Cold calling

_________________________________________________ Overcoming the Fear of Cold Calling 1
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Overcoming the
Fear of
Cold Calling
Jeffrey J. Mayer
From the author of Opening Doors with a Brilliant Elevator
Speech, Winning The Fight Between You and Your Desk
and Creating Opportunities by Networking
Learn how to use the telephone to create
new opportunities, close more sales
and make more money.

Overcoming the
Fear of
Cold Calling
NOTICE: This Training Manual is licensed to the original purchaser only. Du-
plication or distribution via e-mail, floppy disk, network, printout, or other
means to a person other than the original purchaser is a violation of International
copyright law and subjects the violator to fines and/or imprisonment.
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 by Jeffrey J. Mayer and Succeeding In Business, Inc. All
rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form, by any
means (including electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the
prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by
Succeeding In Business, Inc.
50 East Bellevue Place
Chicago, IL 60611
312-944-4184
Jeff@SucceedingInBusiness.com

Copyright ......................................................................................... 2
Table of Contents ............................................................................. 3
Jeffrey Mayer’s Tele-Mentoring Program.......................................... 7
eBooks by Jeffrey J. Mayer ............................................................... 8
Books by Jeffrey J. Mayer ................................................................. 8
Your Comments About This Training Manual................................... 8
Overcoming The Fear Of Cold Calling ............................................. 9
Getting The Most Out Of This Training Manual.............................. 12
Review The Training Manual From Beginning To End .............. 13
A Short Quiz .................................................................................. 14
I’ve Been Selling For 30 Years ....................................................... 15
Learn To Love The Phone............................................................... 18
The One-Percent Rule .................................................................... 18
You Must Be Prospecting Every Day......................................... 20
Your Goal Is To Search For Prospects
Who Are In The Market TODAY........................................... 21
Expect Rejection, But Don’t Take It Personally......................... 22
Search For People You Like ...................................................... 23
The Rule Of A Hundred ................................................................. 23
Your First Pass Through The Stack ........................................... 24
Your Second Pass Through The Stack ....................................... 25
Making The Rule Of A Hundred Work For You ........................ 27
Deciding When To Discard A Name .......................................... 28
Your Goal Is To Find Large Numbers Of Prospects ........................ 30
Table of Contents

Processing Your Leads ................................................................... 33
Put Each Lead On A Separate Piece Of Paper............................ 33
Record Detailed Notes Of Every Telephone Call ....................... 34
Use Cryptic Marks To Save Yourself Time ................................ 38
Finding People You’ve Left Messages For ................................ 38
Don’t Leave Voice Mail Messages............................................. 39
Working Your Lists Of Names .................................................. 40
Don’t Write Names And Addresses By Hand......................... 40
Don’t Work Your List From Your Database.......................... 40
Don’t Research Your Prospects Prior To Calling Them ........ 41
Getting The Most From Your Business Cards....................... 41
Getting The Most From Bingo Or Reader Response Cards........ 42
Working The System.................................................................. 43
Keeping Track Of Your Telephone Activity ............................... 44
Schedule Time To Make Your Calls ................................................ 45
Schedule An Appointment With Yourself .................................. 46
Adding Prospects To Your Database ............................................... 47
Putting Your Prospects Into Your Database............................... 49
Finding People In Your Database .............................................. 50
Write Notes of Meetings And Conversations ............................. 50
Schedule Follow-Up Calls and Things To Do............................ 51
No Naked Records: Keep In Touch With Your
Customers, Clients And Prospects ........................................ 51
You Need A Great Elevator Speech ................................................ 52
Passing The SO WHAT! Test ..................................................... 54
Keeping The Conversation Going.............................................. 55
Examples Of Good Elevator Speeches ...................................... 55

Create Your Elevator Speech..................................................... 56
Do You Have A Moment................................................................ 57
Blowing Through Leads ............................................................ 58
Five Words That Changed My Life ............................................ 58
A Simple Yes Or No Question................................................... 59
Making Your Telephone Call .......................................................... 60
Step 1: Do You Have A Moment? ............................................. 61
Step 2: Deliver Your Elevator Speech ....................................... 61
Step 3: I Was Calling to See If I Could Take a Moment.............. 61
Step 4: Use A Turnaround Question .......................................... 62
Using Turnaround Questions .......................................................... 63
Start With Soft Questions.......................................................... 64
Then Ask More Pointed Questions ............................................ 65
Examples Of Client’s Questions................................................ 66
Robert Helps Companies Get Income Tax Refunds ............... 66
Steve Sells Commercial Real Estate...................................... 66
Chris Lends Money ............................................................... 67
Mark Helps People With Their Financial Planning................ 67
Gregg Sells Stainless Steel .................................................... 68
Turnaround Questions Stimulate Conversation ......................... 68
Create Your Own List of Turnaround Questions ....................... 68
How Do You Come Across on the Phone? ..................................... 69
Your Feelings And Emotions Come Across Loud And Clear..... 69
Keep A Smile On Your Face ..................................................... 70
Be Enthusiastic ......................................................................... 71
Hear How Others Hear You ...................................................... 71
Make Your Voice Sound Interesting .......................................... 72

Add Depth And Power To Your Voice ....................................... 73
Improve Your Productivity By Using A Telephone Headset....... 75
Get On The Phone .......................................................................... 75
Getting Through To Your Party ................................................. 76
Take Notes Of The Conversation............................................... 77
How To Call A Stranger ................................................................. 77
Your Call Goes Through ........................................................... 78
You Get Voice Mail................................................................... 79
You Get The Secretary............................................................... 79
Make The Secretary Your Friend........................................... 80
Dealing With Voice Mail ................................................................ 81
The Telephone Is Your Friend ......................................................... 84
Your Comments About This Training Manual................................. 85
Jeffrey Mayer’s Tele-Mentoring Program........................................ 85

Jeffrey Mayer’s Tele-Mentoring Program
Do you want to improve your prospecting and networking skills?
Coldcalling?Telephonetechniques?Timemanagementskills?
Do you want help with your strategic business planning?
Do you want to learn how to ask better questions? Reach
decision makers? Overcome objections?
One-on-one Tele-Coaching is now available for business own-
ers, corporate executives, sales managers and salespeople.
Jeffrey Mayer, president of http://www.SucceedingInBusiness.com, coaches
business people on how to grow their business, close more sales, and make more
money.
Call 312-944-4184 for more information. Or send e-mail - with a phone num-
ber - to mentoring@SucceedingInBusiness.com.
“JeffreyMayerreallyunderstandstheessentialsofrunningasuccessfulandprofitablebusiness.
Heknowshowtofocusinonthekeybusinessissuestogeneratemaximumprofitability.”
NormanR.Bobins,Chairman,President&CEO, LaSalleBank,N.A.ChicagoIL
“JeffreyMayerhasbecomemy"AgentofChange."Hisconceptsareintense,thought
provoking,deepandfarreaching.OverthepastyearIhadtriedabunchofthings.
Nothingworked.OutofdesperationIcalledJeff.Inthefirstmonthweworkedtogether,I
tripledmybusiness.Ifyouwanttogrowyourbusiness,giveJeffacall!”
MarkPallar,President,PallerFinancialServices
“Mysaleshavedoubled,myprofitshavetripled,andI'mworkingfewerhours,sinceI
startedworkingwithJeffreyMayer.”
Gregg Russell, Owner, Hopps Colonial Pharmacy, Homer MI
“My monthly sales doubled from $20,000 to $40,000 after working with Jeffrey Mayer
for only three weeks. His up-selling techniques helped me increase the average size of
my sales from $2200 to $3200. This was a great return on my investment.”
Dave Boekholder, Sales Manager, Digital Canal
“JeffreyMayer,is"TheAnswerMan."Heissototallyamazing.Afterourconversations,
I always wonder how can we bottle or clone this man's brain. I sell to the manufacturing
industry which is so cyclical it makes me wonder why I do it, but Jeffrey, always gives
mecreative,insightfuladvicethatactuallyturnsmydoldrumsintoprofitseverytime!In
the worst times ever, this is the man to call!”
Judy Griggs, President, Preferred Machine Tools

eBooks by Jeffrey J. Mayer
Opening Doors with a Brilliant Elevator Speech
Winning The Fight Between You and Your Desk
Taking Control of Your Day
Creating Opportunities by Networking
Successful People Have A Dream
Setting and Achieving Your Goals
Succeeding In Business
Customizinq Your ACT! Database
Growing Your Business With ACT!
http://www.succeedinginbusiness.com/catalog
Books by Jeffrey J. Mayer
Success is a Journey
If You Haven’t Got the Time to Do It Right,
When Will You Find the Time to Do It Over?
ACT! 2000 For Windows For Dummies
Time Management For Dummies
Winning the Fight Between You and Your Desk
Find the Job You’ve Always Wanted
in Half the Time with Half the Effort
Your CommentsAbout This Training Manual
What are the BEST useable ideas you gained from this Training Manual?
How do you plan to apply these ideas?
How will these ideas help you close more sales and grow your business?
Please send your thoughts/comments to
Comments@SucceedingInBusiness.com.

