WHEN IT COMES TO COLD CALLING THERE'S REALLY JUST ONE ICON.

• YOUR PROSPECT WILL GIVE YOU SEVEN SECONDS TO MAKE AN IMPACT.  That's all you've got and you need to be different because the same old same old will not work anymore.  You need to be a risk-taker on that initial call.  And of course, focusing on benefits and selling solutions is the name of the game, but to do so you will first need your prospect's attention.  You need to make an impression.  You need to be memorable.  While it's important what you say on your opening call always try to spotlight how you say it.  That means how you say something is just as important if not more important than what you say.  And as result, this means try focusing also on your enthusiasm, positive attitude and confidence upon your first contact with your prospect.  Positive energy always bring more positive results into your life.
  

• Go to your prospect's website and try to find something that you can use to open your telephone call.  Maybe they just won an award?  Maybe your prospect is introducing a new product and/or service?  Maybe there is a management bio section on their website and both you and the business owner have something in common?  Find common ground and incorporate this into your sales opener.
  

• Catch your prospect off-guard and open your call with something such as: "This will be the most important telephone call you take today!"  If that doesn't work for you that's fine.  The most important concept here is to make your opening line FUN!  Make if fun for not only you, but for your prospect.  It's really amazing how much more people open up when you come across in a fun and enthusiastic way.  Here's another one, "(Insert the name of your prospect here), you know I've driven by your billboard on (Insert the name of the road here) for the past two years and I keep telling myself I'm going to call them, so two years later here I am and here we are!"  (PAUSE and then go into a compelling reason for your call--focus on benefits.)  Does this sound unprofessional or perhaps something you can't possibly do?  It's called practice.  Successful cold calling is about having fun, making the process fun and with practice comes confidence and the ability to take risks for successful outcomes.
  

• If you're calling up and asking the receptionist who is in charge (Insert a title here) then congratulations because you have no idea what you're doing!  If you want to sound like a salesperson then this is a great start.  Always have a contact name prior to your telephone call.  Learn how to find the names of business owners in just ten seconds!
  

• Read this article to learn more about the importance of PAUSING and how it can help to create an aura of consultative selling.
  

• Remember how you open your sales calls is just as important as what you say!
  

• Target prospects within a one to three mile radius of your office and use their "proximity" as a reference point for opening up the telephone call.  Use words and phrases such as "We're just down the street from you" or "We're neighbors of yours."  Such referencing helps to open up additional dialogue with your prospect so that you can uncover needs and sell solutions.

• Custom Sales Openers for realtors, executive recruiters, advertising sales reps, trade show display reps, payroll processing sales reps and insurance sales reps.

• Do what most cold callers NEVER do, but really should be doing!

• Custom Sales Openers for business brokers, financial advisors, promotional product reps, web design reps and restaurant food supply reps.

• Maybe this is why your not creating interest? - Leading with your product and not solutions!

• Access your Alma Mater Directory. Visit your school's website, register to get online and start contacting executives who went to your college!
  

• Become an expert and start cold calling prospect in a specific industry.

• Are you making more than 25 sales calls a day? Your sales manager is nuts. Create more interest on your sales calls by doing more research prior to picking up the telephone!

• Try promoting your product and/or service as a customized package: For example, if you are selling advertising you could say, "I was wondering if you might be interested in hearing more about our High Impact Direct Response Advertising Program that is targeted to (Insert the name of your prospect's industry here)?"

• Open your sales call with something different or unique. If you sound like you're reading from a script then you will get no where!

• A great sales opener to really warm up your telemarketing calls is "Mr. Cold Call's Movie Star Technique." Click here to check out this new way to open your sales calls!
  

• Always make sure that you open each sales call with excitement in your voice, a positive attitude and a smile. Positive attitudes are contagious and it's a lot harder to get rejected if you approach the call with such a mindset.
  

• Study your competition to see how they are selling their product and/or service. Call their sales department from your cell phone, visit their website and subscribe to their FREE Newsletter. Knowing what your competition is doing will give you new ideas as to how you may want to open each call. You can even get ideas for sales openers from advertisements that you see of them in online and offline mediums.

• Try opening your calls with sales questions that inspire interest such as, "(First name of prospect), I was just wondering if you might be open to a few new ideas on how we can help you to take market share from your competition?"

• Always use your prospect's first name when you open your sales call.

• Do more SALES RESEARCH, spend more time learning about your prospect and how they do business and you just might surprise yourself on your next cold call.

• Compile a list of sales openers and after a successful call put a check mark next to those openers that are working well for you. Your success in this area will be dependent on how much you're testing what is working and what is not!

Copyright 2007 MR. COLD CALL SEMINARS - All rights reserved.

Behind The Scenes With Mr. Cold Call™

Mr. Cold Call™ is a worldwide sensation and claims to have made over 80,000 cold calls to date. He has been quoted by numerous national publications such as Selling Power Magazine, Investor's Business Daily, Successful Fund Raising and Advantage Magazine. He has written over 75 articles on cold calling, developed a sales ratio calculator that automatically calculates your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly sales ratios, offers a custom sales script service called "The Script Responder" and finally, is the author of four best-selling ebooks with FREE email support and these titles include:

• 113 Common Sales Objections, 192 Clever and Savvy Responses
  
• How To Have Fun Cold Calling and get your telephone ringing off the HOOK!
• 58 Sales Openers that will WOW your sales prospects
  
• The New Business Idea Sales Generator Workbook

For more information on Mr. Cold Call™ and to sign-up for his free weekly cold calling tips visit www.mrcoldcall.com