to speak with them, and then followed up a month later with an article and thereafter within invite to a trade show. Perhaps a survey to ask their opinion on something or an educational marketing piece.

Building awareness takes time, persistence, and courage – make cold calling work for you!

Kevin, I need help with Getting My Foot in the Door and winning over new accounts!

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on how to build long-term relationships with prospects? Please feel free to add your comments!

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 The BEST Prospecting advice I can ever give you!

 Filed under: All about; Getting Your Foot in the Door — Kevin Boyle @ Aug 21st, 2008

I need you to really think about something for a moment…

People that you cold call are not monsters, they are people, just like you and I. I’d like you to consider something for a minute. Maybe the reason you are getting “resistance” when you prospect is because of the “way” you are prospecting.

If you are making your calls as a ways of interupting them while they are working, of course you are going to get the brush off. Your prospects are simply overwhelmed and inundated by e-mails, phone calls, and meeting their own sales budgets.

If you are prospecting as a ways of selling them something, of course you are going to get resistance. How do you react when someone trys to sell you something and you don’t know them from Adam? Sales pressure, triggers rejection and/or resistance.

Why would you expect any other reaction? The truth is you don’t, and that’s why your inner world (your mind set) manifests itself in your outer world (cold calling resistance or rejection).

If you want to succeed in cold calling/sales you must learn this universal law of attraction.

You must learn how to build business value relationships over the phone if you want to experience success with cold calling.

In fact I am absolutely convinced that you must learn how to build business value relationships in order for all of your sales and marketing efforts (cold calling, prospecting, online, flyers, public speaking, etc…) to have success and to give you the results you are looking for, which is to increase sales and build your business!

And at the end of the day if you end up having more “friends” than what you started out with, that can’t be all bad can it?

Kevin, I want to learn how to Build Business Value Relationships 

 
Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on how to build relationships over the phone? Please feel free to add your comments!

Other Blog Articles on Cold Calling Techniques;

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How to get your voice mails returned!

Learn the ART of Relationship Sales and Marketing! Subscribe to my newsletter and receive an 8 part home email study course on how to dramatically improve your sales and marketing results and blow your competition out of the water!

 
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 Cold Calling, just send me over some information

 Filed under: All about; Getting Your Foot in the Door — Kevin Boyle @ Aug 19th, 2008

Cold Calling “Just, send me some information.”
Has this ever happened to you?

You: Good morning, Jane. Is Bill Jones available?
Gatekeeper: May I ask what this is in regards to?
You: Sure Jane, I faxed Bill the other day and told him I’d call at this time.”
Gatekeeper: Who’s calling?
You: Kevin Boyle
Gatekeeper: One moment please, Let me check for you…

Gatekeeper: OK, Mr. Boyle I will transfer you now.
You: Thank you Jane.

Your prospect: Hello
You: Hi Bill, This is Kevin Boyle from The Secrets to Sales Mastery do you have a quick 2 minutes? I’d like to talk to you about how I can improve your sales people’s cold calling and prospecting results.
Your prospect: I’m afraid not Kevin, can you just send me some information?

Yikes! Seems like we have run into a dead end!

I think you will really enjoy listening to this audio recording on how to get your foot in the door!

As you probably are well aware your prospects are generally overwhelmed and inundated by e-mails, phone calls, and meeting their own sales budgets. To remain effective, busy executives must remain indifferent to your sales advances. Busy juggling multiple projects, they practice astute time management skills: do, dump, or delegate.

Is it any wonder you get the polite brush off?

So the question becomes what to do?

I don’t believe in objection handling or overcoming objections, I believe in objection prevention.

My sales call goes something like this…

Gatekeeper: OK, Mr. Boyle I will transfer you now.
You: Thank you Jane.

Your prospect: Hello
You: Hi Bill, This is Kevin Boyle from The Secrets to Sales Mastery. We help people improve their cold calling and prospecting results and I’d like to send you over some information about our program… Can I verify your email address?

Your prospect: Sure!

I then verify his correct email address and I then ask my one BEST question that is designed to get my prospect talking about his business, his current supplier if he already has one and his problem.

His problem???

That’s right, his problem is universal.

I think it’s safe to say that almost every sales manager has salespeople who are not meeting their sales budgets, and it’s generally because they are either not good at or comfortable with cold calling.

Every business person has a problem that your product or service addresses.

The trick is learning how to frame it in such a way as to get your prospect or customers to admit that he or she needs help!

Kevin, please help me improve my cold calling and prospecting results and show me how to get my foot in the door and win over difficult prospects!

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on how to overcome the objection “just send me over some information? Please feel free to add your comments!

Other Blog Articles on Cold Calling Techniques;

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How to get your voice mails returned.

If you enjoyed reading this article please let other people know about it by Digging It, Adding it to Delicious, Sharing on Facebook, Stumbling it or Tagging it on Technorati!

