What Do You Say To A Cold Market Prospect When Calling?

What Do You Say To A Cold Market Prospect When Calling?
by Sue Seward

Your purpose in calling a cold market prospect (that has answered an ad, or a card deck lead, etc.) is to qualify them to see if they will need further information.

Find out first if it's a good time to be calling them. After all, you do not want to interrupt them while they may be having dinner with their family! Start with asking some important questions. By asking questions we find out what a person's values are and what's important to them so we can help them. Before you call someone try not to assume that this is going to be right for them. Keep in mind that you are looking for people who are positive, friendly, and willing to speak with you and answer your questions. This is your interview! You are in charge here!

Try not to get into much social chat at this time because this first call is actually a disqualifying call. After all, this may not be the right timing for them so your job is to find this out. Disqualify them so to speak.....Sort of like an investigator! But a friendly investigator! <grin> Try not to spend more than 3 to 5 minutes on this first call.

Always remember you have the power here.....you have the gold! Your job is to see if they qualify for more information! Network Marketing isn't for everyone. Can anyone do it? Of course......but is this the right time in their life to make a commitment? Your job is to find this out.

Let the person you are calling know who you are and where you are calling from. And that you are calling them back after they responded to your ad, card deck lead, or left a message on your VM in reference to working from home. Your purpose for this call is to find out.....

Why did they respond to your ad, card deck, etc.?
What are they looking for?
What do they do now?
Do they work full time, part time?

Have they been laid off? (If someone has been laid off and has no income at all this may be the first indication to you that the timing may not be right for them to start a business. Finding this out is important because some people may be in a financial position to start a business in this case and some may not be. Some may not even have enough money to put food on the table, so you need to find out where they are. Keep in mind this is a business and any legitimate business venture of value will have some start up costs. I've read about many very successful people in this industry who were in desperate situations when they started their Network Marketing businesses. They had a very strong WHY for wanting to succeed in this business and they did it on a shoe string, so it is possible for some.)

What sort of background do they have?

If you have a card deck post card they returned to you, go through the questions they checked as follows:

"It says here, Mary, that you are looking for a home based business, is that correct?"

"It also says that you are currently with a NM'ing company, is that correct?"

"Mary, which company are you with?"

"What do you like about your company?" "What do you dislike?" "Mary, why are you looking for another company at this time?"

"When you first joined your company why did you join?"

"It says here that you would have 5 to 6 hours to devote to your home based business, is that correct?"

"It says here Mary, that you have such and such for start up cost for your business, is that correct?" "Ok great, we can discuss that more later, right now we need to determine together if this is something you would like further information on."

"Mary we pride ourselves on two very important things,
1. Our ability to determine what a person is really interested in and if this is the right time for them in their lives to start a home based network marketing business.
2. We are professionals and we believe that follow up is very crucial for all of us."

"Does this sound good to you?"

"We realize this is a very important decision for you. It's not our job to convince or talk you into something. It's our job to find out if the timing is right for you and to get you all the information necessary so that you can make an informed decision. We are looking for highly motivated, self starting, positive people that are coachable and willing to commit to follow our training systems. We show people how to build their own successful home based network marketing business." (Really get across to them how serious you are. Be very confident because you know that you have something of value!)

"Mary does this sound like something you would be interested in hearing more about?"

Note: (If you are new it's very important to get your belief level high by attending any training's in your area, get on conference calls, reading books on MLM, study your product information, go to your company conferences! If you do not feel comfortable making calls in the beginning make a few with your upline until you feel more comfortable. I'm the sort of person that jumps right in and does things. I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning and still do. I have learned a lot from listening to my upline mentors! Believe me the calls get easier and easier as your belief gets stronger and stronger by doing the above things I mentioned! ) You won't really know how to do it until you..... Just DO it!

If they start to ask what it is or who you are with, always tell them the company you're with! You are extremely proud to be representing your company and the Network Marketing industry, so this is not a problem for you to say so but you need to tell them that you do not have time at this point to go into all the details because you have a lot of calls to make tonight. Say to them...."This call is just to determine if we need to get you further information so you can do some research of the company, does that make sense to you?"

If someone gets really irate, hey you don't have to work with them do you? You just disqualified them didn't you? Remember this is your interview and you have the gold!

"Good, then just let me verify your information on the card here........Mary are you on the internet? Great! (get her email address). I'm going to send you all the information you need right online." (If you have a website let them know, and give it to them over the phone but make sure you get their email address as well so you can send them the website yourself as a good follow up measure.)

If your company has a hotline number give this number as well. Then say to her....."This information will let you know if this is right for you. Review it very closely and I will get back in touch with you to answer your questions. Then we can determine together if we need to mail you out an information packet. Does that sound fair to you?" "Let's get back in touch next week to go over the information. How does that sound?" Then set up a time to get back with her.

If they are not on the internet, verify the address and send them your information via postal mail.

DO NOT send to much information after this first call! You could overwhelm them by doing this. Something that explains your company or an audio tape is a good first mailing piece. Just something for them to see if they want to pursue it further!

Make them go through a few hoops before giving them any of your precious gold!

Sue Seward
Network Marketing Professional

Sue Seward has been a student of the Network Marketing Industry for over 10 years. She has been a Stay At Home Business Mom for 8 years. Previous to this she was in the Customer Service/Marketing industry for over 10 years. She has been a Professional Network Marketer for USANA since November of 1996. Ms. Seward is a Personal Fitness Trainer, certified by the Cooper Institute For Aerobics Research.

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