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Great Cold Calling Approach

by Claude Whitacre
11 replies
I just had a cold call that I have to share here.

The guy asked for me by name, and then said "I'm reaching out to people who are already satisfied with their credit cards processing service. Would that be you? (Yes), Great. Well, this isn't a sales call. I'm just calling to offer a free rate comparison to see if you might qualify to be bundled with hundreds of other merchants ...to get you a much lower rate..."

I said "No thank you", and hung up. I've made a solid vow not to change any services until I retire in two years. No matter the savings, it isn't worth the hassle.

But let's look at what was said "I'm reaching out to people who are already satisfied with their credit cards processing service. Would that be you?"

Now, I can only say one of two things. "Yes, I'm satisfied" or "I'm not satisfied".
If I say I'm satisfied, it isn't an objection, I'm actually going along with his call. If I say that I'm not satisfied, he has the opening to ask to change my processing service.

"This isn't a sales call" was a mistake, at least for me. It probably sets minds at ease, but it insults m intelligence, and positions "sales " as something to be avoided. He would have gotten further with me had he said "This is a sales call".


"I'm just calling to offer a free rate comparison to see if you might qualify to be bundled with hundreds of other merchants ...to get you a much lower rate." gives me a reason for the call, and an appeal that at least sounds plausible.


This is one of those calls that I wish I would have recorded, and asked a few questions.

Years ago, a guy called me with an offer for an advertising directory that he was selling for $300. We went back and forth for half an hour....and he was really good.

I told him I'd give him $100 for the directory. He (after suitable hesitancy) said OK. I then said "But I'll give you the $300 if you include your complete phone script including answers to objections". He told me that he would, but that he isn't the one that mails them out, and he'd get fired if the owner found out. I should have asked to talk to the owner, because I really wanted that script.
#approach #calling #cold #great
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  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

    "I'm just calling to offer a free rate comparison to see if you might qualify to be bundled with hundreds of other merchants ...to get you a much lower rate." gives me a reason for the call, and an appeal that at least sounds plausible.

    Maybe im nitpicking but would it be better to cut this up and say "I'm calling to see if you qualify for much lower rate." or something like this.


    The underlined part is the only important thing no?
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

      Maybe im nitpicking but would it be better to cut this up and say "I'm calling to see if you qualify for much lower rate." or something like this.


      The underlined part is the only important thing no?
      No. It's all important. He also had to answer the very frequently asked question "How can you give me a lower rate?".

      You have to justify why you are going to do something.

      I get why you asked that, but one thing that really impressed me was that he cut off my ability to give several common objections. A truly well thought out script.

      You see..
      The "rate comparison" was a near painless request for me to say "Yes" to.....so I could get a lower rate (without sounding like a sales offer). And I have to do the rate comparison to get the implied lower rate.

      The " to be bundled with hundreds of other merchants " was the method that would save me money. And it sounded like something not available elsewhere. And it sounded plausible.

      And of course, the opener ""I'm reaching out to people who are already satisfied with their credit cards processing service. Would that be you?" changed my expectations, and made my brain snap to attention, to stop an automatic "No".

      Had I thought about it, and not hung up, I might have offered him $100 for a complete script. It's the kind of script that could be adapted to lots of different offers.
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

      Maybe im nitpicking but would it be better to cut this up and say "I'm calling to see if you qualify for much lower rate." or something like this.


      The underlined part is the only important thing no?
      I see what you are saying but I am sure you have seen me share the "online" sales cycle? Generic open ended search, getting broad information, getting detailed information, comparing product, finding best deal, buying, and lastly support.

      "Comparison" is what I would say creates "value" in the pitch, and it is within a humans nature in the buying process. By progressing that far in the process itself, and jumping past detail, the pitch in general is easier to close, and I would suggests creates less pitch altering questions.

      if you were to fall back a step ( detailed information ) and say our service offers this and this and that and the other.. and THEN try to get to the comparison stage.. you have probably more than likely created barriers that you will have to go over, under, or through.

      So the are you satisfied question is the qualifying question. The comparison then becomes the process of identifying objections, and then you close the sale. THIS is what I look for in a sales pitch, a simple 3 step process with only 1 point of objection. There is nothing worse than a sales call that off the bat "how is your day?" becomes an objection - followed by a string of objections. Are you happy, can we save you money? sign here is nice and clean.
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  • Profile picture of the author myob
    I would have hung up after "This isn't a sales call." That's a dead giveaway he's an amateur.

    The best prospects expect to be sold if the offer is good.
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by myob View Post

      I would have hung up after "This isn't a sales call." That's a dead giveaway he's an amateur.

      The best prospects expect to be sold if the offer is good.
      Same here. But I'm pretty sure the majority of his prospects aren't that savvy.

      I used a similar approach when selling my local online marketing service to business owners. I'd call, ask for them by name (if I knew it), and start with "I'm not calling to make an appointment, but just to drop off some information for you to look at, meet with you for a few minutes, and see if there is a reason to make an appointment down the road. Will you be there tomorrow at 3:pm?"


      I talked to about 50 business owners, and none of them said "You're calling me to not set an appointment with me?" (Which is something I might say if I got that call).

