Cold Call Using Your Right Brain

If you're having trouble cold calling, the problem might be which side of your brain you're using.

Research shows that left-brain thinkers are analytical, logical, and look at things in parts, while right-brain thinkers are creative, believe that everything is possible, and look at a situation as a whole, rather than as steps. This means that right-brain thinkers are more likely to look at cold calling as a way to start a conversation, and consequently face fewer setbacks when the conversation doesn't lead to a sale.

If you're not enjoying cold calling, try looking at it with a right brain mentality. Here are some suggestions from sales trainer and speaker Ari Galper.

• Before you make a cold call, think to yourself, "My goal is not to make the sale but to create a conversation based on how I can help the other person."

• Avoid changing who you are when you make your call. There's no need to be on "stage" or to sound enthusiastic. Just be your everyday relaxed self, as if you're calling a friend. People know when you're being genuine, and when you're not.

• Throw out your linear sales script and generate a spontaneous conversation based on the problems you can help the other person solve.

• Let go of thinking "buyer-seller," and view the person you're calling as another person, not as a "prospect."

• Let go of worrying about driving the conversation "forward." Instead, open your call with a problem statement that generates the response "What do you mean?" or "Tell me more."

Ari Galper is the creator of Unlock The Game, a new sales mindset that overturns the notion of selling as we know it today. Contact him at www.unlockthegame.com.

Create Customer Gratitude

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. A day for reflecting on what we're most grateful for. We've talked this week about expressing our thanks to customers. But, what about customer gratitude? What can you do to make your customers thankful for you?

Here's a story from George Ludwig, author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code that illustrates the type of sales behavior that produces grateful customers.

One cold Friday night in January 1991, the phone rang. "Is this Tom O.?" the caller asked.

"Yes , it is," Tom replied. "Who's this?"

"I'm Dr. Gary B. from XYZ Children's Hospital. I'm the new ortho surgeon here, and we have an emergency spinal case tomorrow. My technician and I don't know how to run the Cell Saver, and neither does anybody else available to us. We have a six-year old boy who really needs surgery now - he can't wait till Monday. Can you help me run the device and train us, too? I used another brand back in Boston, and I can't reach that sales rep."

"I'll do it. What time do you need me?" Tom answered.

Dr. B. said, "Be here at 6:30am to scrub in."

The next morning, Tom ran the Cell Saver, which collects blood shed during surgery, separates the oxygen-carrying red cells, and returns them to the patient during the procedure. All went well in this four-hour operation. Dr. B. and his nursing team thanked Tom profusely for coming on a Saturday, with such short notice, and going the extra mile for their patient.

About a year later, Tom received a phone call from the ABC Teaching Hospital in Minneapolis. The company he sold for had been completely locked out from getting any of the Cell Saver business at this hospital, but the purchasing agent on the phone wanted to fax a purchase order for seven Cell Savers, worth more than $100,000 in business. Tom was stunned and elated! He was also confused, because he hadn't even visited the hospital in six months. The purchasing agent told him that their new chief of surgery, Dr. Gary B., refused to use any other type of equipment. Their order needed to be completed ASAP, and Tom ended up with a killer commission check.

Now that's a grateful customer. What can you do to prove your worth to your customers - when they need it most? Give it some thought - and enjoy your turkey!

No trust

This week we're looking at the five obstacles to any sale as outlined by legendary sales trainer Zig Ziglar: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust. Today's obstacle: "no trust."

To overcome a lack of trust, you must first realize that most prospects don't know you and may never have even heard of your company.

Here's a tip from Michael Dalton Johnson, Editor of Top Dog Sales Secrets that should help:

"All things being equal, who do you think your prospect is going to buy from: the company he has known for years, or you, the new kid on the block?" asks Johnson. "Allay his fears by providing him with current customer lists (including contact names and numbers for some of your accounts), testimonial letters on your customers' letterhead, documented case histories, and press coverage. A referral from someone he knows and respects will swing doors wide open."

There you have it: expert strategies and tactics to overcome the five basic obstacles to any sale. Now put this knowledge to use and make more sales!