CONTENTS

Introduction

Section One: The Smart Calling Concept

Chapter 1: Cold Calling Is Dumb, but Prospecting Is Necessary

Why Telephone Prospecting Is Both Essential and Profitable

Cold Calling Myths, Smart Calling Truths

Still Think Prospecting Doesn’t Work? That’s News to Someone Doing It

The Answer: Smart Calling

Smart Calling versus Cold Calling

Section Two: Pre-Call Planning

Chapter 2: Creating Your Possible Value Proposition

Understanding Your Prospects and Why They Might Buy from You

Pain and Gain

The Easy Way to Provide Possible Value

Are You Able to Help Cut Costs?

How Are You Different?

The Value You Have Already Provided for Others

Do You Help Inadequacy?

Value Is Not the Same for Everyone

Smart Calling Action Steps

Chapter 3: Intelligence Gathering

What Information Do You Want about Your Prospects?

Identify and Look for Trigger Events

Getting Personal

He Won This Sale

Where to Find Your Smart Information

Your Database

Exploring the Wealth of Online Information

Other Online Resources

Google News Alerts

How to Steal Business When Your Competitor Undergoes Changes

Social Networking—or Social Not-Working?

Smart Calling Action Steps

Chapter 4: Using Social Engineering to Gather Intelligence

With Whom Should You Engage?

Assume What You Can’t Get and You’ll Always Be Right

More Social Engineering Tips

An Example of Social Engineering in Action

Social Engineering Feedback, and an Answer to an Objection

Smart Calling Action Steps

Chapter 5: Setting Smart Call Objectives and Never Being Rejected Again

Thinking Big Gets Big Results

How to Never Be Rejected Again: Accomplishing Your Secondary Objective

Secondary Objectives Can also Pay Off in the Future

Smart Calling Action Steps

Chapter 6: More Smart Ideas for Prior to Your Call

Is There a Best Time to Call?

Ritualize Your Phone Time

When You Are on a Roll, Stay in the Zone

End with a Positive

Great Days to Call: When Others Aren’t or Won’t

Other Unconventional Times to Call

Best Times for Follow-up Calls

Warming Up a Smart Call

E-Mailing before a Call

Multimedia Messages

How about Sending Unusual Items Prior to the Call?

Get Direct Numbers

Smart Calling Action Steps

Section Three: Creating and Placing the Smart Call

Chapter 7: How to Be Smart with Voice Mail

Be Prepared

Say You’ll Call Back

How Many Messages to Leave?

Should You Vary Your Message On Repeat Calls?

Listen to Their Entire Voice Mail Message

Listen for Their Tone on Voice Mail

Put the Directions in Your Notes to Save Time

Opting Out to a Live Voice

Use Your Prospect’s Electronic System to Gather Intelligence

Call Back Immediately

Call at Different Times of the Day

Give Your Number Twice; Give Your Number Twice

“Here’s My Number . . .”

Review Your Message, but Don’t Assume You’ll Always Have the Option

Make Your Voice Mail Message Stand Out from the Clutter

Use a Last Resort Message

Handling Unreturned Voice Mail Messages

Shady Voice Mail Tactics to Avoid

Smart Calling Action Steps

Chapter 8: Working with Screeners, Gatekeepers, and Assistants?

What to Do

Be Prepared to Sell the Screener If You Need to

Tips for Working with Screeners, Gatekeepers, and Assistants

Getting Your Messages to the Buyer

Will You Help Me?

Go to the Highest Level

For Buyers on Vacation

Smart Calling Action Steps

Chapter 9: Opening Statements

What to Avoid Saying in the First 10 Seconds of Your Opening to Decision Makers

“Thanks for Taking My Call”

Asking for a Decision, or Even Hinting at One

Being Assumptive in the Opening and Using Declarative Statements

Reacting to Unusual Names

How Are You Today? Use It or Not?

Smart Calling Action Step

Chapter 10: Creating Interest with Your Smart Call Opening Statement

The Jim Furyk Theory

Two Objectives for Your Openings

Scripting

The Smart Call Interest-Creating Opening Statement Process

More Possible Ending Phrases

Does Length Matter?

The Time Issue

An Unconventional Technique That I Have Heard Work

Weasel Words

You Have Also Created Your Smart Voice Mail Message

Smart Calling Action Step

Chapter 11: Handling Early Resistance on Your Smart Calls

Use a Pattern Interrupt

The Softening Statement

It’s So Simple Even a Fourth-Grader Can Do It

Here’s the One Place Where Sounding Dumb Works

Responding When They Are Happy with Their Present Supplier

How to Answer “Send Me Some Literature on That”

“Why Should I Consider You?”