      We all (including business owners) have pre-set answers to anticipated pitches. I need to disrupt their expectations and not give them something to say "No" to.

      it would be an entirely different story if I was selling by phone.
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      “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought.” - Matsuo Basho
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  • Profile picture of the author myob
    My cold call prospects always know that I intend to sell to them. In fact, my company name includes the word "sales".

    I sell high end products as an affiliate of Amazon.

    Cold calling works particularly well for this, because very few people (that I know of) are doing it. So there is almost no competition.

    Here is my cold calling script outline. Been working quite well for years.

    =================================
    This is [Full Name] from [Company]

    The reason I'm calling is because I have helped other companies like yours with a product that increased production by as much as 42% in [department]

    If I could prove even half that, would you be interested in learning more about it? [If NO, end the call]

    To be sure I'm not wasting your time, tell me...
    Prequalifying question 1
    Prequalifying question 2
    Prequalifying question 3

    Other than yourself, who would be involved in this decision?

    Would you make time for me tomorrow to meet with you? [If out of area, time to call to watch demo video online]
    =================================

    Simple. No muss, no fuss. One caveat, however. You need a strong online presence for this to work effectively, because they will check you out. I found that even if they say "No" initially, they do sometimes go to my website and make a purchase.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sebulba
    Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

    I just had a cold call that I have to share here.

    The guy asked for me by name, and then said "I'm reaching out to people who are already satisfied with their credit cards processing service. Would that be you? (Yes), Great. Well, this isn't a sales call. I'm just calling to offer a free rate comparison to see if you might qualify to be bundled with hundreds of other merchants ...to get you a much lower rate..."

    I said "No thank you", and hung up. I've made a solid vow not to change any services until I retire in two years. No matter the savings, it isn't worth the hassle.

    But let's look at what was said "I'm reaching out to people who are already satisfied with their credit cards processing service. Would that be you?"

    Now, I can only say one of two things. "Yes, I'm satisfied" or "I'm not satisfied".
    If I say I'm satisfied, it isn't an objection, I'm actually going along with his call. If I say that I'm not satisfied, he has the opening to ask to change my processing service.

    "This isn't a sales call" was a mistake, at least for me. It probably sets minds at ease, but it insults m intelligence, and positions "sales " as something to be avoided. He would have gotten further with me had he said "This is a sales call".


    "I'm just calling to offer a free rate comparison to see if you might qualify to be bundled with hundreds of other merchants ...to get you a much lower rate." gives me a reason for the call, and an appeal that at least sounds plausible.


    This is one of those calls that I wish I would have recorded, and asked a few questions.

    Years ago, a guy called me with an offer for an advertising directory that he was selling for $300. We went back and forth for half an hour....and he was really good.

    I told him I'd give him $100 for the directory. He (after suitable hesitancy) said OK. I then said "But I'll give you the $300 if you include your complete phone script including answers to objections". He told me that he would, but that he isn't the one that mails them out, and he'd get fired if the owner found out. I should have asked to talk to the owner, because I really wanted that script.

    Some great an dcreative thinking here. I am working on putting together a script for a new products we have and there are some good ideas here.

    The "this is not a sales call" is a problem though.

    In a worldmwhere salesmen are not trusted, this adds to the distrust, or is it mistrust.

    The moment you shift into sales mode after that statement you are a liar.

    Side note this is the kind of threads we need here

    Seb
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by Sebulba View Post


      The "this is not a sales call" is a problem though.

      In a worldmwhere salesmen are not trusted, this adds to the distrust, or is it mistrust.

      The moment you shift into sales mode after that statement you are a liar.
      "This is not a sales call" is something that would irritate about 1% of the people you call. The savviest 1%. For everyone else, it's just a way to keep them from hanging up.

      Believe me, once the conversation starts, once the prospect is interested....this "not a sales call" claim has been forgotten.

      On the other hand, I've never said "I'm not selling here" on any sales call. The reason is that I would find it insulting. But most people don't.


      When I was selling in people's homes, they would ask me "How long is this going to take?" And I would say "Ten minutes, unless you have questions".

      A complete presentation took 90 minutes, and if they bought...including answering objections and writing it up, it was more like 2 1/2 hours. I said it was ten minutes, because they asked the question...looking for an excuse to say "I don't have the time right now". Had I said "It usually takes about 2 hours"...nobody would make an appointment.

      And after 12,000 sales presentations, nobody has ever brought this up. It's simply forgotten.
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      “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought.” - Matsuo Basho
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      • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
        Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

        When I was selling in people's homes, they would ask me "How long is this going to take?" And I would say "Ten minutes, unless you have questions".
        Tellya, I coulda used this line back in the day I ran a mobile massage parlor from offa a motorcycle.

        *joke*

        Hey, but I jus' wanna say .. plenty incisive commentary afoot in this post.


        Cool stuff, Claude.
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  • Profile picture of the author aduttonater
    Great script!
    I will try that line tomorrow on the phones.

    Comparable rate is better than lower rate because, your rate could be higher than the competitors.
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  • Profile picture of the author cearionmarie
    The "this isn't a sales call" line ruined it for him. That's lying, and lying is bad in connecting with customers.
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    www.influencerauditor.com

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