“What would you say to a salesperson who fears cold calling?”

I saw this question in one of the LinkedIn sales groups. Since I have 20+ years of experience (mostly as a straight commissioned salesperson) and had to work constantly during that time to perfect my skills at cold calling, I read some of the comments/feedback/advice given, and to be blunt, I was dismayed—no wonder so many good salespeople struggle with succeeding in the world of selling.
Here’s a clip of some of the well-meaning but bad advice that was given in the comment section:

• “Relax and have fun.”
• “Smile. Talk to the person like you know them.”
• “Get over it…pick up that phone and get dialing or go home!”
• “Consider a new career.” (OK, this one was not well-meaning)

None of these pieces of advice will help a struggling salesperson overcome their fear of cold calling – In fact, it will probably have the exact opposite effect in the long run. If your sales rep is suffering from fear of cold calling, it’s a clear sign he/she needs a system/game plan to follow. And it’s your responsibility to make sure they have one that works.

No, I’m not simply talking about giving them a sales script and say “smile and dial” – I’m talking about an actual step-by-step plan that shows them what each phase of the sales call is and how to achieve them.

Fear Of Cold Calling Advice that Works

For example…

1. Your Opening Value Statement – What to say in the first 15 seconds of the call that will get the prospect WILLING to have a conversation with you. They need to know exactly what to say that will pique a prospect’s interest and get them to the next stage of the sales call.
2. Engage and Qualify – Once they have the prospect’s interest, they need to know EXACTLY what questions to ask (and what tone to ask them in) in order to uncover a prospect’s pain points / hot buttons / purchasing authority and ability — all while having a natural conversation.
3. What to do when your prospect is NOT the DECISION MAKER – knowing what to say to get the decision maker involved.

Teaching and training your sales reps (or entire team, if they aren’t hitting their numbers) how to handle just these three common everyday sales situations alone will go a long way in helping them start to see success. And the more success one has at selling, the less fear of cold calling they will have.

– Michael Pedone

Michael Pedone is a straight commissioned sales person with 20+ years experience selling by phone. He is the CEO/FOUNDER of SalesBuzz.com – an online sales training company that shows inside sales teams how to eliminate call reluctance and close more sales.