I used to do cold call sales for a living and from the "pick up" you can tell what kind of person is answering and modify your voice accordingly. You basically just follow their lead.
E.G:
* Quiet people don't want shouty salesmen so go quiet, reserved and professional.
* Some guy off a council estate/trailer park is typically not going to want to talk to a suit so in that case you'll adopt a very casual and matey tone as if you've bumped into him in a pub/bar.
* If I EVER met someone who "knew the score" (e.g. someone smart or knows how telesales work) then I'd just drop all pretences and give it to them "straight".
Those are the "obvious" kinds of NLP, there are subtle bits and pieces including copying their tone or turns of phrase.
It does increase your conversion rate.
Obviously (almost) everyone HATES cold calls so one of my goals was to see how long I could keep "angrys" on the phone. NLP definitely helps here (although empathy, humility and diplomacy are probably more useful) I even managed to sell to one once! :D
For the challenge, mostly. Also because it can result in a good call back as well (apparently after I left my call-backs had good conversion rates).
As long as you combine the right amount of humility, amiability and possibly humour you can turn almost anyone around. For example if someone is getting A LOT of sales calls and yours is the straw that broke the camel's back then you can still help them. Provide information, give em the telephone preference service number (to remove them from sales calls databases), tell them how automated diallers work or how the regulations work in regards to cold calls. Be honest.
There is no reason why any call should have to end in a negative on either side. :)
E.G:
* Quiet people don't want shouty salesmen so go quiet, reserved and professional.
* Some guy off a council estate/trailer park is typically not going to want to talk to a suit so in that case you'll adopt a very casual and matey tone as if you've bumped into him in a pub/bar.
* If I EVER met someone who "knew the score" (e.g. someone smart or knows how telesales work) then I'd just drop all pretences and give it to them "straight".
Those are the "obvious" kinds of NLP, there are subtle bits and pieces including copying their tone or turns of phrase. It does increase your conversion rate.
Obviously (almost) everyone HATES cold calls so one of my goals was to see how long I could keep "angrys" on the phone. NLP definitely helps here (although empathy, humility and diplomacy are probably more useful) I even managed to sell to one once! :D