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 Cold Calling, does it work? You bet it does!

 Filed under: All about; Getting Your Foot in the Door — Kevin Boyle @ Aug 10th, 2008

Cold Calling, does it work? You bet it does!


The reality of today’s very competitive marketplace is that cold calling can be a very frustrating experience if you don’t have a strong pitch, a compelling message, a strategy for building rapport quickly with a stranger and lastly and most importantly if you really don’t know the elements of a successful cold call.

I mean how can you expect to be really good at something if no one has ever shown you how to do something properly? Most sales people or new businesses cannot afford a flyer campaign linked to an offer when their making $40 or $50 thousand dollars a year.

What most people need is a step by step guide that breaks everything down and takes them from A to Z and shows them how to build rapport quickly, how to respond to the 4 most common objections they are going to encounter, how to ask for and get the appointment and lastly how to get their voice mails returned.

Most people NEED to cold call, because for them it’s a fact of life until they can get their business up and running or until they can get that critical first 6 to 9 months under their belt. That’s why most advice on the internet today about “never cold call again” is not practical for most sales people and business owners.

But the reality is that inexperienced sales and business people either hate cold calling or they feel like their terrible at it, and that only about 20% of salespeople in any given industry really EXCEL at it. There’s no reason why you can’t too, once you know exactly how to do it.

Why can I say this with 100% confidence?

Because I’ve grown 3 successful businesses using cold calling, and I know plenty of top sales producers who are excellent cold callers - and lastly, I am the poster child for “FEAR of cold calling”.

So how did I overcome my fear of cold calling?

1) I had too. Plain and simple I was that salesperson who was making $40,000 a year and I had no choice, I had to work with the tools I was given by the company I worked for (no budget, no promotions) – if I wanted to eat that month, I had to cold call.

So I had to change my mind set, cold calling is the first step in building a relationship and creating opportunity. It’s not an isolated event!

2) Your cold calling strategy has to be part and parcel of an entire relationship building prospecting strategy, a strategy that places you as “top of mind” with your prospects and also serves to educate your prospects as to why you would be the best person to do business with in your industry. Think of it as planting seeds.

3) Your inital introduction should be by Fax, Flyer, Canvassing (door to door), Direct Mail piece or whenever possible by referral.

Getting introduced to someone by referral is absolutely the best way to turn your cold call into a warm call.

4) Your sales efforts must mirror marketing principles. You must ensure you are targeting the right person/industry.

5) Your cold calling and prospecting strategies must be systemized.

 
So the next time you read an article or visit a web site that “claims” cold calling “doesn’t work”, think again.

Are there other ways to build your business other than cold calling? Yes, there is. But you need to be in a position where you can offer something of value (a discount, a “how to” pamphlet, a demo CD, etc…) to your prospects so that they will take the time to respond to your offer and basically “give you permission” to market to them.

And then you have to “wait” for them to respond to your offer. Meanwhile either your boss is chomping down your neck asking you how come you haven’t made that month’s sales targets or your landlord is asking you where your rent money is…

Don’t be fooled into thinking there is an easy way around prospecting.

So why not learn how to do it properly and excel at it?

Kevin, please show me how to get my foot in the door and win over new accounts!

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on cold calling? Please feel free to add your comments!

Other Blog Articles on Cold Calling Techniques;

How to get your voice mails returned!

Handling the objection, just send me over some information.

If you enjoyed reading this article please let other people know about it by Digging It, Adding it to Delicious, Sharing on Facebook, Stumbling it or Tagging it on Technorati!

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 Cold Calling, How to get your voice mails returned!

 Filed under: All about; Getting Your Foot in the Door — admin @ Jul 22nd, 2008

Welcome to my blog on how to get your voice mails returned. One of the most frequent question I get asked by salespeople and business owners is how many voice mails should I leave and at what frequency and of course, how do I get my voice mails returned?

1) My first rule on how to get your voice mail returned – is to leave one! If you are not leaving voice mails you are really doing yourself a disservice!

2) As far as frequency goes I would say every 3-5 days is enough to ensure that you look “serious” without looking like a “stalker”.

So let’s get in to the “meat” of the blog, would you like to meet a lot of new and interesting people?

If being able to get your foot in the door and winning over new accounts is critical to your success as a company and/or as a salesperson, then I hope so!

Yet, I work with a lot of salespeople and as important as it is, some salespeople would do just about anything rather than prospect for new business by cold calling. Some of my best friends and business associates I have met through cold calling. Think about it, most of your friends were strangers at one point or another.

Therefore, the first step in having success in “getting your foot in the door”  is your attitude.

Think of cold calling and prospecting for new business as a way to make new friends.