Responding When They Try to Rush You

Simple Response to a Quick “Not Interested”

Handling the Early Price Question

Early Resistance Case Study

Smart Calling Action Step

Chapter 12: Using Smart Questions

Use Your Possible Benefits to Create Questions

Not All Questions Are Good Ones: How to Use Assumptive Problem Questions

How to Create Assumptive Problem Questions

The Loaded Benefit Question

Practice the Iceberg Theory of Questioning with the Next Questions to Get Better Information

More on Quantifying Needs, Pains, Problems, and Desires

Avoid Questions That Scream “I Just Picked Up an Old Sales Book”

Questions to Learn about the Decision-Making Hierarchy and Process

Determine What Annoys Them

A Questioning Mistake

Clarify the Fuzzy Phrases

The Quality of Your Question Determines the Quality of Your Answer

Don’t Ask What They Like Best about Their Present Supplier

Ask About Them

Use Benefit Questions Instead of Inane Leading Ones

Economize Your Questions

Smart Calling Action Steps

Chapter 13: The More Important Side of the Question

Get More and Better Information by Simply Letting Them Talk

Your Most Powerful Listening Tool: The Pause

Listen for Their Key Terminology

How to Make Eye Contact by Phone

Listen When They Lower Their Voice

What Is Your Listening to Talking Ratio?

It Would Be Tougher to Listen Your Way out of a Sale

Smart Calling Action Step

Chapter 14: Recommending the Next Step

Pitching Is for Sports Only: Recommend Instead

The Smart Call Recommendation Process

Use the Words of Others to Be More Persuasive

Using the Principle of Consistency

In the Sales Recommendation

You Are Absolutely Going to Love This

Smart Calling Action Steps

Chapter 15: Getting Commitment for the Next Action

The Commitment Phase Validates What Has Happened So Far

Your Attitude Is More Important Than Your Technique

Get Commitments on Every Call

Get Commitment with Nonthreatening Words

Why Not Try This Question?

Help Them Realize They Have Nothing to Fear

Asking for More Gets More

Ask for Action, Not Permission

Smart Calling Action Step

Chapter 16: Wrapping Up Calls and Setting Up the Next Action

The Success of Your Follow-Up Call Is Determined on the Previous Call

Summarizing the Call

How to Set a Specific Time for the Follow-Up Call

What to Put in Your Notes to Ensure a Great Follow-Up Call

Use a Last-Resort Question before Giving Up

Smart Calling Action Step

Section Four: Putting It All Together

Chapter 17: How to Sound Smart

Don’t Sound Like a Salesperson

Record Your Calls and Review Them Regularly

Legalities of Recording Calls

Stand for Sales

Voice Improvement Self-Study

Smart Calling Action Step

Chapter 18: Getting and Staying Motivated

Never Get Rejected Again

Overcoming the Fear of Calling

Say “So What?” to Your Fears

Size Does Matter as It Relates to Your Thinking

Your Assumptions Usually Come True

Will You Go for the Big Jump?

Sell More by Being a Kid

Smart Calling Action Step

Chapter 19: More Smart Calling Success Tips

Send an E-Mail to Find the Buyer

Find More Buyers Easily

Use a Calling Card

Draw a Decision-Making Organizational Chart

How to Locate Other Decision Makers

Write Down Every Name You Hear

Follow Your Buyers

Be Ready When You Are on Hold

Get Referrals from within Their Company

Should Cell Phones Be Sell Phones?

Give Information on Your Voice Mail Greeting

Don’t Create Interruptions

Take Notes on What They Say and Mean

Smart Calling Action Step

Chapter 20: A Smart Call Case Study and Makeovers

A “Healthy” Smart Calling Case Study

Chad’s Process

Smart Calling Opening Statement

Smart Calling Makeovers

Freight Industry Opening Statement

A Mistake-Filled Call

Beware of the Bad Information Floating Around

About the Author

Index

More Praise for Smart Calling

“Smart Calling is the benchmark as the highest professional standard for effective cold calling. Take the initiative to read and implement Art’s rational principles and you will sell much more and develop a prospect base of potential customers that will call you when they are ready to purchase or graciously take your future calls. This is the best sales text I have read in the past 20 years.”

