This cured my fear of cold calling for GOOD!

Summary

The video script discusses the challenges of consistently making cold calls in sales, attributing the difficulty to self-worth attachment and fear of judgment. It suggests a new approach involving resetting expectations, viewing prospecting as a sorting process akin to a gumball machine, where most calls are 'red gumballs' and few are 'blue' prize opportunities. The script advocates for a 'reverse selling' method that serves the prospect rather than persuading them, and emphasizes focusing on actions rather than outcomes, using the concept of Parkinson's Law to highlight the importance of time-bound activities for effective prospecting.

Takeaways

• 😌 The difficulty in making cold calls often stems from attaching self-worth to the outcome, leading to fear of judgment and rejection.
• 🤔 A new approach to prospecting involves resetting expectations, viewing the process as sorting through red and blue gumballs, where only a few blue ones are valuable.
• 🔍 Understanding that the average opportunity in direct outbound prospecting is about 1 in 10 can help manage expectations and reduce pressure.
• 💡 Shifting focus from convincing or persuading prospects to a 'reverse selling' approach can reduce resistance and make the interaction feel more like a service.
• 📞 In reverse selling, the salesperson gently pushes away, assuming the prospect is not interested, which can lead to the prospect self-admitting their interest.
• 🏆 Focusing on actions rather than outcomes is crucial. Success should be measured by the effort put into activities like having a set number of conversations, not just the results.
• 🕒 Emphasizing time commitment or conversation goals over outcomes can help maintain a consistent and productive approach to prospecting.
• 🎯 Parkinson's Law can be applied to prospecting by limiting the time for activities, which can increase focus and productivity.
• 🌐 Recognizing that work expands to fill the time given to it, setting strict time limits for prospecting can lead to more efficient and effective results.
• 🌟 The mindset shift from focusing on outcomes to focusing on the activities that lead to those outcomes can transform the experience of cold calling into a more enjoyable and successful one.

Q & A

Why is it challenging to consistently make cold calls?

Consistency in making cold calls is difficult because many people attach their self-worth to the outcome of the calls. They worry about how they will feel, how they will be judged, and the potential negative reactions from others, which can lead to avoidance and inconsistency.

What is the gumball machine analogy used to explain prospecting?

The gumball machine analogy describes prospecting as a process of sorting through many red gumballs (unsuccessful prospects) to find the rare blue gumball (successful prospect). It helps to reset expectations by illustrating that not every call will lead to a successful outcome.

What is the average opportunity rate in direct outbound prospecting according to the speaker?

The speaker states that the average opportunity rate in direct outbound prospecting is about 10, meaning that out of a hundred people you talk to, only about 10 are real opportunities.

How does resetting expectations help in the process of prospecting?

Resetting expectations helps by allowing the prospector to understand that not every conversation will lead to a successful outcome. This mindset helps to avoid forcing every prospect to be a 'blue gumball' and instead focuses on sorting through the 'red gumballs' to find the real opportunities.

What is the concept of 'reverse selling methodology' mentioned in the script?

Reverse selling methodology involves selling against your own interest. It aims to remove sales resistance by approaching the prospect from a service-oriented perspective, making the prospect feel that the call is for their benefit rather than the salesperson's.

Why does the speaker suggest changing the approach from persuasion to service in cold calls?

Changing the approach to service helps to lower the perception of bias and resistance from the prospect. It makes the call feel more like an act of service rather than a sales pitch, which can be more effective in engaging the prospect.

What is the significance of focusing on actions rather than outcomes in cold calling?

Focusing on actions rather than outcomes allows the caller to concentrate on the process and behavior that they can control, such as the number of conversations they have each day. This approach helps to avoid the disappointment of not achieving a specific outcome and instead focuses on the activity that leads to those outcomes.

How does the speaker use Parkinson's Law to improve the effectiveness of cold calling?

