If you’ve ever listened to Tony Robbins, you know he’s all about fundamental mindset shifts to achieve peak performance.
He also talks a lot about hacks — whether it’s lifestyle hacking, biohacking, efficiency hacking, or growth hacking. And there’s a reason why the number one motivational speaker in the world (Robbins) gets on his soapbox with a bullhorn and speaks so loudly on this topic. When consistently applied, growth hacking works like a charm. When we implement little hacks over time, we gain the edge we need to crush our sales numbers and achieve our wildest dreams.
So today I’m going to discuss three hacks that you can put into practice now. These are so simple and take almost zero training to master. The first one is my favorite — but each of them can have a net positive impact on your sales starting today.
Anyone in bizz dev, this one’s for you! Let’s jump right into them.
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1. Put a Cash Value on Each Cold Call
If someone handed you a crisp $20 bill for every number you dialed, I bet you would dial till you filled a briefcase to overflowing, and then dial some more. Money talks after all. Thankfully, money motivation is easy to tap into. You just need to put a dollar value on each call, and then you’re far more likely to hammer the phones. And trust me, this sales hack is loads of fun.
Let’s say your commission is $500 per qualified sales appointment you set. And it takes you 25 calls on average to set an appointment. That means for every 25 calls you dial, you make $500. So far so good. Now just divide $500 by 25 and we get 20. So each phone number you dial is worth $20 — no matter if the person didn’t answer, or hung up the phone, or even yelled obscenities at you. You still made $20! Not bad, right? Especially considering the average duration of an unsuccessful cold call is only 80 seconds (successful cold calls are closer to 5 minutes long). Dial a number, get $20 bucks. Dial another number, get $20 bucks. You get it.
Of course, I don’t know your commissions or conversion rates. But chances are, when the dust settles you’ll be making somewhere between $3 and $25 per phone call. And that’s not imaginary money — it’s actual money-in-the-bank when you average out your commissions over time. So go ahead, imagine your sales manager sitting next to you and putting cash in your hand for every number you dial. It’s essentially what’s happening.
This cold calling hack is all about motivation. If you’re getting past gatekeepers and having meaningful conversations all day long, then more power to you. You might not need this motivational hack; keep doing what you’re doing. But if you’re like the vast majority of cold callers, you could use a little fire in your furnace, so to speak. And this one is a winner.
Don’t get me wrong — this isn’t some “sales is a numbers game” BS. This is practical and can be implemented right now. In fact, if you haven’t already done so, break out the calculator and get to work assigning a cash value to your calls. It can make all the difference.
With that, let’s move on to the next hack.
2. Oh hi – Jeffrey? … Jeffrey … Can you hear me? Jeff.
When your prospect answers, do the whole Verizon “Can you hear me now?” bit. But instead, use these words: “Oh hi – Jeffrey? Jeff … can you hear me?” (Obviously use your prospect’s name.)
Your prospect will say “Yes, I can hear you.” And this puts the ball in your court in a couple of ways. First, it means you’re the first-to-speak in the exchange, which is a favorite psychological tactic of hostage negotiators. Being the first to speak puts you in a place of authority and power, even if it goes under the radar for your prospect (it will go under the radar).
More importantly, it gives you a chance to hook your prospect with your energy and tonality before they can judge your intentions. Speak with authority, passion, and kindness. It’s a blank slate, and these crucial few seconds are where deals are won or lost (believe it).
It also gets your prospect to say “Yes.” (“Yes, I can hear you”) It’s their first yes, and it paves the way for future yesses during the call. This is another under-the-radar psychological tactic that the best salespeople use. I’m sure you already go after little yesses during your calls. For instance, when setting up the close, you might say “Would you agree that you would benefit from an extra $100K in sales in Q2?” Of course they agree, so that’s another easy yes. After saying yes, yes, yes throughout the call, it’s difficult to say no when you ask for the meeting or deal.
This sales hack works wonders, so give it a try.
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3. Frame Yourself as the Prize (Don’t be a sweaty-palm salesperson)
There’s a tendency for salespeople to grovel at the feet of their prospects. They see the transactional nature of sales as a one-way road: they do the begging, and the prospect does the buying (fingers crossed). But I’m here to say this is NOT sales. Sales requires mutual respect and willingness on both parties to come to an agreement.
So here’s what I propose. To offset this tendency, you need to frame yourself and your offer as the prize, and constantly remind yourself that your prospect isn’t the prize. This little hack seems counterintuitive, but it works wonders at positioning your offer as highly desirable, exclusive, and in-demand. Now, this doesn’t give you a license to be an arrogant you-know-what. But it does give you license to cordially and respectfully push when your prospect pulls and vice versa.
This interrupts the age-old pattern of the salesperson kissing butt to make a sale. Again, groveling is not sales. If you sell like that, then you’re what I call a sweaty-palm salesperson. And trust me, this type of fear-based selling is actually a huge turnoff to c-level decision-makers. They typically have hundreds or thousands of employees that do enough butt-kissing and live with a low-lying fear of losing their jobs. So when CEOs make deals, they want someone with confidence and an air of authority to be their trusted advisor.
Final Words
These cold calling hacks can really help you to rise above and stand out in your company as a top SDR or account exec. And I’m always one to track and measure progress, so be sure you get a baseline of where you’re at now with your sales numbers before implementing these changes (how many meetings set or deals won on average over the past several months). Then put these sales hacks into practice and see how you do.
I’d put my money on you being pleasantly surprised by how these three little changes can transform your career. And that’s the beauty of hacks — they are relatively easy to get going, but the returns can be tremendous. Just don’t fall into the trap of doing these for a few days or weeks and then falling off the wagon with them. Give yourself a big enough sample size, if you will, by testing them over several months at least.
With that said, it’s time to get on the phones and make big things happen!
Until next time…
Johnny-Lee Reinoso