Episode #422: Stuart Foster
Meet
Stuart Foster
Stuart is an international sales performance coach and business coach; He is a proud member of the Institute for Professional Advancement and believes in the overwhelming power of curiosity.
Our Mission Is To Change The Negative Perception Of Sales People
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There’s still nothing like picking up the phone and having a person-to-person conversation. But the key to a great conversation is being positive, passionate, and prepared. You have to gather data-driven insights and use them to refine your approach.
You have to believe in and be passionate about your product or solution. You must be positive. Stuart shares how to combine the three keys to book more meetings in this episode of Sales Reinvented.
Outline of This Episode
- [0:42] What is cold-calling? Is it still relevant?
- [1:42] Is cold-calling an art and a science?
- [2:51] You must be positive, passionate, and prepared
- [4:05] Stuart’s effective opening lines and techniques
- [5:41] How to keep a cold call engaging
- [7:07] Indispensable tools, technology, and metrics
- [9:03] Stuart’s top cold-calling dos and don’ts
- [11:38] How Stuart handles objections and rejections
You must be positive, passionate, and prepared
Stuart likes to stand up and walk around when he’s on phone calls. Doing so energizes him and helps him maintain positivity. He also emphasizes that you have to care about what you do. If you’re not passionate about it, why would a prospect be?
Do the work to be prepared. Do you know your customer, their industry, and their company? What are their pain points? What problems will you solve for them?
Stuart’s effective opening lines and techniques
Most decision-makers expect you to have done your homework and know something about them. Demonstrate that you have knowledge about their industry, their company, and their challenges. Ask an open-ended question that engages them and allows you to gather information.
How do you keep them engaged? You be engaging by asking questions like:
- How do you feel your organization would benefit from a proven sales training program?
- What do you think the biggest impact of a productivity improvement program would have on your business?
You could share a quick case study or success stats. The goal is to engage them and get them interested enough to schedule the next step.
Stuart’s top cold-calling dos and don’ts
Stuart’s got some great tips:
- Research and prepare for the call. Write down objections and responses.
- Be passionate and enthusiastic and care about what you do. You’re there to solve a problem for that customer. Show them you care.
- Make sure you get all of the information you need before you hang up the phone. Make sure they’re a good fit.
- Don’t try to sell. You’re there to qualify them. Do they have a problem you can solve? Schedule the meeting.
- Don’t be self-centered or disrespectful. You don’t know what’s going on in their day or life. If they don’t have time, arrange a time to call back.
- Don’t take it personally. They aren’t rejecting you. It’s a “No, not right now.”
How Stuart handles objections and rejections
You handle objections by preparing for them. Ask ChatGPT to find common objections and write them down. How would you respond to those objections?
If they say “I’m not interested,” you can say “I understand that you may not be interested but many successful companies have initially felt the same way. May I just share a quick case study?”
Have a stat ready to share if they’re pushing back: “98% of our clients experienced an uplift in productivity of 15% or more after working with us.”
The biggest objection is “I don’t have time right now.” That’s okay. You called them out of the blue. Ask when they will have time.
Stuart called someone and found out why his company hadn’t done business with them. It was because they had a bad experience and decided they’d never use his company again. He could tell the pain was still fresh on their mind.
So Stuart demonstrated empathy. He asked what happened and agreed that they hadn’t received good service. Then he asked, “If it hadn’t been for that one event, would you still be working with us?” He said, “Yes.”
He asked him to share what benefits he’d seen and how they’d impacted his business. Stuart needed to remove the fear the prospect had that the same thing would happen again. So Stuart gave him contact information for the highest decision maker. It ended up becoming a great relationship.
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What was a pivotal moment or experience in your career that shaped your approach to cold calling, and how did it change your perspective or strategy?
A pivotal moment in my career that shaped my approach to cold calling was when I realised that successful cold calls are not about pushing a product or service. Instead, they’re about building relationships and understanding the customers pain points. This perspective shift led me to focus on empathy, active listening, and providing value during calls. Remember, it’s not about what you’re selling; it’s about how you can solve their problems.
Can you share a specific tactic or approach you’ve used in cold calling that significantly increased your success rate? Please provide a brief example or case study. One effective tactic I’ve used is focussing on the customers problem. Instead of launching into a sales pitch, I start by asking questions to uncover the customers pain points. For example: “Hi, I noticed that many businesses in your industry struggle with consistently hitting sales targets or achieving your desired growth. Have you experienced this as well?”
Once they confirm, I share a relevant success story or case study that demonstrates how my solution addressed a similar challenge. This approach allows me to establish credibility and relevance.
Cold calling often comes with its set of challenges and rejections. Can you share a particularly tough challenge you faced while cold calling and how you overcame it? Cold calling can be tough, especially when faced with rejection. One challenging situation I encountered was when I cold called a prospect who had previously experienced poor service from the company I was working for. This was around five years before I spoke with them and they had said they would never work with us again. They were clearly still unhappy and made it very clear to me! I asked them to tell me what happened and showed empathy about their experience. I then asked, if it hadn’t been for this one incident would he have been happy to continue working with us? I asked them what they found valuable about working with us and what were the main benefits. By showing empathy and then focussing on the positives of our companies working together we were able to establish that, in principle, we were a good fit for each other. By offering assurances that I would be accountable and that there was a clear escalation route I was able to reassure him that his previous experience wouldn’t be repeated and we were able to move forward from there.
What are the top three tools or resources (e.g., software, books, training programs) you consider essential for someone looking to improve their cold calling skills and outcomes? There are lots of tools out there that can help you to be more effective when cold calling but here are some of the ones I think are essential:
CRM Software: A good CRM will help you to track leads, log calls, identify preferred communication methods, and manage follow-ups. LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Ideal for researching prospects, identifying decision-makers, and building prospecting lists. There are some great search filters that will quickly get you to the people you need to be speaking to
Crystal Knows: A great tool that offers great insights for identifying customer communication preferences, tips on how to manage and structure different interactions.
How do you foresee the practice of cold calling evolving in the next few years with advancements in technology and changes in buyer behavior? What advice would you give to sales professionals to stay ahead of the curve? With technology advancements and changing buyer behaviour, cold calling is definitely evolving. Here’s my advice: Personalisation: Customers expect a much more personal and focussed approach. Tailor your approach to the individual based on researching them, their company, and their industry.
Multichannel Outreach: Picking up the phone and speaking to somebody is still a great way to cold call but our customers inhabit lots of different spaces, both physically and virtually, and we need to be where they are. As we see lots of different preferred communication methods we should combine cold calling with emails, outreach and relevant content on social media, and any other channels you can use.
AI: Artificial Intelligence will only become more relevant and valuable as it grows in use and popularity. Leverage AI tools to create more effective social media content, analyse data, develop ideal client profiles and buyer personas, research prospects, provide objection handling tips, identify the best time to post on social media, and predict optimal call times.
Continuous Learning: The rate of change within sales is increasing so it’s more important than ever to stay ahead of industry trends and up to date on the latest technological advances. Consistently increasing your knowledge through training and education is essential so you can continue to evaluate your approach and adapt your strategy. Remember, persistence, adaptability, and genuine interest in solving problems will set you apart from your competitors and allow you to make meaningful connections with customers.
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