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

• At the end of each contact with your prospect ask them an open-ended question that prepositions your follow-up or next course of action with them.  You need to think about your next contact with your prospect and the purpose of your follow up telephone call (or in-person meeting).  Is the purpose of your next call to review a proposal that you will send out immediately after your conversation with them?  Is the purpose of your next call to set up an in-person meeting?  Think about the purpose of your next call, gain commitment from them and make sure that you follow up with them!

• Remember that if you ask engaging questions it will help you to systematically establish credibility.  It shows your prospect that you have a genuine interest in helping them succeed and if you do some additional research prior to your telephone call then guess what?  Your knowledge of what they do and how their industry operates will help you ask even more engaging and qualifying questions!  Read this article on Ethos, Logos and Pathos!

• If your prospect poses you with a sales objection and you have no idea how to respond then you can counter their objection by asking them a question.  So for example, if your prospect says, "I really have no use for that and things are fine the way they are!"  You could respond with the following:  "When you say that you have no use for our (Insert the name of your product and/or service here) what exactly do you mean and what is working best for you now?

• When you're asking for the order say the following:  "How about I visit your office on (Insert day, date and time here) and I can join you as you fill out the paperwork?  (PAUSE)  This way I can be readily available in case you should have any additional questions? 

• 35 Sales Questions That You Can Ask To Close Sales More Often!
  

• NEVER EVER lead with your product or service because you will set yourself up for a price objection. Sell solutions and value first! Read more...

• When you can't read your sales prospect then ask them, "What are you really thinking?"
  

• How you ask a sales question is just as important as what you ask!

• Always remember to pause after you ask a question. A pause implies that you are a good listener and have a genuine interest in helping your prospect.
  

• If certain sales questions are working well for you and they are inspiring interest write these questions down on paper and hang them in front of you (on your computer screen) so that you don't forget to ask them!

• Study your competition, visit their website and sign-up for their FREE Newsletter. Such information will give you more insight into your industry, how your product and/or service is being sold and may give you new ideas as to how you want to approach each telephone call.

• You may even want to call your competitor's sales department to see what questions they are asking that you may not be asking!

• Ask your sales manager if you can shadow a few successful sales reps. Your time spent with these successful reps will help you to speed up your question skills.

• Ask questions that do not elicit a "yes" or "no" response. Ask open-ended questions.

• Ask questions that imply feelings or emotions. For example, "How do you feel about....." Or, "Based on our conversation today, could you see yourself one day using............."

• How are your listening skills? Are you really listening to your sales prospect? Your questions will mirror how well you are really listening to the needs of your sales prospect.

• Try to periodically use your prospect's name at the beginning of your sales questions. This shows the prospect that you are really focused on the conversation and trying to help them.
  

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 65 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