Overcoming The Fear Of Cold Calling
Fred was very successful in business as a computer consultant.
But the one thing that really bothered him was the fact that he
was unable to schedule appointments with people over the tele-
phone. He was always great in face-to-face meetings. His closing
ratios were very good. But getting that face to face interview was
very challenging.
When Fred had to call on someone he didn’t know — with the
goal of talking with them over the telephone — he was a nervous
wreck. He would do almost anything he could to avoid picking
up the phone. From doing miscellaneous paperwork, to writing
letters and reading e-mail.
And when he finally got up the courage to pick up the phone,
and actually found someone who would take his call, the conver-
sation went something like this:
“My name is Fred Smith, and my company helps busi-
nesses with their computer networking needs. I was
wondering if you had any computer problems.
The person he was speaking to would usually respond by saying
somethinglike:
“Thanks for calling Fred, but we’re all taken care of.”
And the conversation would end in five to ten seconds.
The more Fred got on the phone, the more flustered he became,
and his results got worse. He went through hundreds and hun-
dreds of leads. He didn’t get many appointments. His business
was down. He wasn’t making much money. He was squandering
business opportunities.
One day — out of desperation — he called me, asking for help.
As we talked, he told me of his tale of woe. I asked him why he
felt so comfortable when he was face-to-face with a person —
getting good results — but had such a terrible time when he had

to pick up the phone and make a “cold call.”
Fred explained that when he walked into a prospect’s office, he
would sit down in a chair, make himself comfortable, and look
around the room. He then began asking the customer questions
about:
The knickknacks he saw on the desk,
The pictures of the sailboats on the credenza,
The golf clubs or tennis racket in the corner,
The mementos from numerous vacations on the book
shelves,
As well as the pictures of the person’s family, and the
sunsets in the Caribbean or Hawaii on the wall.
This made Fred comfortable, because he needed the PROPS
that he saw in the office to generate conversation. Once Fred
broke the ice, he was then able to start talking business.
But when he called someone on the phone there weren’t any
props for Fred to talk about. He couldn’t see the person’s desk,
he couldn’t see the pictures, the mementos, the trophies. The
only thing Fred saw was his office. He didn’t know what to say.
He was stumped.
Fred had five basic problems:
1. He didn’t know — or understand the methodology of —
how to use the telephone to get appointments, create
opportunities, close sales, and make money.
2. He didn’t know what to say to a person when he got her
on the phone.
3. He didn’t know how to keep the conversation going by
asking brilliant questions.
4. He didn’t understand the importance of having a large

universe of people to call on.
5. He didn’t have a proven system for finding new pros-
pects.
In just a couple of weeks I taught Fred how to love to use the
phone for cold calling. He learned the art of asking great ques-
tions on the phone, and he learned the importance of having a
large prospect base.
Today Fred loves using the telephone. He sets aside about an
hour a day, and starts calling. His goal is to dial the phone at
least 30 times each day. He’s reaching people, finding opportuni-
ties, closing sales, and making money.
This training manual is going to do the same for you. By the time
you’ve finished reading this training manual you’re going to love
using the telephone. You’ll reach more people, find more oppor-
tunities, close more sales, and make more money.
Here are six questions I want you to answer. It’s OK for you to
write down your answers inside the training manual. (If you
haven’t printed this training manual out, I suggest you do so
now.)
How much time do you spend each day on the telephone
looking for new business?
How many times do you dial the phone each day?
How many new people are you calling on? People that
you’ve never spoken to before.

How many people are you calling that you’ve spoken to
before — either on the phone or met in person — who
didn’t buy from you?
How many telephone calls do you have that end in less
than five seconds? Ten Seconds? Thirty seconds? Sixty
seconds?
How many leads are you going through during the course
of the day, a week, or a month?
Spend more time on the phone, improve your techniques, stop
wasting your leads. You’ll close more sales and make more
money.
Getting The Most Out Of This Training
Manual
This training manual is filled with powerful information that will
help you become much more successful. But it’s going to take
you a bit of time to make these money-making ideas, concepts,
techniques, and strategies your own.
It’s going to take some work on your part as you unlearn old
habits, and learn some new ones. Have faith. These telephone
techniques have worked for me for more than 20 years and have
worked for my consulting clients, who have paid thousands of

dollars to learn them. Put them to use, and they’ll work for you
too. Guaranteed!
I know you can read this on your computer, but it’s my recom-
mendation that you print it out so you can highlight important
information, and write notes to yourself in the margin.
Every once in a while I’m going to ask you some questions, and
I want you to take a few moments to think about and answer
them. You can write your answers in the space provided, or on
the back of one of the pages of this training manual.
Review The Training Manual From Beginning To End
Before you dive into this training manual, take a few minutes to
review it from front to back, so you can get an overview of all
the material that’s being covered.
Study the table of contents, look at the headings and sub-head-
ings. Look at the sections that interest you the most. If you like,
read them first.
If you become engrossed in specific parts of the training manual,
it’s okay to read them. Then go back and start reading the train-
ing manual from the beginning.
As you are reading the training manual, begin to put the informa-
tion to work... IMMEDIATELY. Pick one or two ideas and start
using them. Then pick a third or fourth idea and begin applying
them.
After you’ve completed reading this training manual the first
time, I would also suggest that you reread it a second time, and
even a third time. You’ll be amazed at how much new informa-
tion you’ll pick up with each additional reading.
Within weeks — or maybe a few days — you’ll see dramatic
changes in your results as you begin to put these powerful ideas,
techniques, strategies and concepts into action. In no time at all

you’ll be reaching more decision makers, creating more opportu-
nities, closing more sales and making more money.
A Short Quiz
I’ve a short quiz for you. Here are eleven reasons why most
people hate cold calling. Put a check mark by the ones that apply
to you:
It’s always hard to get started. I just don’t want to pick up
the telephone.
I don’t know what to say.
I don’t have people to call.
I’ve already called the people on my list a dozen times and
it’s depressing to look at their names again.
I don’t know how to explain the benefits of the products
or services I have to offer.
I’ve never been trained in how to use the telephone to
reach decision makers, schedule appointments, and close
sales.
I don’t know what to say because I don’t have a sales
pitch, don’t have a script, or don’t have a great Elevator
Speech.
I’m afraid of getting rejected, and my fear of failure
causes paralysis.
I’m not comfortable picking up the phone because I feel
I’ll be interrupting the prospect.
I can’t reach people because I always get voice mail.
I don’t like calling people because I feel that telephone
salespeople are slimy, and I don’t want to be like all the

other tele-marketers. You know, the ones who are calling
just as you’re about to sit down to dinner.
If you like, you can add more items to the list, but I think I’ve
covered most of the major reasons why people don’t want to
pick up the phone and call prospective customers.
I’ve Been Selling For 30 Years
I’ve been in sales for 30 years now. I started in the property and
casualty insurance business in the early 1970’s and inherited my
father’s insurance agency when he passed away. After several
years, I sold his agency and joined the Northwestern Mutual Life
as a Special Agent.
At the Northwestern Mutual, we were taught that the most effec-
tive way to sell was to send letters of introduction to new pros-
pects and referrals, and then follow-up with a phone call several
days later. I did this for about six months, and then it dawned on
me that nobody — myself included — ever got around to mak-
ing the calls.
We searched for every excuse we could come up with to avoid
picking up the telephone. As a result, many good opportunities
were never captured. Sales weren’t made. And there was no
money in the bank.
One day I came up with a novel idea:
Don’t send the letter
— which took time and cost money —
just pick up the phone and make the call.
Much to my surprise, I started reaching people and scheduling
appointments. While everybody else was sending letters, I was
actually meeting with prospects and closing sales.

I remember one instance where I phoned Joan Brown, and had
got an appointment. She had recently gotten a promotion and her
name, and photo, had appeared in the newspaper. When I
walked in, the first thing she did was hand me a letter she had
received from Mike, a colleague of mine whose office was down
the hall. While my good friend was sending letters, I was getting
appointments — and closing sales.
In the early 1980’s I came to the realization that selling life insur-
ance wasn’t to be my calling in life. In 1983 I started my consult-
ing, coaching and mentoring practice where I helped people
manage their time, set their priorities and get focused, so they
could grow their business, close more sales and make more
money. (How’s that for an Elevator Speech?)
It was then that I really learned how to use the phone. One day
— as I was making a sales call — it dawned on me, if I didn’t
close the sale, I had wasted my time. I had wasted the other
person’s time. And I didn’t make any money. There had to be a
better way.
I further realized that my goal wasn’t to just get an appointment,
but it was to get an appointment with a person who was inter-
ested in buying something from me.
Have you ever had a meeting with someone, and you
looked at them. And they looked at you, and you both
knew that this wasn’t going to work? Like a bad blind
date?
Well, it’s happened to me a number of times, and after a
lot of analysis, I finally understood why. When I called
and asked for the appointment, the other person said
YES.
But what I failed to do was ask enough questions to
qualify the person as a viable prospect prior to going out
to meet with them.

I know that all the sales training books say you should meet as
many people as you can. Your sales manager and/or your boss
want you to have FACE TIME with your prospects.
But what’s your goal? To meet as many people as you can, or to
meet with people who have an interest in purchasing your prod-
uct or service? And how much time is being wasted. Travel time?
Waiting time? Unproductive meeting time?
Wasted time. Wasted effort. Wasted energy. And no money!
By using the telephone more effectively you can improve your
results... geometrically.
During a phone call with a prospect I asked him what his
closing ratios were. He said about 1 in 6. About 15 per-
cent.
I pointed out that with a 15 percent closing ratio, 85 per-
cent of his selling time was wasted. If he were only to
waste 75 percent of his time he would double his income.
He hired me on the spot.
How do you better qualify people over the phone? You ask
better questions. (More on that later.)
But before you rush out to meet with people, here are eight
questions you need to get answered:
Do they have a need for your product or service?
Why would they need it?
What is the problem you will be solving?
Do they want to solve the problem? Is it their problem to
solve?
What will be the value to them if the problem is solved?
Or what will be the cost to them if they do nothing?
What is their position within the company or organization?