Parkinson's Law states that work expands to the time we give it. By limiting the amount of time dedicated to cold calling, the speaker suggests that the focus narrows, leading to more efficient and effective prospecting.

What is the speaker's advice on how to build the habit of daily prospecting?

The speaker suggests focusing on the activity of prospecting for a set amount of time each day, such as two and a half hours. By attaching success to accomplishing this activity, the outcomes, like leads and appointments, will naturally follow.

How can the mindset of cold calling be improved to make it more enjoyable and effective?

The mindset can be improved by resetting expectations, focusing on actions rather than outcomes, and adopting a service-oriented approach in cold calls. This can help to reduce the pressure and make the process more enjoyable and effective.

Outlines

00:00

😔 Overcoming the Challenge of Cold Calling

The speaker discusses the common struggle of maintaining consistency in making cold calls, despite understanding their effectiveness. They attribute this difficulty to the attachment of self-worth to the outcome of these calls. People often worry about how they will feel, how they will be judged, and the potential negative reactions from others. To counter this, the speaker suggests a new approach to prospecting, emphasizing the need to reset expectations. They use the analogy of a gumball machine to explain that prospecting is a process of sorting through many 'red gumballs' (uninterested prospects) to find the rare 'blue gumball' (a promising lead). The speaker shares their experience and data, indicating that on average, only about 10% of conversations lead to real opportunities, and encourages focusing on the process rather than forcing every interaction to be successful.

05:02

🤔 Changing the Approach to Cold Calling

The speaker continues by discussing the importance of changing one's approach to cold calling. They advise against trying to convince or persuade prospects, as this can lead to resistance. Instead, they propose a 'reverse selling' methodology, where the salesperson appears to be selling against their own interest. This method is designed to reduce sales resistance and make the interaction feel more like a service rather than a sales pitch. The speaker provides an example of how to implement this approach, emphasizing the importance of not forcing the conversation and allowing the prospect to self-admit their interest. They also stress the need to focus on actions rather than outcomes, suggesting that success in cold calling is more about maintaining consistent behavior and actions, such as having a set number of conversations per day, rather than focusing solely on the results like setting appointments or generating leads.

10:03

💪 Focusing on Actions Over Outcomes in Cold Calling

In the final paragraph, the speaker emphasizes the importance of focusing on actions rather than outcomes when it comes to cold calling. They explain that outcomes, such as the number of appointments or leads generated, are beyond our control and can lead to feelings of overwhelm or disappointment if not achieved. Instead, the speaker encourages focusing on controllable actions like the number of conversations had or the time spent prospecting. They mention the concept of Parkinson's Law, which states that work expands to fill the time allotted, suggesting that setting a specific time limit for prospecting can help increase focus and productivity. The speaker concludes by mentioning another video where they discuss building the habit of daily prospecting and how they managed to enjoy the process of cold calling.

Keywords

💡Cold Calls

Cold calls refer to unsolicited sales calls made to prospective customers who have not requested information. In the video, the difficulty of making cold calls consistently is discussed, highlighting the psychological barriers and the need to change one's approach to this activity. The script mentions how people often avoid cold calls due to fear of rejection or failure, which ties into the theme of overcoming personal obstacles to achieve success in sales.

💡Self-Worth

Self-worth in this context is the value or esteem that a person places on themselves, which is closely tied to the outcomes of their actions. The script discusses how attaching self-worth to the outcome of cold calls can create anxiety and avoidance behavior. It suggests that professionals should decouple their self-esteem from the results of their sales efforts to maintain consistency and motivation.

💡Ego

Ego, as used in the script, represents the part of the personality that includes self-importance and a desire for recognition. It is mentioned as a barrier to making cold calls because individuals may fear exposure or judgment. The video suggests that overcoming ego-related concerns is key to improving one's ability to make cold calls effectively.

💡Prospecting

Prospecting is the process of searching for potential customers or clients. The video script describes it as a sorting process, akin to finding a 'blue gumball' in a machine full of 'red gumballs.' It emphasizes the need to reset expectations and view prospecting as a numbers game where not every interaction will lead to a successful outcome.

