NLP Sales, Cold Calling Podcast - Catherine Jackson
Sales and Cold Calling - Discussion between Michael Beale and Catherine Jackson of Mind Training Systems, February 2008.
(Please allow 2 minutes for the MP3 file to download if you want to listen to the discussion.)
http://www.nlp-expert.co.uk/sales/catherine.mp3
Catherine Jackson BA (Hons), MD & Principal Trainer for Mind Training Systems Certified NLP Trainer, Certified Time Line Therapy™ Trainer, Certified Hypnosis Trainer.
Michael : Good Morning Catherine
Catherine : Hello.
Michael : To start this off could you introduce yourself and say a little bit about who you are and what you do?
C
atherine : I'm Catherine Jackson and I'm director of Mind Change Systems and I'm a trainer of NLP, timeline therapy and hypnosis, and a coach of NLP and at Mind Change Systems we provide sales training as well as certified NLP practitioner/master practitioner training as well as certification in timeline therapy and hypnotherapy. And aside from that we also do business consulting and coaching as well.
Michael : And what's your experience of cold-calling?
Catherine : I spent many years working in the health and fitness industry, selling memberships before I got into doing NLP. and I started off as a sales consultant and I quickly progressed to becoming a sales and marketing manager and running a team of sales people -and in health and fitness or in the sales environment that I was working in, cold calling was an essential part of our business. And as my pay was based on the amount of sales I made, I became really, very good at making cold calls.
Michael : Why do you think cold calling is important in business today?
Catherine : I think cold calling is important in business as it's an important step - it's kind of the first step in the sales cycle. And I think that if you look at cold calling, the way that we've always looked at it, is that a cold call is an introduction. It's simply letting people know that you may have something that they may wish to buy, and it also has a purpose.
Michael : And how do you think cold-calling is changing? Or is it changing?
Catherine : Well I'm not sure that it is changing, or that it's changed, really. I know that to be good at cold-calling you definitely need to adopt a certain attitude and methodology.
Michael : Building on that a little bit, what do you think are the key factors that go towards a cold calling campaign being successful?
Catherine : I think that there's a lot of factors that make cold calling successful. I think to start with, if I were to give you some key pointers, I would say that while you're cold calling it's really important for you to have a plan. you need to plan what you're doing - what is the purpose of that call? What is the desired outcome? And I think it's really important as well that when you're making calls, you call with confidence. It's really about going into a state of mind, having a tenacious, determined approach and you've got to keep going - you've got to be flexible in your style of communication.
And then on from that, you need to find out who you need to speak to. I've found over the years, that if I'm talking to someone I would describe as a gatekeeper, and by that I mean like a secretary or PA - I actually have much more success if I know the name of the manager or director that I want to speak to rather than saying 'ooh, could I speak to the director of whatever department it might be'.
I think it's always important to be polite. And if it's not the right time for the prospects, I think it's really important to arrange a time to call back at a different time when it's convenient. So they're going to expect you to call them back.
Other things I thought about as well - doing some profiling on the company, learning about your target, and you can do that very easily by checking out their websites, checking their industry publications. But doing some research on a company and finding out that contact name, I've always found as another step in becoming successful when you're making calls. And also by attending network meetings as well you can learn about who the decision-makers are, and then in terms of logistics I think that actually buying a really decent headset, because I always find that if one hand is tied up with holding a phone and then I've got my database management system open and I'm trying to type notes, and book an appointment - so having a headset can be really good.
And another point which I think is another key one is building rapport really quickly, and people might ask 'well, how do you do that?' and obviously when you do NLP and you've taken NLP training, we teach you how to build rapport, and that opens the door and reduces resistance with the other person you're speaking to on the other end of the phone.
And another thing - which I think if people were able to get their heads around this, they would find it far easier to make cold calls, is actually to go and look for the No's. It's ok if you get a No, and the way that I've got used to it, and the way I teach it to people in sales is to stand up to the No's, and get them out of the way. It's OK if someone says No, and it's one more out of the way to the Yes that you're looking for. You want to find the people that want to buy from you, and trust me there's plenty of clients out there. And I think also, the more calls you make, the more success you're going to have.
Michael : Let's go into a little bit more detail. Where and when do you cold call? Where and when do you think is the best time to cold call?
Catherine : Well what I have when I make cold-calls is I have a workstation, where I've got my computer so I can access my work base management system, and I've got my phone and I've got a pad of paper and a pen, and that's literally all I've got in front of me, because when you're making cold calls you really have to focus on what you're doing.
So I remove all distractions and only have in front of me what I need. So I plan my day, and I call at strategic times based on the prospects that I'm looking to reach. So for example, if I'm calling people in business, I find that my strike rate, i.e the level of success that I achieve is better if I call between ten and twelve and then between two and four, so by doing that, what I've done is accommodating people getting into the office, getting to work, getting themselves set up, so that they're getting on wit their day - so by about ten o' clock, it's a really good times to start making calls, people are more receptive.
Then between twelve and two, that's often when people take lunch, so I'll go off and do other things while they're having their lunch breaks, because I've found that when making calls at that time my success rate is lower, I get through to fewer people - then between two and four they're back at their desks, they're doing their thing, and again I find it's easier to get through and actually speak to the people that you want to at those times.
Michael : Would you think that it's different in different marker segments?
Catherine : Yes, I think it is, and we found particularly when we were selling gym membership that when we were selling to just the general public that actually calling in the evening was better. So when people have got back from work, perhaps between six and eight, those were are key call times and I used to have the office set up so that the majority of the team would be in for the evenings so we could get on the phones and reach more people.
Michael : So moving on from what you actually do when you make a call, take me through the sequence of things that you actually do as you're calling.
Catherine : Sure. I adapt what I call a phone-essential strategy. Like I said before, I clear all distractions even before I pick up the phone., and I go through a set number of things before I start making calls. So I really check in with my attitude, and I actually smile before I pick up the phone, because my voice creates and image of me and the company, so it's really important to get into the right mindset before you start calling.
I open up my database management system so I'm all ready to go, and I begin every call with a clear objective - when I was selling gym club membership our goal was that every call we were making was in view to making an appointment for our client to come down and see the health club. So it's a really good idea to know what the purpose is of that call.
Then I establish rapport by matching the callers communication style, when I speak to them on the phone. I make sure that I'm speaking to the decision maker, and I maintain control of the conversation by questioning. I acknowledge the questions that the client has, and I listen and take notes, while I schedule other appointments as well.
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Catherine Jackson Interview
Catherine Jackson - Sales and Cold Calling Interview
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