—Rex Caswell, PhD, Vice President, Sales Effectiveness BI Worldwide

“The book is tremendous, and I think you are brilliant. I probably highlighted half of it! I am recommending it to my clients as a must-read.

—Mike Weinberg, Author of New Sales. Simplified, www.NewSalesCoach.com

“Your book changed my professional life. I have my Smart research down to a science and produce about three leads every hour.”

—Sam Shenker, Associated Global Systems

“I’ve been using the phone to sell for seven years, and before I picked up Art’s Smart Calling book I thought I knew it all. But after reading through the first few chapters I quickly realized that I knew nothing. Just the section on call openings and voice mails has transformed my career and skyrocketed my results to new levels. This book is a must for anyone serious about selling over the phone. Art really delivers.”

—Shane Varcoe, Regional Sales Manager

“Art Sobczak understands the difference between direct marketing and cold-calling, which many sales gurus simply don’t. Smart Calling is a phenomenal resource for anyone that truly wants to excel in sales. The advice is obviously from experience, and Mr. Sobczak offers sound techniques that everyone could use.”

—Chris Lott, VP of Sales, DataTel Communications

“Art doesn’t tell us what to do without also telling us how to do it. For sellers that are trying to improve their success on the phone, Art Sobczak has written the definitive book.”

—Tim Rohrer, SalesAndMarketingLoudmouth.com

“I love your book! In the first week of reading, I not only saved a one-location sale that was quickly being lost to (the competition) and ended up with an appointment with the COO for four locations.”

—Alida Ruiz, Sr., Account Executive, Integra Telecom

“Smart Calling may be the best book on using the telephone I have ever read. I recommended it to all of 100+ agents in my office.”

—Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, Broker, Keller Williams Realty Professionals

“I keep fewer than a dozen books on my quick reference shelf, and Smart Calling is one of them. After a seven-year absence from cold calling, I have found that done right, it can and does bear fruit. Thanks for your excellent coaching in the book.”

—Greg McDermott, The Reverse Mortgage Team, Leader One Financial

“I read it once over a week period. Implemented recommendations and approaches to Smart Calling. Result: my calling productivity has doubled!!! I am now getting the same number of appointments but with only half as many calls. The quality of my calls is much better! I now actually reach decision makers more frequently. What Art recommends does work! I have just finished my second reading of this book. Got even more out of it.”

—Terrence Manuel, Owings Mills, MD

“I just wanted to thank you for writing such a great book, Smart Calling. I see other people in my business struggling on the phone. I have put to use your principles, and my sales have increased every week. Thank you again.”

—Marcello Medini, Logistics Consultant, PNG Logistics

Cover design: Paul McCarthy

Copyright © 2013 by Art Sobczak. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.

For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993, or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Sobczak, Art.

Smart calling : eliminate the fear, failure, and rejection from cold calling / Art Sobczak. — 2nd Edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-58871-0 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-63740-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-63751-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-63738-8 (ebk)

1. Telephone selling. 2. Telemarketing. I. Title.

HF5438.3.S63 2013

658.8′72—dc23

2012049854

INTRODUCTION

When I first wrote this book three years ago, I had a feeling it would do pretty well. After all, I had been teaching the same things in my public and in-company training programs for years, and the process and material was field-tested. What actually happened blew me away.

We hit Number One in the Sales category on Amazon.com on the very first day. It stayed there for a while, and it continues to sell well three years later, while hundreds of other sales books have died on the vine. It was named Top Sales Book of 2010 by Top Sales Awards, beating out some other very fine books by big-time sales authors. And the reviews and success stories from people who use the process to get results have been both gratifying and humbling.

If you are reading Smart Calling for the first time, welcome aboard! If you have been through the original, welcome back. While I’ve added some additional examples, tips, techniques, and success stories from readers, the process itself hasn’t changed. But the reason I wanted to do this second edition is because of what has changed in the past few years: our ability to Smarten up our calls, making it even easier to be successful. You’ll see many of these updates in Chapter 5.

So, what’s this Smart Calling stuff all about?

Let’s go back a few years. Okay, a lot of years. I wish I had had this book when I first got out of college and into my first corporate sales job with AT&T in 1982. It would have prevented a lot of grief and made me much more money.

Then again, some of it would not have made sense, since there was no Internet and PCs were just making their appearance. And “sales intelligence” meant going to the library and finding a list of businesses that belonged to a trade association. However, even without the benefit of today’s technology, the pure prospecting and sales process and techniques in this book would have worked 30 years ago, just as they do today and will 30 years from now and beyond.

