WIN The Most Important Part Of Cold Calls | Selling Made Simple

The fate of your deal rests in the first four seconds of the sales call. That’s it. If you can nail the first 4 seconds, often the deal is as good as yours. Why is that? It’s because of the importance of first impressions… Sales rep Sam, for example, always botched his first impressions. So, even though he was selling a solid product, buyers never stayed interested long enough to hear about it. But Walter knew the importance of a strong first impression. He knew by immediately playing the three specific roles we’re talking about in this video, he’d always win over his prospects. And guess what? If you implement the 3 roles we’re going to cover, you can do the same too.  Now, first impressions. They set the foundation for the rest of your sales call. If you come off as a commission-hungry sleaze, good luck earning trust with your buyer. First impressions count. And they form almost instantly, as soon as 33 milliseconds according to some studies. For sales reps like you, they’re even more important than people in an average job. Because your buyers are busy. And in the short time they give you, you need to build up rapport especially quickly. So the question is, how do you do it? How can you win over prospects in the first four seconds of a sales call? It all comes down to playing three key roles. And the first role you need to play is that of… 1. Be the Expert The expert. If you’re coming off unprofessional or unknowledgeable right off the bat, a buyer isn’t going to waste their time listening to anything you have to say. And if they do, they’re probably just waiting for their chance to leave. So how do you prove to them that you do, in fact, know what you’re talking about here? Two words—Social. Proof. Social proof is key to demonstrating your expertise before you ever even get on the call. And there are three specific ways to show that social proof. A) LinkedIn First up is LinkedIn. The LinkedIn platform is fantastic for demoing social proof. Endorsements, testimonials, credentials—buyers can see all of it in just a few clicks. But beyond that, they can also get a look at the thought leadership content you should be creating. So be sure you’ve created a complete profile here. Ask for endorsements. Put out original content regularly. And check in once a day or so to stay active. It doesn’t have to take more than 15 minutes. Now if you’re social selling, buyers coming through the platform should see your page immediately. But if you’re not, I’ve got a tip coming up that’ll boost the odds of your prospects checking out your LinkedIn page. B) Network Network. Who you associate with says a lot about who you are. Are you connected with big names in the industry? Have you worked with top players before? What brands have you sold for and to? A smart buyer will do their homework before setting up a call with you. And they’re sure to check out who you’re connected with, most likely through LinkedIn. But if you’re especially savvy, you’ll have your own website set up that prospects can look through. Here you can house all your thought leadership content as well as your experience, testimonials from clients, and endorsements. So make sure you’re doing the work of collecting this kind of social proof from your clients. Because they can do wonders for trust-building before you hop on the sales call. C) Setup Email Setup Email. This is the sales call confirmation email that buyers will get after booking a time with you. Typically this email will include all the basic info. We’re talking time and date, agenda, and a few words on what else buyers can expect. But this email is the perfect place to include some pieces of social proof to start the trust-building process. A testimonial here. A success stat there. Nothing too over the top. You don’t want to come in too strong.