Cold Calling - Training and a Mindset Change Are the Keys to Success
By Michael K.
In most cases, it’s hard to make cold calling work for the majority of your downline members. Most of them don’t have the time availability to consistently follow-up with leads, nor do they have thick enough skin to handle the rejection that can come from cold calling leads. However, cold calling CAN be very effective for those that DO have the time and can reprogram their thinking a little bit to handle the perceived rejection.
First, people who are cold-calling prospects need to be trained to change their perspective regarding what constitutes a “successful” call. If they define success as gaining a new prospect, then they will feel like a total failure when 5% or less of their prospects actually say they’ll sign up or purchase products (and only half of those actually do).
Distributors need to redefine success on these calls. Success is getting a decision from the prospect. Don’t go into the call hoping for a yes. 9 times out of 10 (or less) you won’t get it. Go into the call with the goal being to be courteous, show respect, answer questions to the best of your ability and GET A DECISION (yes OR no).
This decision is not a decision as to whether they want to sign up. With generic leads you’re too early in the process for that. You’re just looking for a “yes, I would like to learn more” or a “no, I’m not interested”.
A “NO” is a success because you just avoided wasting any more time on a disinterested prospect - which gives you more time to focus on the next call which may be an INTERESTED prospect. A “YES” is a success, not because you’re going to sign someone up, but because you got a decision and you now know of one more person who is interested in HEARING MORE about your opportunity.
Additionally, if you really want your downline members to be successful cold-calling, help them to also recognize when a “no” really means no and when it means something else. For instance, sometimes a “no” simply means you’re calling at a bad time - rescheduling the call might easily turn that no into a yes. Or, that “no” might simply mean you haven’t addressed their most pressing question yet. Answer THAT question and you may very well have another “yes” on your hands.
You get the idea. Those who are REALLY successful at cold-calling not only understand that “success” doesn’t HAVE to involve a “yes” from their prospect, they have also perfected the art of seeing a “no” for what it really means (and, sometimes, it actually means “NO”).
Some other tips for successful cold-calling:
1) SMILE. Prospects can “hear” your smile or lack of it, and it will affect their attitude toward you and what you’re offering.
2) Understand that you may not always be calling at a convenient time and rescheduling may provide you with a much more productive call.
3) Keep calling till you get a yes or a no. If you haven’t gotten a definitive answer, you have not achieved “success” with that prospect. Keep calling till you do.
4) If a prospect wants to reschedule a call more than 2 or 3 times, they do not value your time. They will not value your time once they become a dealer in your group, and that can become a major problem. Consider that prospect a “no”.
5) Never act like you know the answer to a prospect’s question if you do not. You’ll end up looking like an idiot, eventually. If you don’t know the answer, tell the prospect that you will GET the answer and will contact them on a particular day to provide that answer. Then, DO IT!!!
6) Never say you’ll call back and then forget to. If you say you’re going to call back, do everything in your power to make sure you do. Be reliable in your initial communications and prospects will expect you to be reliable as a sponsor (which will give them more of a reason to join YOUR group).
7) Be courteous and respectful. Never imply that any of a prospect’s questions are foolish. Before you were “in the biz” you probably had many of the same questions. Try and remember when YOU were the prospect.
Basically, just recognize that cold-calling can be an effective marketing tool for SOME of your downline members. Don’t write it off entirely. But, make sure that dealers are trained well enough to be able to get it right, so that it will actually work for them. Otherwise, you’ll just end up with a bunch of discouraged dealers, and that can never be a good thing in MLM.
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