Here’s how to lower resistance during the first 20 seconds of a cold call.
Step 1: Detach from the outcome.
When your intent is to book a meeting with everyone, you say things that feel pushy.
That’s because your intent or what you think, affects your behavior.
When people feel the push or the pitch, they put up their guards.
Same intent.
Same behavior.
Same results.
The way out?
Detach from the outcome.
Be curious.
Switch from pitch mode to learn mode.
Learn how prospects are getting the job to determine IF they have a problem you can potentially help with.
The keyword is “if.”
Solutions have no value without problems.
Different intent.
Different behavior.
Different results.
Step 2: What does doing nothing cost?
In order to get and keep a prospect’s attention you need to know something they know that can hurt them.
We know from research in behavioral economics that people prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. It’s called loss aversion.
Example for Gravy Solution.
Losing 8-10% of their revenue YoY because internal resources tpyically recover 15% of failed payments compared to 80% with Gravy.
The root cause? Internal teams lack the expertise of an outsourced team that specializes in recovering failed payments.
Step 3: Poke the bear.
To lower resistance on a cold call, ask a neutral question to understand how your prospect is getting the job done WITHOUT having an agenda or leading people to a desired answer.
Example:
Permission:
“Hi, Kim. My name is Josh. We’ve never spoken. Complete stranger here. But I was on your website and was hoping I could ask you a quick question.”
Problem:
“Thanks. I’m with Gravy. We work with several membership communities and came across your name.”
Neutral question:
“If you don’t mind me asking, how are you currently recovering failed payments? Are you using internal resources or an outsourced recovery team?”
Conversation started.
This is for Gravy, but you can easily customize the talk track for your prospects.
Ditch the pitch.
Poke the bear.