💡Expectations

Expectations are the beliefs or predictions about what will happen in the future. In the video, resetting expectations is presented as a strategy to manage the disappointment that can come from the low success rate of cold calls. The script uses the metaphor of a gumball machine to illustrate that only a small percentage of calls will yield a 'blue gumball,' or a successful lead.

💡Reverse Selling

Reverse selling, as introduced in the script, is an approach where salespeople position themselves as serving the interests of the prospect, even to the point of suggesting against their own product or service. This method is intended to reduce sales resistance and create a perception of genuine service rather than a hard sell, as exemplified by the script's dialogue where the salesperson offers to take the prospect off the call list.

💡Sales Resistance

Sales resistance is the reluctance or opposition a prospect shows towards a salesperson's pitch. The video discusses how traditional sales approaches can increase this resistance. By using reverse selling, the script suggests that sales resistance can be reduced, as the prospect feels less pressured and more in control of the interaction.

💡Actions vs. Outcomes

The video emphasizes the importance of focusing on actions rather than outcomes when it comes to cold calling. It suggests that by concentrating on the activity itself, such as having a set number of conversations, the desired outcomes, like leads or appointments, will naturally follow. The script contrasts this with the common practice of focusing on outcomes, which can lead to feelings of failure if they are not achieved.

💡Parkinson's Law

Parkinson's Law is a concept that states that 'work expands to fill the time available for its completion.' The script uses this law to argue for setting a specific time limit for prospecting activities, which can help to increase focus and productivity. By narrowing the time frame, the salesperson is encouraged to concentrate and make the most of the limited time, leading to more effective cold calling.

💡Leading Indicators

Leading indicators are metrics that suggest how a company or individual is likely to perform in the future. In the context of the video, focusing on leading indicators, such as the number of conversations had, is suggested as a more effective approach than focusing on lagging indicators, like the number of sales made. The script argues that by concentrating on actions that are within one's control, better results will follow.

💡Lagging Indicators

Lagging indicators are metrics that measure past performance. The video script advises against focusing on these because they are outside of the individual's control and can lead to feelings of disappointment if targets are not met. Instead, the emphasis should be on leading indicators and actions that directly influence the desired outcomes.

Highlights

Difficulty in making cold calls due to self-worth attachment to outcomes and fear of judgment.

Inconsistency in cold calling efforts and the psychological barriers that cause it.

The concept of ego as a barrier to consistent cold calling.

Resetting expectations in prospecting as a process of sorting.

The analogy of a gumball machine to explain the process of prospecting.

The average opportunity in direct outbound prospecting being about one in ten.

The importance of not forcing red gumballs to be blue in the prospecting process.

Changing the approach in cold calls to avoid resistance by selling against one's own interest.

The method of reverse selling to reduce sales resistance and perceived bias.

Focusing on actions rather than outcomes to avoid disappointment and maintain consistency.

The concept of leading and lagging indicators in the context of cold calling.

The application of Parkinson's law to time management in cold calling.

The idea of attaching success to the activity rather than the outcome for better results.

The psychological trick to build the habit of daily prospecting and enjoy cold calling.

The impact of focusing on activity over outcome on lead generation and appointment setting.

