Now you’re probably wondering, “What do I say next?” It’s simple: Make what you say next about the person you’ve called, not about you — and make it specific and compelling to them during your cold call.

Don’t go into a pitch the way you would if you were operating out of the traditional sales mindset. Try to keep in mind that who you are and what you have to offer are irrelevant at this moment. All that matters is the person you’ve called and the issues or problems they may be having that, down the road, the two of you may decide you can help solve.

Your next step is to focus on a problem that you believe the other person might have. This wording is crucial, because you’re simply asking them whether they’re open-minded about considering something new that might help to solve the problem.

At this point, you might be tempted to slip back into the traditional sales mindset and launch into a mini-presentation about the services you offer. That would be premature at this stage of your conversation. You still don’t know enough about the person you’re speaking with and his or her problem to offer your solution.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com

Don’t go into a pitch the way you would if you were operating out of the traditional sales mindset. Make what you say about them, not about you. Try to keep in mind that who you are and what you have to offer are irrelevant at this moment.

The key is to identify a problem that you believe the other person might have. Depending on your business or industry, here are some examples of what you might say:

I’m just calling if you’d be open to looking at any possible hidden gaps in your business that might be causing sales losses?

I’m just calling to see if you’re grappling with problems of employee performance related to a lack of training support?

I’m just calling to see if you’re open to looking at whether any department in your company might be losing revenue due to vendor overcharges?

Address one specific, concrete problem that you know most businesses experience. Don’t make any mention of you or any solutions you have to offer during your cold call. Remember, it’s always about them, not about you.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com

If you’ve been selling for a while, you’ve probably used a sales script. Perhaps using a script is the only way you know to start a cold call. But people can almost always tell when you’re reading from a script, even if you think you’re pretty good at it. There’s just nothing personal about it, and people pick up on that.

A script isn’t a conversation. It’s a linear process designed to move the other person toward a sale. You’re not having a real dialogue when you’re using a script. So nothing is “real” about the whole encounter. A conversation, on the other hand, is a living, breathing relationship. You’re two real people, talking normally and naturally.

So when you’re just being yourself, the other person’s walls can come down. Because you’re not coming at them with one-way sales strategy. So your cold calls typically last longer. You’ll make fewer calls, and have better results.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com

I’d like to introduce you to a radical new thought. In the old sales mindset, you’ve probably been trained to focus only on making the sale. You approach your cold calls with the idea of moving things towards a sales event. But think about what this does to your cold calls. Before you even say “hello,” basically then, you have an agenda. You want something.

Well, your prospects can sense this immediately, and they put up their guard. As people, whenever we know that someone wants something from us, we automatically move into a defensive place. You probably do, too, if you’re talking with someone who has an agenda.Can you see that your sales focus actually destroys the possibility for a genuine, trusting conversation? Because it’s focused on yourself – your desire for a sale - and not on the other person.

Salesmanship vs. Relationship

So it’s time to re-think the way you approach cold calls. When your strategy is to make a sale, then you’re someone who has to be “watched.” You’re not weighing what’s important to the other person. And so to them, you can’t be trusted.

It’s much better to build trusting relationship into your cold calling process. When the other person feels that you’re relating to them from this place, there’s no need to be suspicious and defensive. There can be a pleasant, productive, truthful dialogue about whether what you’re offering makes sense for them. So, really, it’s about trust and relationship. Why? Because when given the choice, people always prefer to do business with someone they can trust.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com

Wouldn’t it be great if you could make cold calling pleasant for both you and the other person? Well, it’s very possible, if you’re willing to remove sales pressure from the interaction.. Why? Because sales pressure is the underlying cause of all tension in cold calling. You’re pressuring yourself to make the sale, and you’re also pressuring the other person to buy what you have to offer.

In the old traditional mindset, you’ve been trained to approach cold calling this way. You’ve been encouraged to be proactive, assertive, and maybe even aggressive in your sales efforts. But this creates sales pressure. It throws the entire conversation into a push-pull scenario instead of a relaxed, mutual exploration.

So if you remove pressure from your conversations, then your cold calling can become relaxed and productive instead of stressful and tense. But first it’s important to recognize some of the many hidden ways you can create pressure in your cold calls.

Here is a top way you can create sales pressure in your cold calls:

“Get the Sale” Tunnel Vision

If you’re like most people who make cold calls, you’re hoping to make a sale – or at least an appointment – before you even pick up the phone. The problem is that this mindset short-circuits the whole process of relaxed conversation. Whenever there’s a goal, there’s also an underlying “win or lose” tension that your prospects experience as sales pressure.

