“In 2008 we analyzed and documented more than 40,000 cold-call presentations made by sellers across various industries. Below are the Top Five Cold-Calling Mistakes as identified by our research.

1. Inability to manage objections

Our research shows that most sales teams cannot properly answer basic objections, let alone complex objections. The root problem is that most sales people are not trained in the basic principles of refutation. They have not been exposed to the concept of managing all objections head-on. The Must-React System facilitates the identification of all objections and the creation of rebuttals for each. Further, Must-React includes extensive and structured role playing to insure that sellers demonstrated the techniques so as to overpower targets and administrators.

2. Incompetence at leaving voice mail messages

We observed some rather bizarre voice mail messages that were, well… un-nerving! Surprisingly, we have never observed a sales team that could achieve more than a 3% callback rate from voice mail messages. The average callback rate is less than 1%. After Must-React certification, however, the callback rate jumps to 35% on average. When these callbacks are converted to initial meetings, our clients are able to systematically build pipeline.

3. Wrongful usage of product-benefit statements

In the context of cold-calling, product-benefit statements simply do not work. Because sales resistance is deeply embedded in our culture, incorporating product-benefit statements into introductory messaging is fatal. Sadly, this approach shows a true lack of creativity and effort.
4. Inviting target-buyers to attend a sales call

The fastest way to insure that your prospects will not meet with you is to invite them to attend a sales call. Think about it: Who wakes up in the morning, hops in the shower and imagines how great their day will be if they get cold-called by some sales person they have never met, to attend a sales meeting about a product for which they have no prior knowledge? And yet, I observe sellers waste company resources daily with this non-productive activity. Teams need to replace initial sales calls with Analyst-Briefings. Why? Your targeted buyers are far more inclined to accept a meeting where the purpose is to deliver research that is relevant to his / her professional life. When structured properly, the analyst-briefing becomes the perfect venue for deeply qualifying the target, and converting the target to a sales cycle if qualified. Blaire Group has helped build dozens of Analyst-Briefings for our clients.

5. Inclusion of Easy-Outs

Most sellers make it easy for their targets to say no by including “easy out” statements in their first sentence.

* Is this a good time?
* Do you have a minute?
* Are you free to talk now?

We agree that these types of statements are polite and show respect for your target’s time. But the usage of these statements in the context of cold-calling is W A Y – W R O N G! Getting targets on the phone is difficult enough as it is. Please, don’t provide them with an easy escape!”

Submitted by: Kraig Kleeman, CEO, Blaire Group

For more information visit www.GenerationSalesGroup.com or Contact David Juris at djuris@GenerationSalesGroup.com or at (303) 793-1111.