Transcripts

so why is it so difficult to make cold

calls on any type of consistent basis it

seems like it's something that we know

we should be doing we understand the

effectiveness we've seen other people

succeed with it but yet at the very same

time we just can't get ourselves to do

it on any type of consistent basis some

days we are motivated we go all out on

it and sometimes we even go a couple

weeks and it's like all right now I'm

starting to get some traction and then

we fall off and we start to get back

into this behavior of inconsistency for

me there's a couple things that I think

about when it comes to the difficulty of

this activity and here's what I see most

are attaching their self-worth to the

outcome you know how will this make me

feel when I'm making these outbound

calls how does it make me feel when I'm

doing the activity how will I be judged

what are other people gonna think of me

what if someone gets mad and what if I

don't know what to say I mean these are

all the questions that start to come

come up when we start to get in our own

head and starting to get in our own way

of doing this activity that we know we

should be doing but for some reason we

simply can't get ourselves to do it and

it comes down to Ego because we don't

want to put ourselves in a position to

be exposed to others and so we avoid it

all the way so there's a new way of

approaching this activity of prospecting

or making cold calls that I find very

helpful I hope anyway that it will have

the same impact on you number one is to

reset my expectations you see what I've

learned is that prospecting is a process

of sorting let me explain imagine for a

second a huge gumball machine and in

that gumball machine there are a bunch

of red gumballs just a bunch and it says

on the outside of this gumball machine

two gumballs inside and if you get these

Blue Gum Balls you'll get this prize of

10 000 dollars and so little Johnny

starts putting in his little quarters

starts cranking the wheel one after

another out comes these red gumballs and

he says nope that's not it nope that's

not it that's not it and he just keeps

cranking this wheel just crank crank

crank crank and out comes and out spits

all these different red gumballs until

after a period of time goes by he

finally gets this blue Gumball and

that's the way in which I think about

prospecting is that the vast majority of

the people that we talk to over the

phone are simply red gumballs and we're

looking for the rare one-off blue

gumballs now let me explain stay with me

here for a second you see my expectation

now doing this for almost 20 years and

after tracking numbers for myself and

for thousands of real estate agents that

I coach I now know that the average

opportunity when doing direct outbound

prospecting is about 10 and so what does

that mean well it's very simple that out

of a hundred people that we actually

talk to over the phone we're not talking

about dials we're not talking about

attempts we're talking about the actual

conversations that we have with people

over the phone at the door through

direct message on Instagram through text

message through email that only about 10

are real opportunities and when I shift

my expectation and I start to say okay

wow that's interesting when I I hear

what you're saying Brandon and this is

me talking to myself I hear what you're

saying but when I'm on the phone I still

find myself trying to force red gumballs

into being blue gumballs and it doesn't

matter even if I can conceptualize the

fact that I'm only looking for 10 so

every 10 conversations I have that means

I should only get one blue Gumball after

sorting through nine red gumballs on

average now it's not because of the law

of large numbers and the whole process

of how you get to an average it isn't

that you call 10 people and one of them

will be a blue Gumball that's not the

expectation that's not the process of

resetting my expectation because there

has to be this process of taking a large

quantity of activities and in this case

we're talking about prospecting but

let's look at the example of a roulette

table at a casino well what is the

likelihood that that little white ball

falls on either red or black the answer

that is 37.5 percent of the time and

it's only 37.5 percent of the time

regardless if you're in a casino in Las

Vegas or if you're in a casino in

another country it's still 37.5 percent

of the time that is the likelihood of it

falling on either red or black and it's

only that because of the amount of times

that roulette table spins and so over

time after having hundreds and hundreds

and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds

of conversations do you find that about

10 of the time you get a real good

opportunity you get a great what we call

lead and therefore I don't have to

convince anyone of anything my job is to

then find one to two people a day that

need and want my help and my expectation

is that almost everyone will be a red

gumball and therefore I get out of this

mindset of forcing everybody into being

a blue Gumball when they're clearly a

red gumball and all I have to do is sort

those aside if they do not need or they

do not want my help my job is not to

convince them otherwise my job is to put

them aside and crank the wheel yet again

to look for a blue Gumball the second

thing on my list today is changing my

Approach so not going to try and

convince or persuade a prospect because

that causes the prospect to resist this