Secondly, the reality of today’s very competitive marketplace is that cold calling can be a very frustrating experience if you don’t have a strong Client Centered Value Proposition or a compelling message. That’s why many salespeople grow complacent or reluctant to prospect for new business by cold calling.

Your ”Getting Your Foot in the Door” strategy should be part and parcel of an entire prospecting strategy, a strategy that places you as “top of mind” with your prospects and also serves to educate your prospects as to why you would be the person to do business with in your industry.

Think of it as planting seeds.

Many sales people I work with express the frustration of having to deal with voice mail and I often get asked, “What is the secret of leaving a voice mail that gets returned?”

So let’s look at a sample voice mail.

“Hello, (pause) my name is Bob, I work for Lumin’s Print Shop. I’m just calling to see if you would like some information on our latest promotion this month. If you would like some information on how we can help you I look forward to hearing back from you. My number is (555) 555-5555″

Can you see the mistakes Bob made? Before moving along to the next section – why don’t you reread Bob’s voice mail and count how many errors you think he has made.

“Hello” – The goal of a voice mail is “to get a person to call you back” Voice mails should be personable and always begin with the use of the person’s name.

The correct way – “Hello, Dan…”

(pause) – One of the key tools in ensuring your success with cold calling, is your CONFIDENCE. You should be practicing what you are going to say and how you are going to say it prior to making your call to ensure that you have a smooth delivery.

“My name is Bob” – Hi, my name is… sounds like something you would hear at a speed dating event or at a group therapy session. You want to project an image of position and status. In our society, perception is very important.

The correct way – “Hello, Dan. This is Bob Simons… “

“My name is Bob” actually counts as 2 – because Bob didn’t leave his last name. “Bob” or “Susan” is found on the name tag of your bank teller or the gentleman who bags your groceries at the local supermarket. “Bob” or “Susan” is NOT the “go to guy” who is your peer in business.

“I work for…” This is another way for Bob to imply to his prospect that Bob just isn’t that important. Bob is just another employee or worse just another “salesperson”.

The correct way – “Hello, Dan. This is Bob Simons from Lumin’s Print Shop…”
Or “Hello, Dan. This is Bob Simons of ….”

“I’m just calling….” – Implies that the call is casual. That there is no real reason to return the call.

“…If you would like some information on our latest promotion this month. If you would like some information on how …” – I think Bob got so nervous he repeated himself.

“My number is (555) 555-5555” – ALWAYS leave your phone number twice. Most people have 3, 4, 6, 8 or more voice mails. Their busy and generally hate to have to replay their voice mails to write down your phone number. Make it easy for them!

The correct way – “Hello, Dan. This is Bob Simons from Lumin’s Print Shop. If you would like some information on our latest promotion this month. I look forward to hearing back from you. You can reach me at (555) 555-5555. That’s Bob Simons at (555) 555-5555.“

No salutation at the end. People like the personal touch. It’s important that you are courteous and mindful of proper business etiquette.

The correct way – ““Hello, Dan. This is Bob Simons from Lumin’s Print Shop. If you would like some information on our latest promotion this month. I look forward to hearing back from you. You can reach me at (555) 555-5555. That’s Bob Simons at (555) 555-5555. Thanks Dan.”

So how many mistakes did you find? Did you expect to find 9?

Bob actually made 11 mistakes and the last 2 are absolutely crucial to getting your voice mails returned. Do you know what they are?

Tell you what, I have a deal for you – if you can tell me the 2 remaining critical mistakes Bob made in getting his voice mail returned I’ll give you a copy of my book “The Secrets to Sales Mastery” absolutely free (I’ll even pay for the shipping!) and I will autograph the copy for you!

Email me at kevin@salesmasterybook.com with your answer or you can call me directly at (604) 525-5185.

Getting your foot in the door and winning over new accounts is a learnable skill.

And as you probably know by now, old tired scripts like this, just don’t work any more.

I teach new innovative sales skill sets and strategies that will not only help you get your foot in the door and win over new accounts – it will also help you get your voice mails returned!

I will give you the exact words and scripts I use to get my foot in the door, get my voice mails returned and win over new accounts.

I will also help you come up with your own unique “Client Centered Value Proposition” that you can use for your own business.

Kevin, I need your help in getting more business…

ps – if all else fails you can always try the “Hail Mary, I don’t have a hope” approach : “Hi Dan, I know you desperately want to place an order with us, but you’re probably trapped under your desk and can’t reach the phone… Don’t move, I’m coming to get you!”

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on how to get your voice mails returned? Please feel free to add your comments!

Other Blog Articles on Sales and Marketing Techniques;

The 5 steps to a successful close

Marketing Blunder #76

How to slay your dragon and get what you really want out of life!

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ps. Do you need help with cold calling?

How to cold call anyone, anywhere, without fear of rejection! Stop your prospect from what they are doing, get their full undivided attention and have them instantly build rapport with you!