Are they a decision maker? Do they have the authority to
sign a check?
How do they go about making decisions?
Learn To Love The Phone
Most people hate using the telephone for cold calling. And their
results become self-fulfilling prophecy. But I look at the tele-
phone as a wonderful time-saving tool.
When used properly, it enables you to separate buyers — people
who are going to do business with you — from tire kickers,
those who are going to ask lots of questions, have you jump
through hoops, waste lots of your time, but never place an order.
This does two very powerful things for you:
1. You’ve more time to spend with the people who are going
to buy from you. This helps you to close the sale because
you’re more focused on the customer’s needs.
2. You’ve more time to get on the phone to look for — and
find — more prospects (people or businesses) who are in
the market to buy from you... TODAY. You can do this
because you quickly identify the people who aren’t going
to buy from you, before you spend 30, 60, or 90 days
chasing them.
Change your perspective. Learn to love the phone. The tele-
phone is the most effective time management tool you have. Use
it more effectively, and your income will soar.
The One-Percent Rule
Ever since I started selling, more than 30 years, I’ve always
wondered why sales people who were very successful early in

their career never continued their meteoric rise into the strato-
sphere. At some point their production always flattens and levels
out. And then, after a period of time, it actually begins to decline.
After studying and analyzing this, I came to the conclusion that
most people stop prospecting, i.e. looking for new customers.
Here are four reasons:
1. They get bogged down with paperwork, service work,
and all other types of miscellaneous activities.
2. They spend hours of time creating proposals and presen-
tations for people who don’t buy. Then after the
presentation’s are made, the customer says “Let me think
about it.” and the sales rep spends the next 30, 60, or 90
days diligently following up on a person who will never
place an order.
3. They stop doing the activities that made them so success-
ful — like getting on the telephone and looking for new
customers — in the first place. I’ve known many sales-
people who couldn’t wait to hire an assistant so they
wouldn’t have to get on the phone and call their “custom-
ers.” But whose business is it anyway? The salesman’s or
the assistant’s?
And who is better equipped to determine whether or not a
person is indeed a prospect? The salesman or the assis-
tant?
4. They get the “I’m so successful, I don’t have to prospect
anymore” attitude. They feel that they don’t have to cold
call. They develop ATTITUDE. How many salespeople
have you heard say, “I don’t cold call anymore?”
My wife and I were looking for a new car.
Actually, she was the one who wanted the new

car. I was invited along just to pay for it.
After test driving many different cars we (she)
decided to purchase a Mercedes-Benz. Dur-
ing one of our meetings with Bob, the sales-
man, he said to me, “I’ve read a number of
your ACT! and time management books,
knew that you lived only three blocks away,
and often thought about calling you.”
“Why didn’t you?” I asked. Bob explained that he doesn’t do
any cold calling. (With attitude.) How stupid I thought!
You Must Be Prospecting Every Day
To be successful in sales — and in business — you must be
prospecting every single day. I don’t mean calling on the same
people over, and over again. I mean calling on people whom
you’ve never spoken with before. Yes, I know lots of people
who say they work only by referral, or get the majority of their
business by referral. But I’ve yet to meet anybody who finds
enough prospects to keep their business — or income — grow-
ing by leaps and bounds.
Furthermore, when the referral sources dry up, or the rate of
referrals slows down, the salesperson has no new source of
leads. For most salespeople — and even business owners — it’s
been so long since they’ve looked for new prospects that
they’ve forgotten how to do it. As a result, their business — and
income — suffers terribly.
On the other hand, when you aggressively look for new business
day-in and day-out you find it.
To be successful in sales, you must have a large universe of
prospects. This guarantees that you will never run out of people
to call.

From this realization I created my One-Percent Rule:
You Will Sell One
Out Of Every 100 Prospects.
When you know you’re only going to sell one out of every
hundred prospects, you need to create a system that enables you
to find a lot of people to call on. When you’re calling on new
people every day, your success is almost guaranteed. With this
knowledge, you’re always prospecting. If you want to make two
sales, you must have 200 prospects. To make three sales you
need 300 prospects.
Now, I do want to say that I’ve found the odds to be a bit better
than one out of a hundred. Sometimes it may be three, four, or
five percent.
But when you realize that you’re only going to sell one out of
every hundred prospects, then you need to create a methodol-
ogy for processing lots of names quickly and efficiently. That’s
where the telephone comes in. By having great telephone tech-
niques, you save yourself time because you’re better able to
qualify your prospects. This enables you to spend more time
with buyers and much less time with non-buyers.
Your Goal Is To Search For Prospects Who Are In The
MarketTODAY
The goal is not to meet as many people as you possibly can,
because traveling to — and meeting with — people who were
not going to buy is a huge time waster.
The goal is to use the telephone to identify and qualify people
who are in the market today, and then have additional meetings
with them — either by phone or in person — to determine their
level of interest. When you know that only one out of every

hundred people is going to buy from you, the challenge is to find
the one person who will become a customer and eliminate the
rest. Then find another hundred prospects to call on.
SalesGoal: Find a prospect a day. Imagine how successful you
would be if you were able to find a good prospect every day.
Five prospects a week. Twenty prospects a month. When
you know that only one of every hundred prospects is going
to buy from you, your challenge is to go through that pros-
pect list as quickly and efficiently as you can.
Expect Rejection, But Don’t Take It Personally
One reason people hate cold calling is that they don’t like being
rejected. Don’t take the rejection personally.
When someone says they aren’t interested, they aren’t rejecting
you. They’re just stating that they don’t need whatever it is your
selling.
What’s the worst thing that can happen to you? They can yell at
you. They can hang up the phone. But ninety-nine times out of a
hundred, the person will be polite. And if the person’s nasty or
abusive, you can always hang up on them.
Not everybody’s going to be happy that you called.
Not everybody’s going to want to talk to you.
Not everybody’s going to have a need for whatever it is
you sell.
The beauty of using the telephone, is that you can find this out
quickly, without investing a lot of time, effort and energy on
someone who isn’t going to buy. When you know that only one
in a hundred are going to buy, this prospect is just one of the 99
who aren’t.
Remember: Only one of every hundred prospects is going to
buy from you. So this person is one of the 99 who aren’t. So

don’t let a bad call get you down. Be thick-skinned. Expect
rejection.
Search For People You Like
One of the great benefits of using the One Percent Rule is that it
enables you to be selective. It enables you to search for people
that you like.
You goal is to fill up your database with people who like you,
and people that you like, so all of you can have some fun and be
more successful.
And because you’re always looking for new prospects, no single
opportunity becomes that important to you. If this one doesn’t
close, you know that you’ll be able to find another.
And don’t succumb to Big-Case-Itis. Life is much easier when
you’re doing business with lots of smaller customers, than a
handful of very large — and demanding — customers.
SuccessTip: Spend your whole life looking for people that you
like, and like you. You’ll have a wonderful career.
The Rule Of A Hundred
My Rule Of A Hundred goes hand-in-hand with my One Percent
Rule. The Rule Of A Hundred explains what happens when you
process 100 leads.
Let’s assume that you had a list of 100 prospects. Now this list
of 100 names isn’t printed on a few pieces of paper — like a
spreadsheet, or in columns. Instead, you have 100 pieces of
paper and on each piece is the person’s name, address, phone
number(s), and other information.
In the old days, 30 years ago, I used to hand-write names
on 3x5 index cards. Then I would put the stack of cards

on the top of the desk and start calling the prospects one
at a time as I worked my way through the stack. We called
it “dialing for dollars.”
Let’s further assume that you had a stack of names all of whom
were prospects that you had never called on — or attempted to
reach — before.
As you sit down at your desk you start with the name at the top
of the stack, and begin calling one person after another, as you
work your way from top to bottom.
Your First Pass Through The Stack
On your first pass through the stack, you will reach about 30
percent of the people, meaning you will actually speak to 30 of
those 100 people. As you talk with them you’re going to find that
these people fall into one of four categories;
1. Good Prospects. One, two, three or maybe even four of
them are really interested in the products or services you
have to offer. (Your ability to find real prospects does in
fact depend upon the quality of you’re telephone skills.
But that’s why you’re reading this training manual.)
2. Potential Prospects. You’re also going to speak to a
handful of people — maybe one, two, or three — who
will ask you to call back in one week, two weeks, or a
month and they’ll actually be interested in buying some-
thing.
3. Time Wasters. This group of people will ask you to call
back at a later time, or maybe ask you to send something,
and when you do, they will in fact show no interest in
talking to you. These become huge time wasters.
4. No Interest. The balance of the people will say that they
have no interest at all. It’s my recommendation that you
throw their names away. Your goal is to find people who

are in the market — or have a need — for the product or
service you sell at the very moment you call them. When
someone tells you they aren’t interested, let them go and
continue your search for a better prospect.
Your Second Pass Through The Stack
You’ve gone through your stack of prospects once and have
spoken with 30 people. There are 70 people who you have not
yet reached. As you work your way through the list a second
time you should expect to speak with about 20 more people, (30
percent of the those remaining).
Of those 20, once again you are going to find one, two or maybe
three people who are real prospects. The rest have no interest.
To summarize where we are so far, you started with a list of 100
people. You’ve spoken with 50 of them and have found four,
five, or maybe six people — prospects — who are sincerely
interested in doing business with you. As you work your way
through your sales process one, two or maybe three of them will
make a purchase and become a customer.
Trying To Reach The Remaining 50 Percent
You now have 50 people left from the original stack, you’ve tried
to reach them twice and have been unsuccessful. What do you
think your probability of getting through to them on the third,
fourth, fifth, or the sixth time will be? Do you think you’re odds
get better? Or do they get worse?
You are now facing what economists call the Law of Diminishing
Returns. The more time you spend trying to reach these people,
the poorer your results. You are attempting to reach people who
are not reachable. And if a person is not reachable, even though
they may appear to be a great prospect on paper, they aren’t a
prospect.
This is why so many sales people complain about their inability