is what is being taught today as an

example the salesperson might say

something like this they make an

outbound prospecting phone call and they

say Bob this is Joseph with Re Max we

just sold a home over on Smith Street

for 350 000. it had three bedrooms it

had two baths and I was wondering when

do you plan on moving to which Bob

responds with take me off your list stop

calling me why did that happen well

because the perceived bias from the

prospect was that you are a realtor

looking for money you are a realtor

looking for a listing you're looking to

persuade me in some way so that you the

realtor can benefit so what we want to

do instead of that approach coming

across from a perspective of how do I

persuade how do I convince this person

what can I get out of this activity

let's put that aside and let's shift

that into doing what we call in our

reverse selling methodology selling

against our own interest and when you do

this right it will help to remove that

sales resistance it will help to lower

the perception of perceived bias and

when you do it right the message is

perceived as an act of service versus it

coming across like a sales pitch here's

an example we call up a prospect ring

ring ring Bob Bob this is Brandon I'm a

realtor and I'm sure this is the last

call you wanted to get it's certainly a

call I didn't want to make but I was

hoping to ask you a quick question Bob

would that be okay I'm not sure if this

would be of any value to you or not but

listen the home that recently sold you

know the one over there on Smith Street

the one with the red garage yeah that

property had multiple buyers that wanted

the home and now that those people have

missed out they're hoping to find a home

just like it and I didn't know if a

buyer was willing to offer you a great

price on the house Bob if that's

something you'd even consider and so

we're assuming in that conversation that

Bob is a red gumball and only those that

actually push back on us that actually

sell against us that push back and they

say no no no I actually would be

interested it's funny you should call I

actually wow okay we have been thinking

about selling only people who respond to

you selling against your own interest or

we call it selling the negative when the

prospect goes through a process of

self-admission and says no no you got it

wrong we are actually interested in that

ding ding ding ding do you know you have

a blue Gumball so instead of trying to

convince we try to gently push away and

it comes across as an act of service it

comes across as hey I'm making this call

for you not for me as it is for your

benefit number three on my list is

actions not outcomes so most of us

myself included for years and years and

years we focus on the outcomes of this

activity how many appointments can I set

how many leads can I generate Etc the

problem with that is this attaching the

success of this activity to one of those

outcomes suggests that if we don't get

that outcome that we deem the activity

itself unsuccessful and therefore we

have wasted our time or like a lot of

real estate agents that I talk to I'm

feel like I'm spinning my wheels well

here's the thing we can't control those

outcomes the only thing that we can

control which certainly you are already

aware of is our Behavior the actions and

the decisions that we make and so

therefore we need to focus on a time

commitment or a conversation goal that

we are indeed in control of and so when

we attach the success to accomplishing

one of those activities and we focus on

that and that being the win the win

being did I have my 27 conversations

today because that is what the business

plan suggests that I have based on the

goals that I've set and I attach myself

to the activity the outcomes take care

of themselves when I focus on the

activity of prospecting for two and a

half hours per day that as a result of

me focusing on am I being successful

today based on me doing the two and a

half hours of this activity or not that

everything else takes care of itself

that the conversations happen the leads

that need to be generated they happen

automatically the appointments that need

to get set happen automatically because

it is actions over outcomes and results

are simply a byproduct of focusing on

the activity that lead to those outcomes

you've all heard it before there are

leading indicators and there are lagging

indicators we have no control over the

lagging and therefore our focused on the

lagging indicators does nothing but

cause us to feel this sense of overwhelm

or disappointment or letdown and when we

can attach these wins to the activity

great things happen through that Focus

we then can use Parkinson's law which

states that work expands to the time we

give it so instead of saying okay my

business plan suggest that I need 27

conversations today and I'll try to get

these done at some point today we need

to limit the amount of time that we give

ourselves to do that activity and when

we do that that now we've got a narrow

scope of focus and we know when humans

narrow their scope of focus they can get

amazing things done just look at how

much we get done the day before vacation

that is Parkinson's law at work so now

that you've learned a few different ways

to approach the activity of cold calling

the mindset of cold calling the approach

of cold calling I made another video

right here where I share how I built the

habit of daily prospecting and how I

tricked my brain to actually love cold

calling

foreign