Cold calling is an acquired taste and an acquired skill. Few of us in the outsourced call center services industry are born great cold callers. Rather, most of us have cold calling thrust upon us until we:
- Overcome nervousness
- Gain confidence
- Become great at it
We’ve all been through this life cycle.
Still, cold calling is a form of sales that call center services agents must continually hone if they are to deliver the results our clients expect and need.
Enter the Sandler Sales Training Institute.
Sandler is a global, award winning company that has inspired and improved thousands of companies and hundreds of thousands of salespeople. Here at OnBrand24, all of our B2B lead generation and sales appointment setting specialists go through 50 hours of Sandler training, and the lessons learned have been invaluable.
One of our outbound call center services professionals dropped by my office this morning – she was clearly excited about a challenging new B2B lead generation campaign she has been assigned to.
“The great thing Sandler did for me is change the way I view my position – my mindset – in relation to the prospect I’m cold calling,” she said. “Sandler helped me see myself in a peer-to-peer relationship. I’m not asking prospects to look at my client’s products, I’m offering them an opportunity to improve their business. I go into my cold calls from a position of strength, with much more confidence.
“Sandler also changed how I begin the cold call. One of the first things I ask is if they have 30 seconds to listen to what I’m calling about; and I also say that at the end of the 30 seconds they can decide to end the conversation. It’s amazing how well that works.
“It must be because CEO’s are afraid if they give a salesperson an opening they’ll never get off the phone. But 30 seconds isn’t much of a time risk. It seems to open their minds to what I’m calling about and lower their resistance.”
The call center services agent who told me this story is delivering great results for one of our new clients. She, in turn, feels more confident, effective and happier in her work.
A win-win situation, courtesy of Sandler Training.
Mark Fichera, CEO
OnBrand24
Call Center Services
Beverly, MA