to reach a prospect. They have already spoken to the people
who are available, and are now calling the group of people who
are always
In a meeting,
On the phone, or
Away from the office.
And though they leave voice mail messages, the messages are
never returned.
They are spending all their time trying to reach people who are
NOT available. People who
Don’t return phone calls,
Don’t respond to voice mail, and
Don’t respond to e-mail messages.
Is it any wonder why they aren’t creating new opportunities,
closing sales, and making money?
It has been my experience that these are the group of people that
are largely unreachable. And should you be fortunate enough to
get one of them on the phone, the person usually says something
like:
“I can’t talk to you now. Please call me tomorrow.”
When you call tomorrow you are told by the person’s
assistant that they’ve gone on vacation for two weeks.
And you think that they didn’t remember they were leaving
town when they spoke with you the day before? They
were just blowing you off. or
“I can’t talk to you now. Just send me something.”
You being the good soldier that you are, put together a
presentation and mail it out because you think you’ve a
real prospect. Then you start the follow-up process within

the next few days.
The problem with this scenario is that once you put this
person into your follow-up system you continue to follow
up with them on a regular basis. You call and they don’t
answer their phone. You leave voice mail messages and/or
messages with the person’s assistant that are not re-
sponded to. You send letters, faxes and/or e-mail mes-
sages that are ignored.
All in all, you end up wasting a whole lot of time, effort, energy
and money. It gets depressing. And because you think you’ve a
prospect, it keeps you from calling someone else. Worst of all,
you don’t have any money in your pocket.
MakingTheRuleOfAHundredWorkForYou
This is how you make the Rule Of A Hundred work for you. You
start with your list of 100 prospects. You work the list, and on
the first two passes will speak to about 50 percent of them, i.e.
50 people.
Of the people you speak to, you are going to find five or six
people who will have an interest in your products or services.
You will probably sell one, two or three of them.
The likelihood that you’re going to have much success creating
opportunities from the remaining 50 people, the ones you
haven’t been able to reach yet, isn’t very good. (If you don’t
believe me, keep your own records and test it out. I describe
how to process lists of prospects in the section on Processing
Your Leads.
As you work your prospect list — calling for the forth, fifth,
sixth or twelfth time — you will find that it gets harder and
harder to reach the remaining people. They just aren’t available.
And should you be successful in reaching one of these people,
the likelihood that you’ll actually create an opportunity and close

a sale is rather remote.
It is my recommendation that you set a limit as to the number of
times you try to contact a prospect. When you reach that limit,
it’s time to throw the name away, and find a better prospect.
For myself I usually try and reach somebody three, four, or five
times over the course of a three to four week period. Afterwards
I throw the name away and move on.
Deciding When To Discard A Name
You need to set your own limits as to the number of times you
want to attempt to reach somebody before you decide to dis-
card the name and move on. Maybe my limit of four or five
times is too low for you.
Perhaps you should try six, seven or eight. Or maybe ten, fifteen,
or twenty. But at some point you must come to the realization
that you’ve invested enough time, effort and energy on this
person. You haven’t gotten through. You haven’t created an
opportunity. It’s time to move on.
This is probably why you’re having so much trouble getting your
calls returned. You continue to call on — and leave messages for
— people who aren’t available, or have no interest in talking with
you.
Back in the days when I was selling life insurance for the
Northwestern Mutual, we were trained to write each
prospect’s name, address and phone number on 3x5"
index cards.
When I called somebody I wrote the date and a brief
summary of my attempt to reach them on the card. When
I ran out of space on the front of the card I wrote on the
back.
When I ran out of space on the back, I continued on a

second card which I stapled to the first one. At 9:00 a.m. I
would get on the phone and start calling my 30 prospects,
just like I was supposed to do. But I was calling the same
30 — unreachable — people every day.
Within fifteen to thirty minutes I had called everybody,
leaving messages — that weren’t returned — with most of
them. It was now 9:30 a.m. and I didn’t know what to do
next. It never dawned on me that at some point I should
throw the name away and find a better prospect.
I know you’ve been taught that to be successful in sales you’ve
got to be persistent. Calling prospects over and over again until
you reach them.
Some people are more than persistent, they’re just plain stub-
born. Their attitude is: “I’m going to call on them till they buy
or they die.”
But life is too short.
STOP trying to reach people that aren’t reachable!
STOP trying to sell people that don’t want to buy
from you!
STOP trying to force a square peg into a round hole!
Look for someone who is available to talk with you on the
phone. Look for someone who is interested in hearing what it is
you have to say. Look for the person who is in the market to do
business with you... TODAY.
Yes, I know of people who have gotten major accounts because
they called on them for years. In fact, I was doing a speech in
New York for a title insurance company, and one of the members
of the audience said with a great deal of pride, “It took me ten

years to get my biggest customer.”
Okay, this guy was successful in getting a customer after chasing
him for ten years, but how much time, effort and energy was
expended? How many other sales could he have made with
people who would have been happy to work with him?
Also, when it takes a salesperson that long to get a customer, it’s
telling me something else:
He didn’t go in there with the idea of solving the
prospect’s problems.
He didn’t find out what the prospect wanted or needed.
He didn’t offer viable solutions.
He was just waiting for the current supplier to screw up big-time,
leave the business, or die. Then he was hoping he would be able
to come in as the replacement supplier.
Your Goal Is To Find Large Numbers Of
Prospects
To be successful in sales, you need to have lots of prospects. If
you don’t you’re forced to call on the same people over and
over again, and it doesn’t take long to wear out your welcome.
One day I had a conversation with a woman who sold
commercial printing. Her sales manager had given her a list
of 50 commercial accounts to call on and told her that
these were the only companies that were viable prospects
for her company.
As we talked, I asked her what she would do after she had
spoken with all 50 companies. (Assuming a few would
buy, most would have no interest, and the remainder
wouldn’t be reachable.) She said she didn’t know.

When you’ve a small number of prospects, every one of
them becomes very important to your overall success.
You become a prisoner to them.
Use your imagination to find prospects. Remember, if only one
out of every hundred leads are going to do business with you,
your challenge is to process that list of 100 people as quickly as
possible, find those who will buy from you, then find another list
of 100 people to call.
Here are ten sources for business leads:
1. Go Through Your Customer List. Most business- and
salespeople do a terrible job of staying in touch with their
customers. Go through your customer list and see how
many people you haven’t spoken with in the past six to
twelve months. Give them a call.
2. Work Your Database. Go through your database and
look for the prospects you haven’t called in months. Give
them a call and find out what they need.
If you don’t have a good database program issued get
yourself a copy of ACT!.
3. Buy Lists of Names. Go to your favorite search engine,
and type in Business Leads or Mailing Lists. Here are
some places you can start with www.infousa.com,
www.zapdata.com, www.goleads.com, or
www.hoovers.com .
4. Buy a Directory. Buy lists from a manufacturer’s direc-
tory. (Go to Google enter Manufacturer Directories, and
you’ll have a huge list to choose from.) Let me add this:
You want the list as a computer file, not a printed list or a
big-thick book. That way you can print out the list and
have one prospect on a single page. (More on this in a
moment.)

5. Join Business and Trade Organizations. Join local
business organizations such as the Chamber of Com-
merce. Get involved in your industry trade groups and
associations.
6. The Book of Lists. The American City Business Journal
publishes a Book of Lists, giving you essential information
on the leading buyers, businesses and employers in over
60 of the U.S.’s most dynamic markets. Here’s the link:
http://www.bizjournals.com/sales_prospecting
7. Your Local Newspaper. Look through your local news-
paper, for the names of people and/or companies that are
doing things. Give these people a call.
8. Your Trade Journals. Look through your trade journals,
and/or industry publications for the names of people and/
or companies that are doing things. Give these people a
call.
9. Network. Become a better networker. If you want some
help improving your networking skills, get yourself a copy
of my eBook Creating Opportunities by Networking.
Here’s the link to order a copy.
http://www.SucceedingInBusiness.com/catalog
10. Capture Leads From Your Web Site. Another great
source of leads is the Internet and your Web site. I have
designed my SucceedingInBusiness.com Web site to
capture as many leads as I can using fill-in-the-blank Web
forms.
When someone clicks the Submit button, I immediately
receive an e-mail message with the details of the informa-
tion that was filled out on the Web form. I then print out
the e-mail message, and have a prospect sheet with the
person’s name, address, and phone number for me to call.

