Saturday, March 2, 2013

Is Cold Calling A Challenge For You?


Cold calls are difficult for many sales people. Sorting out one’s thoughts as they relate to sales calls is the first step toward success. Ask yourself questions about the task itself and pinpoint what prevents you from calling. Calling prospects requires time and practice. If making calls is important to achieving sales goals face the issue directly and the odds of resolving the issue increase dramatically.

Assign a percentage to each of these questions to discover what needs your attention most.

  1. How much of your call resistance is related to the monotony of the task?
  2. Do you feel anxious when it’s time to pick up the phone?
  3. Do you fear talking to strangers?
  4. Do you fear rejection?
  5. Do you feel unprepared to close the sale?
  6. Do you feel awkward because you don’t know how to address unknown questions?
  7. Do you not like your job?

The total of your percentage points should equal 100%. Most of the time discomfort related to cold calling is not rational. Call reluctance however is very real and can end a sales career.

Many of the numbered questions can be completely dissolved with the use of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). EFT is emotional acupuncture. Outdated or painful memories from our childhood can impact performances in the present. If we were criticized constantly we may have trouble taking risks. Calling strangers is a specific type of risk. Fear of calling strangers, insecurities, fear of rejection and shyness can all be erased with EFT.

EFT follows a tapping sequence on specific body parts while stating our fears and accepting ourselves. The process dissolves emotions held within our body that prevent us from acting the way we want today. Emotions from our past don’t mature over time. Our brains mature, our beliefs, thoughts, and behavior mature however past traumas stick with us.

The intensity of a past trauma or ingrained thought patterns can be dissolved with EFT. Let go of feeling inadequate; you’re a competent professional. Let go of fears and false conclusions that were charged with emotion years ago. Sometimes events are long forgotten but the negative reaction felt is stuck within and triggers behavior and anxiety we don’t fully understand.

We are not helpless and there’s no need to suffer when it comes to making cold calls. Some ‘experts’ tout brute force or repeated exposure to cold calling as a remedy. Those attempts fall short of delivering lasting results.

Sales training, sales skills, and product knowledge are useful in improving technique, which can build additional confidence. EFT is not a substitute for subject expertise.

EFT dislodges old emotions and erases the negative impact of their grip. Memories remain but no longer enslave. Use EFT on aches and pains, anger issues, childhood abuse, and fears. Take control of your life and feel the bliss of calm. Feel free and peaceful as you enjoy life like never before. If cold calls are part of your life it’s time to take fear or anxiety out of the process with EFT! Success is at hand   and cold calling can be easy.

by Kimberly Schenk, Executive Recruiter, Trainer, and Author