Even in the numerous sales jobs I had in high school and college, I knew that typical cold calling—phoning people I didn’t know anything about and giving a pitch—didn’t make sense and was actually quite painful. I always tried to find a better way, an edge that would get superior results; I was constantly reading, listening to tapes, attending seminars, studying, and tinkering with my own approach. I always did well in my sales positions. However, I also knew I would never be good enough for my satisfaction and that there always is more to learn. My quest continued in a couple of other corporate sales jobs and then in my own company as I had to pound the phones to acquire clients for my fledgling consulting and training firm.

Eventually, I did find—and continue to fine-tune—a better way. You are holding it (or reading it on your screen): a smarter way to prospect. A process that makes sense and gets results, and one that does not require you to sound like that cheesy salesperson that everyone considers an intrusive pest.

This book is a step-by-step guide that will show you how to call people you do not know and who do not know you, engage them in a conversation, and ultimately get them to take some action. And in the cases where you do not accomplish that primary objective, I will show you how to avoid the morale-killing rejection that is usually associated with telephone prospecting.

I’ve built my business and reputation over the past 30 years on delivering very specific how-to tactics and strategies. Many people—including, unfortunately, sales trainers and authors—tell you what you should do on the phone. You should create interest. You should get past the screener. You should leave a compelling voice mail message. And listeners and readers say, “Uh, okay,” as they wonder how in the heck they are going to do it. I’ll answer that for you and give you a precise recipe and ingredients for prospecting success by phone.

This book is long on practical how-tos and short on big picture strategy and fluff. I’ve always been somewhat of a simple, get-to-the-point kind of guy—a style you’ll see and from which you’ll benefit throughout this book. What I’ve learned from delivering more than 1,300 training sessions and studying human behavior and learning styles, is that people learn best when you relate to their world and entertain them. Therefore, you will see many examples of stories as I make my points.

I will guide you through the logical creation and execution of your own telephone prospecting call using my Smart Call methodology. You will learn the same process and techniques I present to my training clients. These methods are being used successfully to initiate profitable relationships worldwide, and I’m confident they can work for you, too, just like the thousands who have already read this book and made it part of their sales process.

Unlike some gurus out there, I don’t claim to have invented sales, and I certainly don’t have all the answers. I don’t believe that my approach is the only way to realize success. That’s why I will give examples from and point you in the direction of others with expertise in some very specific aspects of sales—and others with a more generalist view—throughout this book.

You may not agree with everything I say. I don’t care. Actually, that is good, since it means you are thinking about what you read and applying it to your situation. That is healthy. What I do ask is that when you do disagree, react as you should when you get resistance in a sales situation and ask yourself, How might this be true? or How could this work for me?

Who Will Benefit from Smart Calling?

The primary audience, of course, is all people with “sales” in their title, primarily those who sell to other businesses. But it’s not limited to traditional salespeople. Anyone who picks up the phone to call a person they don’t know—with the objective of persuading that person to take some action—will learn from this book. For example:

Freelancers of all types

Independent professionals

Sports recruiters

Writers looking to get published

Job seekers

Fund raisers

Many others

Regardless of whether your career relies on regularly calling people to get new business or whether you have one person to whom you want to sell an idea and may never place a prospecting call again, this book will help you do what is necessary.

Taking Action Is Required

As I tell my training workshop participants, everything I will share with you is totally worthless—until you do something with it. I know this material works, but only if you do.

My friend Larry Winget—who is known as an irritational motivational speaker—says in his book It’s Called Work for a Reason—Success Is Your Own Damn Fault that many people are “spectators rather than doers.” I agree, and I have seen too much evidence of that among the ranks of salespeople who do nothing to improve themselves—even when the resources are provided to them. I’m hopeful that is not you. You have taken the first step by investing in this book. The payoff will now come by putting in the work.

There are a number of exercises throughout the book that ask you to research, write, and practice. At the end of each chapter, I also ask what other action you will commit to as a result of that chapter.

Prospecting and sales is a lot like golf: You can read all you want to and become knowledgeable about it, but you will become excellent at it only by practicing. I know it sounds like a cliché, but you will get out of this book what you put into it.

I’m ready if you are. Let’s begin making your prospecting calls Smart!

Section One

The Smart Calling Concept

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!