I read an article one day of a company that has taken Web
forms to an even higher level. When a prospect completes
the form and clicks the Submit button a message is imme-
diately sent to the sales rep’s cell phone where he calls the
prospect — and tries to answer questions, or close the
sale — while the prospect is still looking at the Web page.
SalesTip: These two Web form questions changed my life:
WHAT DO YOU NEED? and HOW CAN I HELP YOU?
Put them on your Web site and your prospects will tell you
exactly what they’re looking for.
Processing Your Leads
To be effective when cold calling on the telephone you need to
have an easy-to-use methodology for processing your leads.
Going back to my One Percent Rule, when you know that only
one out of every hundred prospects are going to buy, sales and
prospecting becomes a huge numbers game. Your goal is to
process your names quickly and efficiently.
This is what you do:
1. Work your way through the list of prospects.
2. Find those who are interested in buying,
3. Discard those who aren’t interested.
4. Come up with another list of names.
In the previous section, I discussed different ways that you
could find leads. Now we’ll cover how to contact them.
Put Each Lead On A Separate Piece Of Paper
I’ve found the most effective way to process lists of names is to
have one name per piece of paper. This could include the
person’s

Name,
Mailing address,
Phone number,
E-mail address,
SIC code information,
and any other information that may have been included in your
purchased list.
By having each prospect’s name on a separate piece of paper —
as opposed to working from a list with 15 to 20 names on it, or
from a database — you can efficiently work with each prospect
individually. This flexibility enables you to shuffle the pieces of
paper, like a deck of cards so to speak, as you work your way
through the list of names.
This is how it works:
When you call someone, and they aren’t in, put the piece
of paper at the bottom of the stack. (I discuss how to
keep notes in a moment.)
When you call someone, who isn’t in, and you choose to
leave a message, put the piece of paper at the bottom of
the stack and hope they call you back. (I discuss leaving
messages in a moment.)
When you speak with someone and they’re interested in
having further conversations with you, add them to your
database and schedule your meeting or follow-up activity.
When you speak with someone and they’ve no interest in
having further conversations with you, throw the name
away.
Record Detailed Notes Of Every Telephone Call
You want your leads on separate pieces of paper because it

enables you to write notes to yourself about each person as
you’re trying to reach them. The more detailed your notes, the
greater your ability to separate buyers from non-buyers. Your
notes would include such information as:
The date you called. Should you speak with an assistant
or receptionist, and they tell you the person you’re trying
to reach is on the phone or in a meeting, you may want to
record the time you called. Then try to reach them in
another 15 to 30 minutes, or whenever you think it would
be appropriate.
The names of people you may have spoken to, i.e secre-
taries, receptionists or assistants.
Any specific information you may have obtained from the
secretary, receptionist, or assistant. This could be any of
these five things:
1. If the boss is on the phone, you could ask if she’ll be
long or short, i.e. should you hold for a moment, or
call back later.
2. If the boss is out of the office, you could ask when
she’ll be returning.
3. If the boss is in a meeting, you could ask how long the
meeting will run? Or when do you expect the meeting
to be over? Or will she be tied up for the rest of the
morning or all day?
4. If the boss is out of town, you could ask when she is
expected to return?
5. If you’ve tried to reach someone a number of times —
and have been unsuccessful — you could ask when
would be the best time to try reach her?

Important: Whenever you speak with a secretary, recep-
tionist, or assistant, always ask if the person you’re try-
ing to reach has a direct number or extension. Once
you’ve got the person’s direct number or extension you
no longer have to talk with the gate keeper or screener.
Details of any messages you may have left with a secre-
tary, receptionist, or assistant, or as voice mail.
When leaving a voice mail message, pay attention to the
prospect’s outgoing voice mail message. If she’s kind
enough to leave her cell phone or pager number write it
down and give them a call.
The more detailed your notes, the easier it will be for you to
determine the best time to try to reach your prospect.
For myself, I use a red felt-tip pen and always jot my notes in the
upper right-hand corner of the page.
If you left the person a voice mail message, write a quick
summary of your message on the person’s prospect
sheet.
If you spoke with the person’s assistant and left a mes-
sage, make a notation of what you said and with whom
you spoke..
TelephoneTip: When you leave a voice mail message, always
leave your phone number twice. Once at the beginning of
your message and again at the end.
If you learned from an assistant or receptionist that the person’s
going to be out of town for the next week, jot that information
down and write a note to give them a call after they return. Then
put the piece of paper at the bottom of the stack and call the next
person.

On Wed Dec 5 09:57:33 2002,
The following information was submitted:
Host:206.19.24.279
name = Stephanie Morse
company = Delta Communications
position = Business Development Specialist
address = 8761 N. First Street
city = Orlando,
state = Florida
zip=32819
submit_by = stephanie@DeltaComm.com
phone = 407-798-3388 ext 198
comments = I am not afraid to pick up the phone,
but I have yet to come up with a script that
grabs the person on the other line. I would like
to ask questions that will 1. qualify my prospect
2. That will lead to an appointment.
Would you please send me more information
about business coaching.
Kind regards
Stephanie
Here is an example of one of my prospect sheets.
12/5 -Left voice
mail message
12/11 - Ret’d my call,
but I wasn’t in. Called
and left another voice
mail message
12/16 - Ret’d my call. We
talked and scheduled a
phone call for 12/17.
12/9 - Left a 2nd
voice mail
message

Use Cryptic Marks To Save Yourself Time
To save yourself time, and make it easier for you to record your
telephone attempts, use cryptic marks or notations as shorthand
for your telephone activity.
It’s important to keep track of how many times you tried to
reach someone — and left messages — because you don’t want
to be calling the same people over and over.. After a certain
number of tries you must move on and find a better prospect.
Once again, to summarize the Rule Of A Hundred, if you’ve 100
prospects, you’ll speak with about half of them on your first two
attempts. The remaining 50 prospects will be much more difficult
to reach. When you’ve reached your limit for attempting to reach
these people, throw the name away and call on somebody new.
Finding People You’ve Left Messages For
Once you’ve left a message for someone, you need to have a
methodology for finding the piece of paper with the person’s
name on it, should they call you back. For myself, I keep col-
ored highlighters on my desktop. This is how you use them to
indicate that you’ve left a person a message:
1. When you leave a message for someone, draw a stripe
down the left-hand edge of the page with the marker. (See
sample prospect sheet on page 37.
2. Write a note to yourself that you left a voice mail message.
3. Put that piece of paper at the bottom of the stack.
4. Call another prospect.
Should the person call you back, look through the stack, starting
from the bottom, and search for papers with colored lines. When
you find one with a colored line, look for the person’s name. If
it’s not the person you’re looking for, keep searching through the
stack.

With this system you should be able to find the person you’re
searching for within just a few moments. This method has
worked very well for me for the better part of the past 15 to 20
years.
Until you’ve actually spoken with someone, and determined that
they’ve an interest in having further conversations with you,
don’t put the prospect into your database. Typing name and
address information into your computer for people who aren’t
going to be doing business with you is a huge time-waster.
Don’t Leave Voice Mail Messages
In the previous section I explained how to find people that
you’ve left voice mail messages for. Here are my three reasons
why I don’t recommend leaving voice mail messages:
1. Most people never get around to returning phone calls.
And as a salesperson it’s your job to reach them. It isn’t
their job to reach you.
2. If a person were to return your phone call, what’s the
likelihood that you’ll be available to take the call? Not very
great, because you’re going to be on the phone, in a
meeting, out of the office or doing paperwork. So they
leave a message and the two of you end up playing tele-
phone tag.
3. During the time it takes you to listen to the prospects
voice mail message, and then leave your message, you
could have dialed two or three more people.
Remember: Your goal is to call as many people as you can, as
you search for someone who is available — at this very
moment — to talk with you on the telephone.
I discuss leaving voice mail messages later on in this training
manual.

WorkingYourListsOfNames
If you’ve purchased a lists of names, don’t work from a printed
list. Perform a mail merge from your word processor or spread-
sheet and have the output go to one prospect per page, as if you
were printing an envelope or writing a letter.
When you buy your list of names, you’ll probably get several
thousands leads, so only print them out in groups of one or two
hundred at a time. You don’t want to be swamped with so many
leads that you feel overwhelmed.
Don’t Write Names And Addresses By Hand
Your whole objective in cold calling is to process as many names
as possible in the shortest period of time as you try to find
people who may have an interest in the products or services that
you sell. Any time spent writing names and addresses on pieces
of paper by hand is wasted time. This keeps you from getting on
the phone, looking for prospects, and making money.
Almost all of my leads come from my Web site. When
someone fills out a form and clicks the submit button, an
e-mail message is instantly generated and sent to me.
The information on the completed form is also sent to a
database on the Web site for downloading at a later time,
so that I can add them to my newsletter mailing list. I then
print out the form and I’ve my lead sheet. This was shown
on page 37.
Don’t Work Your List From Your Database
I know of many people who have purchased lists of thousands
of names and then imported them into their database only to find
that the whole process of calling them becomes unwieldy and
unworkable. It also slows their database down to a crawl.
It’s OK to import the list if you’re going to perform a mail
merge, so that you can have one prospect name on a single piece

of paper. However, if this is what you are going to do, I would
suggest that you import the list into a new database, not your
everyday database, that way you won’t fill up your everyday
database with thousands of people you’ll never be working with.
Don’t Research Your Prospects Prior To Calling Them
I know many sales trainers who recommend that you research
every prospect prior to contacting them. This could include
visiting their Web site, requesting corporate brochures and cata-
logs, and reviewing annual reports and 10K’s for public corpora-
tions.
From my perspective, I think this is a terrible waste of time.
Remember: When cold calling, your goal is to attempt to reach
— and speak to — as many viable prospects as you can.
Once you’ve spoken with a prospect and have determined that
they have an interest in your products or services — and will
have continuing conversations and discussions with you — you
can then begin researching their company as the two of you get
to know each other better.
Since only one in every hundred prospects are going to do
business with you, don’t waste your valuable and precious time
learning more about the 99 prospects who won’t be interested.
This will free up hours of your time, so you can spend more time
on the phone looking for people who want to learn more about
how you can be of help to them.
Getting The Most From Your Business Cards
As a good networker, you should be meeting people every day
and collecting business cards. After you speak with someone,
write notes to yourself on the front or back of the person’s
business card about who they are, what they do, and whether or
not you think they are a prospect.

