How to Cold Call Like a Professional

In a nutshell, you are about to learn:
The cold calling world generally has high expectations, I thought it was only fair to let you know up front. Essentially, the world is our oyster and we should be collecting all of the pearls in existence. In other words, each and every human being on earth is your potential customer. No pressure. Ms. Weiss is actually a bit more reasonable; what she says is that we have to be able to pick through all those potentials and figure out which ones might actually deign to purchase whatever it is we may be selling. Once you have narrowed down your field of reference, you have to latch on to those lucky beings and suck them dry. She refers to this as "staying in contact until they say 'yes'." Cut-throat.
You know how much time movie stars spend on their hair to make it look like they haven't spent any time on their hair? We're going to learn how to do that, but only over the phone.
It is also very important that we understand our sales cycles. Obviously I already know this, but, just in case you were unfamiliar with the term...
(Image: Wendy Weiss!)

I'll break it down for you: features are what is inherent to your product; benefits is what it will do for your customer.
For example, I sell a Liquid Pool Cover. Some features are that it is undetectable, biodegradable, and safe for all pool users. These things are inherent to the product itself. Some of the benefits might be that it saves substantially on energy bills, it keeps pool water warmer for a longer period of time, and it is very easy to use. These are all things that will answer the customer's question: "What's in it for me?"
Just as a caveat, it is important to find out what the customer wants out of your product before you start telling them what they are going to get out of it. If a customer asked me, "can my dog still swim in the pool?" and I answered "It will save you money", I will probably lose the sale. Even though money-saving is always great, it is not necessarily what the customer is looking for and therefore will not sound like a great benefit if their dog's life is on the line. (Though it wouldn't be, because dog's can still swim in the water, just so you know.)
Remember that worksheet that Ms. Weiss so kindly provided? Check out page 4 and start figuring out what you features / benefits are. Figure out what the most important or commonly referred to benefits are. These are the "Big Benefits" that you'll probably work into most of your calls.
(Image: my grandmothers Chihuahua, Geisha)

Monday morning.
You awaken with a cuppa Joe and sloth your way into the office. You sit down at your desk and pick up the phone book.
Page 1.
You start dialing.
By the end of the day, you have made 453 calls and have had three people agree to an appointment later in the week. Is this your day? Oh, I hope not. But there are people out there that do that! Can you believe it! There is not enough pity in the world...
Let's figure out a better system.
First of all, who would be interested in your products? Focus on an industry, a locale, an age group even. Who are your current customers, assuming you do have some. Looking at who is already interested in what you are selling, interested enough to actually have bought it at some point, should give you a starting point.
Take me. We currently have Hotels using our Liquid Pool Cover. So, that would indicate that Hotels may be a good place to start looking for more business. Perhaps even Hotel chains related to some of our current customers. Getting wild here, but perhaps even Hotels with swimming pools. Do you see where I am going with this?
From this point, you will want to figure out who to talk to within this list of potential customers. I could call the front desk of a Hotel and chat for hours about the weather, my pets, our products and all the wonderful benefits, but I'm never going to make the sale because the person working the front desk has no authority or knowledge (or inclination) to actually sign the deal. I would have better luck asking for the person in charge of engineering or maintenance.
Worksheet page 5 should help you figure out who your target audience should be.

Even within your narrowed down list of leads, there are going to be hot leads-the ones with the most potential-and cool leads-the ones that you practice on. Separate into A (hot), B (lukewarm) and C (cool) leads, and base your technique accordingly. Your first call ever should be on a C. If you walk into the office on a Wednesday feeling good about yourself but you haven't made a single sale yet, try a B. If you have just closed a string of sales and you're wearing your lucky underwear, it's time to break into the A-List.
Keep notes as you are calling. There is every possibility that a C will become an A, or vice versa. Shuffle them around like a deck of cards.