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Darren Lucia

Hi my name is Darren Lucia. I'm a former money manger, turned sales professional. I'm the owner of liquidleads.net. A lead acquisition company out of New York specializing in qualified investor leads, for financial, and business professionals globally.

I'm an avid reader,surfer,fitness,strength and wellness advocate. My goal, here is to convey to the audience all of what I learned pertaining to this genre of business, from my own personal journey.

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Essential Cold Calling Sales Techniques

Darren Lucia

February 06, 2009


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Cold calling is the lifeline of the sales business. The formula is very simple: dials=leads=account=assets raised=$$$. I've found the majority of people dislike cold calling for 3 simple reasons, they have a fear of rejection, they don't know how to effectively call, or most importantly they were never trained properly from their superior. Cold Calling is a science, that is not very difficult to master, it just takes time, and repetition. That's what I'm gonna help you with today.

Today I'm going to discuss 2 vital things: (Sales Intro, and Quality Leads)

A cold call is determined within the first 5-8 seconds of the initial contact, so it's imperative that it's very strong. The way I used to explain it to my trainees, is if you were meeting a prospect in person for the first time. What would do when you first meet him? You would shake his hand firmly and give strong eye contact, to convey confidence and cabability right? Well, you have to do the same thing when you cold call, but in a different way. When your weak on the phone you convey a weak handshake and limited eye contact. It's very simple! Follow me.

Example #1: (Wrong Way)

-Hi Mr.Gekko this is Bud Fox over at xyz corp. How are you doing today? (he replies good) you reply: How's the weather? How's your day going? Whats your kids names? Soon after you hear that familiar dial tone. It's ok to be friendly and build rapport, once you get all the info you need for the lead, but until then, it's a complete waste of yours and his time. Lets break this down:

-Never call someone Mr or Mrs on a cold call (unless they request you to) this automatically gives them the upper hand to control the conversation. Knowbody is above you. Always use their first name

-A cold call is supposed to be quick and to the point. Time is $$$, for both you and him. Business people are very busy, and don't have time for small talk when your calling interfering w/ the middle of their day. You always want to convey to the prospect that your extremely busy. Furthermore small talk like that tells the prospect, that your not busy, and are probably a rookie, not worthy of his time.

* Small Talk is vital to build rapport w/ your prospect once he's your CLIENT, until then keep it brief and direct.

-Always ask direct questions. Can you tell... prospect replies No I can't. Would you... Prospect replies No I would not. Direct questions get direct answers. Name me one.. How much do you.. Tell me one.. ASK DIRECT QUESTIONS....

Example 2: (Right Way)

Hi Gordon! (he replies speaking:) Gordon this is Bud Fox SPEAKING (pause) from xyz corp (pause). How are you?

-Always use speaking when cold calling (e.g. This is Bud Fox SPEAKING from xyz corp) . This demands attention and respect.

-Always be firm and loud during the introduction. This part of the call is the equivolent of you shaking hands and making strong eye contact, if he were sitting before you.

- Here's a tip: On the way to work in the morning I used to scream as loud as I could in the car, this way by the time I got into the office my voice was loud, confident and powerful. Try it!! Works Great!

Last thing I wanted to address is QUALITY LEADS:

To me there is absolutely no substitute for a good quality lead source. I've heard people say things like: don't ever pay over 10c for a name, or don't buy from vendors. From my own experience this couldn't be farther from the truth. To buy 10c leads is a complete disservice to your businesses prosperity, as well as your financial growth. From my own experience there is nothing worse than cold calling people day in and day out who are not interested in your products. You can have the best product in the world but without a qualified investor/buyer you're not gonna make it very far.

I would buy qualified leads, cold call for a fraction of the time, get 5-10 times more leads, and open a slew of new accounts, compared to someone who was calling cheap stuff. It's a complete waste of time. I've been down that road many times, and it always came back to bite me in the . Besides the extra money you pay in leads comes back to you 10,000 fold, with the business you generate from qualified leads.Good Luck!!!

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