Had another conversation with yet another entrepreneur who told
me he does not "cold call," he only does "warm calls."
I continue to be baffled by those who cut off possibilities with
a semantic twist. "Cold call, warm call," it's simply a state of
mind. Your mind. Your prospect does not make those distinctions.
Just because you have designated a call to be "warm" doesn't mean
that the person you are calling thinks it's "warm." This "warm
call/cold call" concept is a smoke screen that covers the real
issue. The real issue is controlling your message. The real issue is
being able to communicate with a prospect so that they understand
and resonate with what you have to say. The real issue is about
having the skill necessary to communicate with a prospect under
any circumstance.
Prospecting by phone, introductory calling as I prefer, is a communication skill. Like any communication skill it can be learned and it can be improved upon. The idea when introductory
calling is to contact a qualified prospect and entice them with
your message. You have a brief amount of time on the telephone to
catch and engage your prospect. If you are not able to do that,
the call ends without achieving your desired result. If you have
the proper skills, however, it is possible to have extremely
productive conversations with prospects no matter how you choose
to categorize them, "warm" or "cold."
The idea of a "warm call" is that you've had some prior contact
with your prospect and that you have somehow "warmed up" the
call. The prior contact might be with a letter sent before your
call, it might be that you have encountered the prospect
elsewhere it could also be that you have a referral.
All too frequently callers who use the "I only warm call"
approach do not adequately prepare for their calls. Instead, they
rely on the appellation "warm." If you are one of these callers,
stop right here and ask yourself these questions:
--> How many "warm" prospects have said "no" to me over the
years?
--> Would those calls have been more productive if I had been
better prepared and more in control of my message?
Although you may have sent a letter, you have no guarantee that
your prospect has read it. Although you may have met previously,
your prospect may not recall that. Although you may have a
referral that is no guarantee that your prospect will meet with
you or have any interest at all in your products or services.
When you are on the phone with a prospect you must deal with
them, where they are, at that particular moment in time. If your
prospect hasn't read your letter, doesn't remember the person who
referred you, or is simply having a bad day, that's out of your
control. What is within your control when prospecting is to have
honed your skills so that your message is clear and so that you
can respond in any situation.
When you have skills, you know how to catch a prospect's
attention, you know how to keep their attention, you know how to
respond to questions and objections and you know how to ask for
what you want. When you have those skills it's no longer about a
"warm" call or a "cold" call, it's about communication,
conversation and results.
Wendy Weiss, "The Queen of Cold Calling," is a sales trainer,
author and sales coach. Her recently released program, Cold
Calling College, and/or her book, Cold Calling for Women, can be
ordered by visiting http://www.wendyweiss.com. Contact her at
wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get Wendy's free e-zine at
http://www.wendyweiss.com.