If they are someone you want to keep in touch with, add them to
your database ‘and schedule a follow-up to give them a call as
soon as you get back to your office.
The single greatest failure most networkers have is that they
never follow up with the people they meet. If you want to be-
come a great networker visit by my www.SucceedingIn
Business.com Web site and pick up a copy of my Creating
Opportunities by Networking eBook. Here’s the link to order
your copy: http://www.SucceedingInBusiness.com/catalog
As an alternative to taking the time to enter all of your newly
collected business cards into your computer, you can scotch
tape each card to a blank piece of paper and then add them in
your stack of prospects to call. I like scotch tape better than
staples because tape sticks better on the card and they lay flatter.
Once you’ve spoken with a prospect and they’ve an interest in
having additional business conversations with you, add them into
your database.
TimeSavingTip: If you collect a lot of business cards and want
an easy way to put them inside your computer, get yourself a
business card scanner.
Getting The Most From Bingo Or Reader Response
Cards
Many businesses get leads from Bingo or Reader Response Cards
that they use as advertisements in business or industry trade jour-
nals. When a prospect shows an interest in a company’s product
or service, she fills out the card and mails it in.
Once again, I think it’s a big time-waster to enter the prospect’s
name and contact information into the company database before
you’ve had a chance to talk with the prospect to determine her
level of interest.

I would recommend that you handle the lead the same way you
handle a business card. Scotch tape the card to a piece of paper
and place it at the top of your stack of people to call. Then
handle it in the same manner you would any other business lead.
WorkingTheSystem
Your goal is to have such a large stack of leads that no one
person, business, or opportunity becomes very important to
you. When you’ve a huge universe of prospects you’ve freedom
and independence.
You must, however, continue to add fresh leads to your stack. It
does you no good to have a list of 30, 50, 100, or 250 people,
each of whom you’ve tried to reach a dozen times. For your list
to stay alive you must constantly be pruning it. Adding new
people and removing those that aren’t interested or aren’t reach-
able.
This is how you work the system:
1. Add new people to your stack of leads every day. This
can come from referrals from clients or spheres of influ-
ence, networking activities, your Web site, Bingo or Refer-
ral Cards or other sources.
2. Schedule time to get on the phone every day and search
for people who are interested in your product or service.
People who have a problem that you can solve.
As you spend time on the phone — working your pros-
pect list — your stack of leads will get smaller. With each
call one of three things will happen:
1. The person you are speaking to becomes a prospect
with whom you will have additional conversations. You
put the person into your database and schedule a

meeting or an appropriate follow-up. Hopefully, it will
turn into a sale.
2. You speak to the person and they indicate that they
have no interest. You throw the name away.
3. After having tried to reach the person a certain number
of times you decide it’s time to move on. You throw
the lead away and stop calling them.
KeepingTrackOfYourTelephoneActivity
If you want to keep track of your dialing activity, here’s a tech-
nique you can use to see how effective you are on the telephone.
At the beginning of each day take a blank piece of paper and do
thefollowing:
1. Place a dot on the paper each time you dial an outbound
call. For ease of record-keeping, place 10 dots on a line,
and then continue on the following line.
2. When you speak with someone, put a check mark through
one of the dots.
3. When you find someone who is interested in having addi-
tional conversations with you, place a hash mark through
the check mark.
4. When you schedule an appointment, place two hash
marks through the check mark.
This is how it would look on your page.
At the end of the day, record the total of how many times you
dialed the phone, how many people you spoke to, how many
had an interest in talking with you further, and how many people
| ||

you schedule appointments with. Then record your telephone
results in a word processing document or spreadsheet.
Over time, you’ll develop your own statistics for your telephone
efficiency for reaching prospects.
If you like you can modify this system to your tastes, by using
different colors or by using multiple hash marks. The only thing
that’s important is that you maintain accurate records.
Your success in reaching people increases when you call on
fresh leads — individuals you’ve never spoken to before. Calling
on new people keeps you bright, fresh, alert and on your toes.
Schedule Time To Make Your Calls
Salespeople will find any — and every — excuse they can think
of to avoid picking up the phone and cold calling. But if you
want to be successful, if you want to get ahead, if you want to
earn more money, you’ve got to overcome your fear of cold
calling.
The best way to do it is by picking up the phone. And the best
time to get on the phone is any time you’ve got some free time.
When I started my career with the Northwestern Mutual
Life, I was told that you’re only in the business when
you’re on the phone trying to schedule an appointment
with a prospect, or you’re having a face-to-face meeting
with a prospect. When you’re doing any other activity or
task, you’re not in the life insurance business.
Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric used to
say, “Everything we do is either aimed at getting a cus-
tomer or keeping a customer.” Michael Dell, Chairman and
CEO of Dell Computer, spends 40 percent of his time
with customers. Why? Because it’s his job!
How much of your time is spent getting or keeping a customer?

Convert your wasted time into productive time and you can
easily double your business.
Your sole purpose is to get on the phone and find people who
need the products and services that you’re selling. When you’re
doing anything else, you’re not in the business.
Yes, I know that you’ve got to create proposals and presenta-
tions, and do customer service work, but that should be a sec-
ondary activity to getting on the phone.
ScheduleAnAppointmentWithYourself
The best way to guarantee that you get on the phone and look
for customers is to schedule an appointment with yourself.
Block out time on your calendar and keep the appointment. It’s
the most important meeting you’ll have.
Get on the phone early in the day. Do it first, before all the fires,
emergencies, crisis and disasters appear. Plan to have a success-
ful — and profitable — day... every day.
Set aside time for yourself every morning — Monday through
Friday — from 9:00 a.:m. to 11:00 a.m. Schedule the time on
your calendar.
Don’t allow yourself to get interrupted.
Don’t allow yourself to get distracted. And,
Don’t schedule meetings or other appointments during
your phone time.
for if you don’t get on the phone and look for customers, there
won’t be anything else for you to be doing.
And if you’ve no appointments in the afternoon, get on the
phone. Your job is to create opportunities, not to waste your
valuable time doing meaningless paperwork.
I can remember many days when I was still on the phone —

trying to schedule appointments — while everybody else in the
office had gone home. Much to my delight and surprise, I often
found a prospect on what was supposed to be my final call of
the day.
Some days I got up at the crack of dawn and got on the phone
before 7:00 a.m. because I knew my prospects got into the
office early.
One day in February 1989, I got on the phone and
reached Fred Hills, a Sr. Editor at Simon & Schuster.
Fred’s assistant wasn’t around and Fred — who was
sitting at his desk eating lunch — answered the phone
when it rang.
I had only 45 seconds to make my pitch for the book I
was writing, If You Haven’t Got The Time To Do It Right,
When Will You Find The Time To Do It Over?. Fred gave
me permission to send him my proposal, and a few weeks
later he offered me a literary contract — and a $10,000
advance — that launched my literary career.
So don’t look for excuses NOT to get on the phone. Look for
opportunities to speak with people who could have a need for
the products or services you offer.
Adding Prospects To Your Database
Once you’ve spoken with a prospect and determined that
they’ve an interest in having additional conversations or discus-
sions with you about how your products and/or services can be
of help, add them to your database.
If you’re still using a paper-based follow-up system or a daily
planner with a fancy leather-bound binder, I suggest that you
start putting your all of your names, addresses and phone num-

bers into your computer using either a database, contact manager
or a Personal Information Manager (PIM).
I would like to take a quick moment to explain the difference
between a contact manager and a PIM. The difference is how the
information within the program is connected. Each of the pro-
grams have separate modules for:
Contact name and address information,
Notes of meetings and conversations, and
Scheduled meetings, things to-do, and people to call.
The primary difference between a Contact manager and a Per-
sonal Information Manager is that in a Contact manager these
separate modules are automatically linked together. In a PIM,
you must manually link a note, meeting, or to-do with a contact.
For example, ACT! is a true contact manager, it is designed to
help you manage your relationships, and keep track of your
things to do.
Outlook and Palm-type devices are PIMs. They are designed to
store name and address information, keep your list of your
things to-do, and your appointment calendar. They are great
productivity improving tools, but because the separate modules
aren’t automatically linked together, they make managing relation-
ships a bit more challenging.
Now I must offer this disclaimer — and confession — I’m a
long-time ACT! user. I’ve written numerous ACT!.for Dummies
books and ACT! eBooks. So I’m not unbiased.
The reason I use ACT!, and have recommended it over the years
is because it makes the process of staying in touch with custom-
ers and prospects easy.
That said, you should know that ACT! can be used with both

Outlook and Palm-type devices so it’s easy to use these pro-
grams together.
On the following pages, I’m going to describe the way you
should keep track of your contacts and how to manage your
opportunities. If the system you’re using is working for you, by
all means continue using it.
If leads and opportunities are slipping through the cracks, you
should definitely make a change.
For convenience, I’m going to refer to contact managers and
PIMs as a database.
Putting Your Prospects Into Your Database
When you’re speaking with a prospect over the phone, and they
indicate that they’ve an interest in having further discussions with
you about your products, immediately add them to your data-
base.
When you enter a person’s contact information, you should
record their
Name,
Company,
Position/Title,
Direct Phone, cell phone and fax number,
Mailing address,
E-mail address, and
Web site.
You can also customize your database so you can store addi-
tional information, as desired or needed.
When you’re speaking with a prospect, you can say
something like: “Let me make sure that I have the correct

spelling of your name. Your first name is [ ], and I’ve
your last name spelled [ ], and do you use a middle
name or initial? And what is the full name of your com-
pany?” And so on.
Finding People In Your Database
Once you’ve added your prospects and customers to your
database, you find them by utilizing the lookup feature. You can
locate people by
First or Last Name,
Company,
City, State or ZIP Code,
Phone Number,
or almost any other criteria.
Being able to find people is important, because when you want
to reach someone, it’s got to be easy to locate their name and
phone number. When you want to send a letter or e-mail you can
use the database’s mail merge feature to automatically insert the
name and address into the letter, saving you time, effort and
energy.
Write Notes of Meetings And Conversations
To aid your memory, always record a brief note to yourself
about the details of your meeting or conversation each time you
speak with someone. This enables you to keep track of every-
thing that has gone on between you and hundreds — or thou-
sands — of people, because the notes of every meeting and
phone conversation are at your fingertips.
Don’t forget to enter any notes you may have made on your
prospect sheet into your contact’s record once you’ve added
the person to the database.

