You don’t text the girl and say, “Hey, do you wanna go on a date and go home with me afterwards next Wednesday?” No, you say, “Hey, what’s up.” It’s that conversation that has to get started. Sales is the exact same way.
Hey, what’s up? It’s Coach Carroll. Today, we’re gonna be talking about why you have a fear of cold calling. It’s pretty simple, believe it or not, but a lot of people get so caught up in their head, it’s like they can’t push themselves to pick up that phone. But let me give you a little secret. Right now, as we come out of this pandemic, anybody in every company out there is looking for employees, and let me tell you, if you can figure out how to talk to people over the phone, it’s a skill that not only increases your communication, but could increase your ability to sell, which could make you more valuable to an employer. So keep that in mind; if you could overcome this fear, it might open up some new doors for you. So let’s get into this.
Here’s the number one reason why most people fear making that cold call. It’s as simple as this…
YOU DON’T WANT TO BE REJECTED.
I hate to put it like that, but it’s so true. Most people fear that rejection. “Oh man, what are they gonna say? What if they hang up on me? What if they tell me to go kick rocks? What if they cuss me out?” Listen, probably all of those things are gonna happen at some point in your life if you’re cold calling, but it doesn’t matter. Tomorrow, they’re not gonna remember who you are. You could call them back with a different name and they’re not gonna know the difference, honestly. But you’re so caught up inside of your head about the fear of that rejection, it’s keeping you from making the dials. And so, let’s talk about how we can get passed that.
I already alluded to one of those is that, listen, man, you shouldn’t care because they don’t care. You shouldn’t care because they don’t care. The fear that, “Oh my gosh, what are they gonna say? Are they gonna hang up on me? Are they gonna go berserk? Am I not gonna make a friend?” Listen, the only thing you need to be worried about when you’re making those dials is finding the prospect that will let you set the appointment, which brings me to point number two.
Most of you are afraid to make the cold call because you’re trying to sell over the phone. In your mind, you think that, “I gotta dial the number, I gotta find the person, and then they gotta buy on this first call.” The likelihood that you’re going to have a one-call close is slim to none, it hardly ever happens on a cold dial. What we’re trying to do, and I talk about this in my book, Phenomenal Phone Calls, that the only thing you’re selling on the cold call, the initial cold call, the only thing you’re selling is the appointment. That’s it, nothing more, nothing less. You’re selling the appointment. And you’re like, “Well, what’s the appointment?” The appointment to actually have the conversation with Bob, Susie, or Sherry, whoever the prospect is, that’s what the cold call is.
Most people get so caught up in their head. They’re so afraid to make that cold call because they don’t realize that they’re not really selling anything. I’m just trying to get you to book a meeting with me. We won’t get into the technicalities of overcoming objections and things like that, but, most of the time, your fear is simply minimized down into, either you’re fearful of the rejection, or you’re fearful that you’re gonna have to make the full pitch on the cold call, and you gotta close the deal. It doesn’t work that way, you’re just trying to set the appointment.
So, if you can use those two tips, clear your mind, take a deep breath, understand that, listen, man, you’re not that important. They’re not gonna remember who you are tomorrow. They got a million things going on. The fear of rejection doesn’t really matter, because you’re not getting rejected by your mom. You’re getting rejected by a complete stranger that you’re probably never gonna talk to again. So it’s not that big of a deal. And then the other side of it is, understand that you’re just trying to set the appointment.
You’re not cold calling to make the sell.
We’re trying to start the engagement.
We’re trying to build the relationship.
These are are the first steps. You don’t text the girl and say, “Hey, do you wanna go on a date and go home with me afterwards next Wednesday?” No, you say, “Hey, what’s up.” It’s that conversation that has to get started. Sales is the exact same way.
So, focus on that. Don’t be fearful of the rejection. You’re not that important. They’re not gonna remember you. And then on the other side of it, don’t get so caught up in the sales process that you lose focus of what the actual cold call is for, which is to set the appointment.
