How Being a Problem Solver When Cold Calling Will Make You Successful!

There's a wonderful way to step into the world of the person you're cold calling. Just focus on their everyday problems. Start by talking about their issues, not your solutions. And make it specific and compelling to them.

Don't go into a sales pitch, which is what you would do if you were operating out of the old traditional cold calling mindset. What you need to remember is what you have and offer aren't relevant right now.

The only thing that matters is solving the potential problems of your prospect, and keeping the door open for future interactions in case there's a fit between you and them.

You may find it difficult to visualize what this kind of call feels like until you actually try it out. But just imagine receiving such a call yourself. If the discussion were about issues that matter to you, wouldn't you react with curiosity rather than suspicion? And it would be more likely that you'd continue into a more substantial conversation?

Make it Concrete

So when preparing for your cold call, focus on a problem that you believe the other person has. Solve one specific issues that you can strategically challenge them on and that you know it's common problem that many of these companies have.

The best way to come up with a compelling problem is to put yourself in the other person's shoes and think about problems that your product or service can solve for them.

For example, instead of talking about "office productivity problems," you might say, "I'm just calling to see if you're still experiencing productivity problems relating to paper-based filing procedures that slow down your employees."

A statement like this gives the other person an immediate, vivid mental image of the problem.

If you know your industry well enough, and the problem you suggest is very real for them, then they can start to relax and enter into a further dialogue with you.

Compelling Examples

So, ideally, the problem you bring up in your cold call is something that prospects can relate to based on their real work life.

To come up with a compelling solution is nowhere near as hard as you think once you get the hang of it. If you have long term experience with your offerings then you have the answers already. You most likely know many of the specific issues your prospects experience day in and day out. You just haven't really thought about it before.

So you might start your cold calling conversation with a question like:

- "I'm just giving you a call to see if you'd be open to a different perspective around preventing profit loss gaps in your business?" (to a business owner)

- "I'm just calling to see if you're grappling with problems of employee performance related to a lack of training support?" (to a human resource department representative)

- "I'm just calling to see if you're open to looking at whether any department in your company might be losing revenue due to vendor overcharges?" (to an accounting manager)

Don't Slip Back

After this, you might be tempted to slip back into the traditional sales mindset and launch into a mini-presentation about the services you offer. That would be premature at this stage of your conversation.

You still don't have enough information about the problems of the person your talking to. Offering a solution before the other person even acknowledges having a specific problem is part of the old traditional sales mindset.

So what happens next? The two of you may start asking some questions back and forth. You'll experience a peaceful and natural opening up in your conversation. And you'll find that you're actually having a conversation without the usual instant rejection.

What you're doing is creating a cold calling friendship around solving the problems in their world. You're not sinking into the push-pull scenario of buyer and seller. Most people react warmly and unhesitatingly to a conversation that feels natural to them and revolves around their issues. When you finally get the hang of focussing on problems you'll find cold calling much more enjoyable and fulfilling than before.


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Adam Price is a professional online business networker, sales trainer and author around effective referral networking & internet marketing. Learn how tap into the powerful online world of networking, sales and trust building by visiting: http://www.Law-Of-Attraction-And-Success.com/SalesSuccess.html