Remember: The more detailed your notes, the easier it will be
for you to separate buyers from non-buyers.
Schedule Follow-Up Calls and Things To Do
To be successful in business and sales, you must stay on top of
all your opportunities, and keep in touch with the people who
want you to keep in touch. The easiest way to do this is to reli-
giously schedule your follow-up calls and things to-do in your
database.
By scheduling your calls, meetings and to-dos in your database
nothing will ever slip through the cracks. You’ll stay on top of all
your things to do and people to call so that you capture all of
your opportunities.
I can’t stress this enough, if you want to be successful, you
must have a great follow-up system.
No Naked Records: Keep In Touch With Your Custom-
ers, Clients And Prospects
If you fail to schedule follow-up calls or to-dos you have Naked
Records... People who are in your database that you’ve no
scheduled follow-up for. Naked records are bad!
If you haven’t scheduled a future follow-up call, you’ll quickly
forget about the people who you should be keeping in touch
with. Make it a point to keep in touch with everybody who you
could do business with you, or are in a position to refer business
to you.
You may want to call some people once a week, others once a
month. A third group you may call quarterly.
You’ll probably have people in your database who may not be
real good prospects today, but have the potential of becoming a

good customer in the future. Schedule a follow-up call once
every six months, or maybe just once a year. This guarantees that
you won’t forget about them.
You Need A Great Elevator Speech
Now that you’ve an understanding of how to process your
leads, it’s time to talk about what you say when you get on the
phone. The first thing you need to have is a great Elevator
Speech.
The following is a brief summary of how to create an Elevator
Speech. It comes from my best-selling eBook “Opening Doors
with a Brilliant Elevator Speech.”
An Elevator Speech is a brief description of what you do and
who you do it for. It describes how you offer value, benefit, and
quality to your customer or client.
It is short and concise. It rolls off your tongue. It comes out so
naturally, that you can repeat it in your sleep. You are your Eleva-
tor Speech and your Elevator Speech is you.
And most importantly, you phrase your Elevator Speech in such
a way that the other person can’t say:
“That’s nice, but I’m already doing business with...” or
“We already have someone who does that in the office.” or
“Thank you, but we don’t need any.”
Your Elevator Speech buys you time so you can keep the con-
versation going. It keeps your telephone conversations from
ending in five, ten or fifteen seconds.
Once someone says,
“Thank you for calling, but we don’t need any. We’re
all taken care of.”

your opportunity is over.
Here are some examples of introductory statements that are not
elevator speeches:
“My name is Sharon, I sell life insurance and am a
financial planner.”
“My name is Dave, I’m a consultant.”
“My name is Phil, I work for the ACME Printing Com-
pany.”
“My name is Kelly, I’m in sales.”
“My name is Tom, I’m a lawyer [banker, accountant,
doctor].”
Yes, these statements may say what you do, but they don’t
describe how you help your customers improve the quality of
their businesses or their lives. They don’t describe how you add
value. They don’t offer or describe any benefits.
Most importantly, they don’t stimulate conversation!!!
Here are some more examples of bad introductory statements.
What kind of response do you think these generate:
“My company is in electronics.”
“My company sells medical equipment.”
“We’re a manufacturing company.”
The customer rolls her eyes, yawns and says to herself SO
WHAT!
And then the salesperson continues by stating:
“We’re the best at...”
“We’ve been in business for 25+ years.”

“We do business with X number of companies in Y num-
ber of states.”
Or some such phrase — all designed to improve the person’s
credibility. Once again the customer rolls her eyes, yawns and
says to herself SO WHAT! This is only the 3rd person who has
said that to her this morning, and it’s only 10:30 a.m.
Passing The SO WHAT! Test
Here’s a good way to determine if you’ve got a great, good, or
poor Elevator Speech. I call it the SO WHAT! test.
If you can say SO WHAT! after the Elevator Speech, you’re not
selling a benefit to your customer.
Look back at the previous examples. Can you say SO WHAT!
after each one? You bet!
And you wonder why you’re getting blown out of the water
every time you speak with someone new. Craft a better Elevator
Speech and you’ll open doors that have been closing on you.
Now what if Sharon, the life insurance agent and financial plan-
ner, said something like this:
“I help families save money so their kids can go to col-
lege and they can retire and enjoy their retirement.”
Or Dave, the consultant, said:
“I help companies find ways to improve their manufac-
turing processes so they can reduce their overhead and
improve their profit margins.”
Or Phil, the sales rep from ACME Printing, said:
“At ACME Printing we help companies save time and
reduce costs by making it easier for them to print their
invoices and accounts receivable forms and process their
payroll checks.”

Or Kelly, the sales rep for Specialty Products, said:
“My company, Specialty Products, helps businesses
improve the way they market and promote themselves so
they can find more customers and close more sales.”
Keeping The Conversation Going
The Elevator Speech is designed to buy you time. You want to
keep the person talking because once your prospect says,
“Thanks for calling, but we’re not interested.”
the conversation is over. You’re road kill.
Think about it, when was the last time someone ended a conver-
sation when they were the person talking. It doesn’t happen.
When you’re successful in getting a person to talk about him-, or
herself, he’ll talk forever. When you’re talking about yourself,
they’re bored to tears.
Examples Of Good Elevator Speeches
Here are some examples of Elevator Speeches created by my
consulting clients:
Mark, a financial planner says, “We help people save
money and reduce taxes.”
Robert’s company secures income tax refunds for his
clients, he says “We help companies get income tax
refunds from the state of California.”
Chris, a banker says, “I help businesses with their money
needs.”
Steve, a commercial real estate broker says, “I help cus-
tomers make money in commercial real estate.”
Jack, who is an executive recruiter says, “I help great
organizations find top-tier people/talent.”

Dave, who sells software to builders says, “We help
companies cut their design and estimating costs.”
Carolyn, who owns an employment agency says, “We’re
in the business of helping companies find great employ-
ees.”
Cheryl, who sells computer technology says, “We help
companies improve their production processes.”
Dana, who sells products and services to the telephone
and cable TV industries says, “We help cable TV &
telephone companies make their central plants work
better.”
Joe, who sells encrypted e-mail communications says,
“We help companies secure their confidential informa-
tion communications.”
As you can see from these examples, it’s impossible for the
prospect to say, “We’re all taken care of.” or “We don’t need
any.” These Elevator Speeches guarantee that the conversation
willcontinue.
Create Your Elevator Speech
I would like you stop reading this training manual and take some
time to create your Elevator Speech. With a great Elevator
Speech the quality of your telephoning results will improve
dramatically.
As you’re working on your Elevator Speech think about the
benefits your customers derive from using your product or
service. Don’t focus on the features and wonderful bells and
whistles that you offer.
Remember, you just want a quick statement that keeps the con-
versation going when you call a prospect on the phone. Nothing
more.

As long as the other person doesn’t say “Thanks for calling,
but we don’t need any.” you’ve created a great Elevator
Speech.
Do You Have A Moment
Shelly, one of my consulting clients, and I were talking recently.
She was telling me that she’s been having a hard time scheduling
appointments with people over the phone and was becoming
depressed and despondent.
“What are these people saying to you?” I asked.
She explained that she seems to get the same answer with
every phone call: “Thank you for calling, but we’re all
taken care of. [or we don’t need any.] Good Bye!”
And in three to five seconds the call is over.
“What are you saying when you speak to your prospects
that elicits this response?”
Shelly told me what she had been trained by her sales
manager to say,
“Hello Mr. Smith. My name is Shelly Johnson. I’m with
A-1 Personnel and was calling to schedule a 15-minute
appointment with you so I could tell you about our per-
sonnel services.”
“And how well has this telephone script worked for
you?” I inquired?
Shelly said that she’s been using this same script for the past six
weeks, with little to no success, and unfortunately, her sales
manager hasn’t had the time to give her more telephone training.
(The truth is, she didn’t have much confidence in him as a sales

trainer. That’s why she called me in the first place.)
BlowingThroughLeads
When you’re using telephone techniques that aren’t getting
results you can blow through a lot of qualified leads in no time at
all.
Think about it. If your calls are ending in 10 seconds or less, you
can go through two or three dozen good leads per day. Hun-
dreds per week.
At this rate you can go through a year’s worth of leads in less
than a month.
Is it any wonder why people HATE using the telephone to make
sales calls?
Five Words That Changed My Life
Over the years I’ve discovered five-words that have changed my
telephone-sales life:
“Do You Have A Moment?”
I’ve been asking that question for at least 20 years and it works.
Whenever I call someone, and she answers the phone, I always
say, “Hi Ms. Jones. My name is Jeff Mayer. Do you have a
moment?”
I’ve heard many people use other phrases, such as,
“Is this a convenient time to talk?” or
“Am I interrupting you?” or
“Hope I’m not disturbing you.”
I don’t like these phrases for I feel they put the salesperson at a
disadvantage.
With these phrases you’re placing yourself in a weak position.
You’re not approaching the prospect as an equal.

