A "Warm Calling" vs. "Cold Calling" Rant

<h1>A "Warm Calling" vs. "Cold Calling" Rant</h1>

<p align=right>by Wendy Weiss</p>

<div align=justify>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.

<p align=center>Article source: <a href="http://www.ArticlePros.com/business/sales_training/article-33817.html">ArticlePros.com</a></p>
 
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		<p align=center><b>About the author</b></p>
		<p align=justify>Wendy Weiss, "The Queen of Cold Calling," is a sales trainer, <br />
author and sales coach. Her recently released program, Cold <br />
Calling College, and/or her book, Cold Calling for Women, can be <br />
ordered by visiting http://www.wendyweiss.com. Contact her at <br />
wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get Wendy's free e-zine at <br />
http://www.wendyweiss.com. <br />
</p>
		<p align=left><a href="http://www.queenofcoldcalling.com" target="_blank" title="will open in new window" class=blue>http://www.queenofcoldcalling.com</a></p>		<p align=left><script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">eval(unescape('%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%61%72%74%69%63%6c%65%73%40%77%65%6e%64%79%77%65%69%73%73%2e%63%6f%6d%22%20%63%6c%61%73%73%3d%62%6c%75%65%3e%61%72%74%69%63%6c%65%73%40%77%65%6e%64%79%77%65%69%73%73%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b'))</script></p>		<p align=center><input type=button class=asubm value="Other articles by Wendy Weiss" onclick="document.location='http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Wendy Weiss'" style="height:20px;cursor:hand"></p>
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