Cold Call Myth

Throughout the years Nasty ways of motivating and negative experiences with making a business call have created “Cold Call” myths.

These myths present the “Cold Call” as a difficult process, which should only be attempted by those that are trained, experienced, have tough skin, enormous super sales powers and ability to deflect negative comments without wincing. There are many Myths about Cold Calling from “I don’t want to be like a telemarketer” to “What if they tell me to stop hassling them and leave them alone?”

What is important to remember is that a myth has purpose. A myth, according to the wikipedia.org
“A myth is often thought to be a lesson in story form which has deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for preliterate cultures, who preserve and cherish the wisdom of their elders through oral traditions by the use of skilled story tellers.”
http://www.google.ca/url?sa=X&start=1&oi=define&q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth

Anyone who has had a negative experience with making a business call will most likely pass on this information to others, specifically to people who will be making the same type of call. By passing on this negative experience there is reinforcement into the fearful aspects of making a business call.

A “Cold Call”, simply put, is a sales call. You need to generate revenue for your business so you must sell. This opens up another Myth about the “Cold Call”, that when making a call you are coming off as a stereotypical salesperson. Ask your friends what words they associate when you say “Sales”, they will usually come up with a list of “Salespeople” that they profile and present in a negative manner. “Car Sales, Telemarketers, Door to Door, In Your Face”.

There is one thing that we all can agree upon; profiling is not a good way to describe anyone. We are all individuals and we all have our own perspectives and ways of doing things.

In business we have to generate revenue to succeed. We generate revenue by conducting sales; you determine how sales will be done. The wonderful thing about myths is they are lessons.

Each myth or story you hear about making any type of business call will have a lesson buried inside.

When conducting a sale you are establishing a relationship of equal benefit to all parties involved. This seems to be an easy process but when first establishing the relationship there can be hesitation and apprehension due to unknown fears.

Passion a Secret Ingredient to Sales

I have three secret ingredients to Sales. The first and most important is Passion.

Passion is one of the most talked and written about subjects. It has been proven that passion is a key for success and happiness. This topic is too big to cover in a quick blog entry so I will be addressing Passion at least once a month while I re-introduce an old friend… “Roy”.

When I first arrived in Nelson I was blown away by the amount of talent and skill that existed in such a small community, one of my first encounters was with a much understated yet highly gifted illustrator Kevin Macintyre.

I love comic illustrations, they posses the ability to say many things in a very short period of time and the best have hidden elements and messages that are exposed to you as you grow with the characters.

When I met Kevin he was discovering his new world as he produced a comic strip titled “Roy”. The thing that got me excited was to meet someone with such quiet passion. When I first met Kevin I came off I little bit too energetic – but you will learn more about this later. His talent and passion are not visible to the naked eye; and I feel that this type of energy exists in all of us. When you look deep within yourself, no matter who you are, you will find your own superhero no matter how far you have to go.

I sometimes hear people comment about how they wish they had the energy that passion seems to need. Truth is, passion comes in many shapes forms and styles. Find your passion and explore it, you may be very surprised at what you discover.

I will talk further about passion in future blogs, but for now let me introduce you to Roy…