5 Tried-and-True Methods to Overcome Your Reluctance to Name Prospects, Based on Hoffman’s Founder

Welcome to “The Pipeline” — a weekly column from HubSpot, that includes actionable recommendation and perception from actual gross sales leaders.

It doesn’t matter how continuously you name prospects or what number of years you’ve been in gross sales, you’ll at all times really feel some anxiousness earlier than you dial — and that’s a very good factor. For those who’re nervous, you’re taking it critically.

Anxiousness solely turns into an issue when it impacts your capacity or willingness to name. I’ve met reps who will do the whole lot of their energy to keep away from making calls, which unsurprisingly hurts their capacity to fill their pipeline with new alternatives.

For those who battle with a concern of calling patrons, use these 5 methods to beat it.

Overcome Your Reluctance to Name Prospects

1. Make getting a “no” the aim.

Once I was a gross sales supervisor, I’d maintain a calling contest with a “no” quota each time I needed my reps to spend extra time on the telephone. The winner was the primary one who acquired 25 “nos.” Slightly than feeling dejected each time they heard “no” from their prospects, my reps could be excited.

Why is that this contest efficient? As a result of the salespeople inevitably heard “sure” as nicely. It took one in every of my reps 28 calls to hit her 25 “no” quota — as a result of three prospects determined to arrange one other assembly.

In reality, salespeople normally have a decrease failure price whenever you run this contest. They’re much less anxious than ordinary, which results in confidence that’s obvious to patrons.

Don’t wait on your supervisor to run this contest — you are able to do it your self. Set your self a “no” quota, seize a notepad and a pen, and preserve a working tally of the rejections you get. If you hit your quota, award your self a prize.

2. Deal with the exercise — not the end result.

Measuring your prospecting exercise’s success by what number of conferences you ebook will be harmful. Let’s say you’re aiming to land three conferences a day. You name 15 individuals, and each single one is busy, on trip, away from their desk, in a gathering, or just in a foul temper. By way of no fault of your individual, you haven’t managed to schedule a single assembly. You’re most likely going to be reluctant to hit the telephones once more tomorrow.

Reframe your considering by measuring success by exercise, not consequence. On this approach, you management whether or not or not you meet your aim. As a substitute of making an attempt to ebook three conferences, decide to asking 20 prospects for a gathering.

Even when each prospect says no, at the very least you possibly can go house understanding you completed your goal. And likelihood is, a few of these individuals will say sure.

3. Put your self in the correct surroundings.

Once we don’t wish to deal with a job, we will discover countless methods to fill our time. That’s why I counsel salespeople to place themselves in an surroundings the place they don’t have anything to do however name.

Put together your lead listing, telephone numbers, and analysis, and go to a convention room or one other a part of the workplace together with your telephone. For those who’re sitting at an empty desk with no distractions, I assure you’ll make calls.

Some reps can’t go away their desks. In that state of affairs, attempt shutting off your wifi and even blocking particular websites. Do no matter it is advisable so calling is your solely possibility.

4. Change leads with one other rep.

I exploit this technique on a regular basis to fight name anxiousness. If you’re struggling to select up the telephone, discover one other member of your workforce and change leads with them. They name 20 of your leads, and also you name 20 of theirs. If any of your leads come to fruition, they’ll give these names again, and vice versa.

Since you’re not calling your individual leads, you aren’t as emotionally connected to them. It turns into a lot much less nerve-wracking to select up the telephone.

5. Do your homework.

Who wouldn’t be terrified of choosing up the telephone and calling a complete stranger? For those who don’t analysis a prospect earlier than the decision, you’re not simply making it tougher to determine credibility and have an informed dialog: You’re additionally dialing up your individual anxiousness.

When you understand a purchaser’s background, tasks, particulars about their firm, and challenges they’re most likely going through, you’ll really feel much more assured calling them. Data is energy.

As well as, being ready transforms your function. As a substitute of a pesky telemarketer, you’re an issue skilled with distinctive insights and recommendation to supply.

These strategies will enable you scale back your concern of dialing from a 9 to a 3. Your coronary heart will most likely nonetheless begin to race barely sooner earlier than you name a prospect, however bear in mind: A bit of concern isn’t a foul factor.