March 26, 2008

3 Conversation Starters for Cold Calling

When we decide to ditch our free cold calling scripts we need to find new ways to start our conversations. As a representative to your company you need to make sure that your prospects feel comfortable talking to you. Over the past few decades people have grown weary of the annoyances of cold callers. They have less patients and no longer want to hear the free cold calling scripts when they answer their phone.

So you need to ensure that you are truthful with them and change your goals. Before you can effectively pitch the new prospect you need to know whether or not your product or service can help them. Many try and sell a product or service to anyone who will listen and while sometimes we are able to generate a sale it is not an effective way to do business.

Here are a few ways to start up conversations:

1. "Hello I was wondering if you could help me?": Most prospects are willing to take some time out of their busy day to help someone. This also feels less threatening or pushy to the prospect and is less likely to cause the "defensive wall" to go up.

2. "Hello I was wondering if you would be open to some new ideas that could save you money on your health insurance": This is also an effective way to get the prospect to open up. Most people are willing to hear new suggestions if it will save them a few bucks in the process. However it is up to you to recognize if the prospect will benefit from your product or service.

3. "Hello I noticed that you may be experiencing difficulty with…" This way is a good conversation starter. It will show the prospect you care about what is happening. However you need to be sure that you identify a problem they are facing and then present a viable solution.

Talking with the prospects will reveal the truth sooner then later. It will show the prospect you are genuine in what you are saying unlike cold calling scripts. Conversation will also help you relate to the prospects and help build trust in the first call. Conversation relaxes the situation in insurance selling or any other selling you do. Although we are not always sure how a call will turn out holding genuine conversations with the prospects will help you determine if they are a fit.

Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his free cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don't know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit www.UnlockTheGame.com.

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