But when you’re focused on building a conversation, there’s no tension. You’re simply exploring whether you can provide a solution to someone’s problem. This provides a stress-free environment for a productive, mutual exploration.

So when your focus shifts from “making the sale” into “building a conversation,” you’re not introducing sales pressure. Tension evaporates. And now you’re free to enjoy the interaction. And as long as you’re sincere, others are more likely to enjoy it too.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com

Many of us think that enthusiasm is helpful in cold calling. But it often feels so overbearing to the other person that they immediately wish we would go away.

Enthusiasm with someone who doesn’t know you just doesn’t sound natural. It’s not the way we do conversations in regular life. And when we’re trying to carry a potential client along with our enthusiasm, this feels like manipulation to them.

So my suggestion is very simple. Just be yourself. Most folks respond well to another human being, being human. A normal speaking voice while cold calling is less off-putting to the other person and invites a real connection.

When you try these three ways of understanding the person you’re cold calling, the rewards will be significant. You’ll be less reluctant to make cold calls. And you’ll find that potential clients generally respond in a more positive way.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com

As you focus on problems within their world during your cold call, you attract people’s attention. You’re addressing a specific issue that’s of concern to them. You come across as relaxed and natural. And you don’t carry that negative “salesperson” edge. You’ll find potential clients won’t look at you as just another “salesperson.” You’ll stand out because most people who sell are trained to just promote their service or product.

Focusing on the problems that your product solves makes it easy to move into cold calling conversations. When you set aside your own needs and focus 100 percent on your potential clients, trust grows and truth emerges.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com

Let go of thinking “buyer-seller,” and view the person you’re calling as another person, not as a “prospect.”The traditional cold calling mindset teaches us to polarize our roles. We’re trying to sell something, and we aren’t seeing the whole picture which includes the other person’s thinking. The old cold calling approach has become so artificial that potential clients put up their guards almost immediately. It’s denigrated the sales process into a painful “push and pull” process.

Shift your mindset into seeing your potential clients as people first. This will help you relate to them better. And the broader picture will allow you find out whether your product or service can be of help to them without being pushy or artificial.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com

If you follow the old traditional cold calling approach, as soon as you dial the telephone your focus is on acquiring a sale. And you’re probably using different techniques and strategies to guide your conversation towards that goal.

But I’m suggesting that you should consider releasing your sales agenda entirely when you make your cold calls. Why? Because whenever you focus on getting the sale, you inadvertently trigger resistance from the other person.

You see, when you have a sales agenda, others feel pressured by your expectations. And whenever pressure is felt, people naturally become wary and defensive. Because it’s just human nature to resist pressure.

Here is 2 reasons to reduce pressure in your cold calls:

1.Others Can Relax

When you release your sales-oriented agenda, others can relax and be more open to having a relevant, truthful conversation with you. And much more often, you’ll be able to explore together whether your product is a “fit” for them instead of being immediately rejected.

2.You Can Be Yourself so Others Can Be Themselves

When you release your sales agenda, you’ll also stop using the pitches and strategies designed to move things in the direction of a sale. You can become a real person again. You’ll be natural. And others naturally will respond to you.

When you’re being natural, you won’t find yourself trying to force a sale. And on some level, others will sense this. They’ll sense that it’s safe to be less defensive and that they can be much more open to talking with you about whether your product can help them.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com

By now everyone knows the routine of cold calling. There’s an almost universal negative reaction to receiving a cold call. That’s because no one likes sales pressure. So you’ll really stand out from the crowd when you don’t put any sales pressure at all in your cold calling conversations. If you’re interested in what interests them – their problems and challenges –others will sense a difference in you. You won’t be just another person trying to make a sale.

While other callers are focused on persuasion, you’re focused on solving problems. Your cold calls begin with something like, “Maybe you can help me out for a minute? I was calling to see if you’re still having issues with unpaid invoices, and whether you’re open to exploring new ways of solving that problem?”

This new cold calling mindset steps away from the old textbook world of persuasion and pressure. It’s focused on the other person, not on yourself. You’re genuinely interested in whether you can help someone solve a problem. And you’re giving them 100 percent of your attention.

When you’re thinking about whether you can help someone, this feels really good – to both of you. You’re more relaxed, and the other person is usually more willing to engage you. Try this new way of cold calling, and I think you’ll be surprised at how much of a difference it makes.

Until next time,

Keep calling and keep it conversational…

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com