But since your goal is to do business with this person, you must
believe — from the very beginning — that the two of you are
equals. No matter what the person’s position at the company.
A Simple Yes Or No Question
I know that “Do you have a moment?” is a yes-no question. But
you want a yes-no answer. You want the person to tell you if
she’s free to talk for a few moments.
I deliberately don’t mention my company name or the purpose
of my call because I want to find out if she’s available to talk
BEFORE she knows who I am and why I’m calling.
If there is a long pause, I know the person’s thinking to herself,
“Who is Jeff Mayer? Why is he calling me? And what
does he want?”
I will often say, before she can express her thoughts,
“Do you have half-a-moment?”
At least 90 percent of the time the person chuckles and says,
“Sure, what’s on your mind?” or
“Why are you calling?”
The chuckle is a very important part of this technique. It’s not
only an ice breaker, but it’s a signal as to whether or not you’re
communicating with your prospect.
When you don’t get a chuckle, you know the call is not starting
off on the right foot and it’s an indication that you’re going to
have to work harder on this call to get a favorable result.
Also, make it a point to sprinkle laugh-lines throughout your
phone conversations. When you’re able to make someone laugh,
it’s an indication that the two of you are relating/connecting.
If, on the other hand, the person says she can’t talk because

she’s in a meeting or on the phone, respond by saying,
“That’s OK. I’ll just call back at another time.”
and end the call immediately.
Each time someone interrupts their meeting to answer the
phone I ask myself why did this person take this call?
Why did the person allow my phone call to interrupt her
meeting?
Furthermore, if I was someone else — someone she
wanted to speak with — would she have taken the call and
interrupted her meeting? This doesn’t say much for the
person’s consideration of the people she was talking, or
meeting, with.
Should the prospect then ask, usually in a quick, short, brisk
manner,
“Who are you with, and why are you calling?”
just say,
“Since you’re tied up [on the phone or in a meeting],
I’ll just call you back at a later time.”
Don’t try to engage the prospect in conversation because no
matter what you say, the response will be,
“We’re all taken care of.”
Making Your Telephone Call
When you make your call — and reach a prospect — follow this
simple four-step approach. Study these four steps. Memorize
them. Practice them.
Put them to work for you and your life will be forever changed.
These four steps are magical.

Step 1: Do You Have A Moment?
The first thing you say when a person answers the phone is
“Do You Have A Moment?”
When she says Yes, she has now given you her permission to
speak. You’ve bought yourself five to ten seconds of time.
Step 2: Deliver Your Elevator Speech
This is when you deliver your Elevator Speech, your brief five-
to-ten second description of who you are and what you do.
The purpose of the Elevator Speech is to keep the prospect
from saying “We’re all taken care of.” or “My brother-in-law
handles that for us.” or some such phrase and hanging up the
phone, thus ending the conversation.
Step 3: I Was Calling to See If I Could Take a Mo-
ment...
After you say your Elevator Speech, you then say the following:
“...and I was calling to see if I could take a moment to
tell you a little bit about what it is I [or my company]
do?”
This statement is very important because you’re asking for the
prospect’s permission to continue the conversation. Since
you’re only asking for a few moments of time, it’s not threaten-
ing.
Memorize it. Practice it. Use these words verbatim. Don’t
change them.
Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the prospect will say,
“Sure, what’s on your mind?”
and that gives you the opening to continue.

I want to take a moment to explain why this phrase isn’t threaten-
ing.
You’re not asking for an appointment.
You’re not asking who the prospect does business with.
You’re not asking if they use the product/service that you
sell.
You’re not asking how much they spend on the product/
service.
You’re not trying to sell anything.
The only thing you’re asking for is a few moments of the
person’s time. They’ve now given you another thirty or sixty
seconds of time.
Step4:UseATurnaroundQuestion
The prospect has just given you permission to tell her a ‘little bit
about yourself,’ and the logical continuation of the conversation
would be to begin talking about you. But that’s not what you do.
Instead you begin asking the prospect about her and her com-
pany.
I know this sounds a bit awkward, but it works. Up until now,
the prospect hasn’t really been listening to you, but by asking a
question you begin to engage her in conversation.
Most sales people spend too much time talking, about them-
selves, their company, and the products or services they sell. By
the end of the conversation the prospect may know a lot about
what you do, but what do you know about the prospect’s needs,
wants, desires or problems. Not much!
Your goal is to see if you can engage the prospect in conversa-
tion and by doing so find, or identify, any needs or problems the
prospect may have that you may be able to solve.

In the next section I’m going to give you examples of some of
the questions I’ve developed for my clients, but first I want you
to start practicing these four simple telephone steps.
1. Do you have a moment?
2. Deliver your Elevator Speech.
3. ...and I was calling to see if I could take a moment to
tell you a little bit about what it is I [or my company]
do?
4. Use turnaround questions.
Using Turnaround Questions
The reason I like asking questions is that it gives you control.
The person who asks the questions controls the conversation. In
addition to having control of the conversation, I feel it’s much
more important that you know all about what the prospect does,
than that they know what it is you do.
I want to add, that even though you may know a great deal about
the prospect and/or his business from information you obtained
from other sources such as the person who referred you, a
newspaper or magazine article, the Internet or the company’s
Web site, it doesn’t count.
It only counts when the person volunteers the information him-
self.
Ask the questions anyway. Your goal is to
1. Have a conversation.
2. Develop rapport.
3. Discover if they’ve any problems that you may be able to
solve.
When you ask a question — and listen to the answer — you’re

focused on the other person. So ask a question, and LISTEN to
the answer.
Then, based upon what the person says, you ask a second and a
third question, as you drill down deeper. This is how you be-
come a great listener and a brilliant conversationalist.
By asking questions you are showing that you are interested in
learning about the other person.
Many salespeople jump from asking questions to telling their
prospect about how wonderful their company and product(s)
are, and try to close the sale at what appears to be the first open-
ing.
Don’t do it! Continue to ask more questions, instead.
StartWith Soft Questions
When I speak with a prospect on the phone, I usually start by
asking these soft questions:
“What does your company do?”
“How long have you been in business?”
“What is your position/title with the company?”
“How long have you been there?” (Whatever they an-
swer, I usually say “That’s a long time in today’s world.”
This is one of my laugh lines. I want to see if it draws a
chuckle as I measure how they respond to it.)
“How has business been?”
I call these soft questions because they’re rather easy and are
non-threatening.
You want to test the waters by asking these types of questions to
see how the conversation is going. You don’t have to go for the

kill — or the sale — within the first thirty seconds of a phone
conversation.
Then Ask More Pointed Questions
As the conversation continues, I’ll ask questions like:
“What are your closing ratios?”
“Where do you find your prospects?”
“Why do people buy from you?”
“What are the three biggest challenges you face in grow-
ing your business?”
“What are three things, that if you could implement them
today, would dramatically improve your business?”
Because these questions are open ended, they encourage con-
versation. I’ll listen to the person’s answer and then ask a sec-
ond, third, or fourth follow-up question.
With each additional question I dig a bit deeper — drilling down
— as I try to discover if I’ve a prospect for my consulting,
coaching or mentoring services.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I know a lot of salespeople
who feel uncomfortable asking a prospect personal questions or
questions about their income or financial situation.
But don’t let your fears or apprehensions keep you from asking
a question. Ask the question and see what happens. If the ques-
tion is relevant to the topic of conversation, more often than not,
you’ll get an answer.
And if you don’t get the answer you want, or the person declines
to give you an answer, it’s a good indicator that you haven’t got
a prospect. He’s one of the 99 that aren’t going to buy. (See the
One Percent Rule.) You just saved yourself days, weeks, or

months of wasted effort trying to close someone who isn’t going
to buy.
When you ask great questions it’s much easier for you to sepa-
rate the buyers from the non-buyers.
ExamplesOfClient’sQuestions
Here are examples of some of the questions my clients ask:
Robert Helps Companies Get Income Tax Refunds
Robert helps companies get income tax refunds. These are some
of the questions he asks:
“How many employees do you have?”
“Are they at this location or another location?”
“What types of taxes have you been paying to the state of
California?”
“Do you have any idea how much money you paid in
California state income taxes last year? The year be-
fore?”
Steve Sells Commercial Real Estate
Steve is in commercial real estate. Here are some of the ques-
tions he would ask a law firm about their needs for space:
“What type of practice does your firm specialize in?”
“How long have you been in business?”
“How is business?”
“How many lawyers do you have in your office? Parale-
gals? Secretaries?”
“How many square feet do you have?”
“When does your lease come up?”

“How much is your lease?”
“Why did you pick the building you’re in?”
Chris Lends Money
Chris is a banker. Here are some of the questions he asks a
prospect:
“How has business been?”
“How many employees do you have?”
“How do you finance your accounts receivable?”
“How do you finance your inventory?”
“How do you finance your buildings, machinery and
equipment?”
“What are your biggest challenges to growing your
business?”
“How do you manage your money so you get the great-
est return on it?”
Mark Helps People With Their Financial Planning
Mark helps people with their financial and estate planning. Here
are some of the questions he asks:
“Do you have children? What are their ages? How do
you feel about planning for their college education?”
“What are your thoughts about planning for your old
age?”
“How do you feel about investing in the stock market?
Mutual Funds? Bonds? Real Estate?”
“What have been your best investments? Your worst?”
“If something were to happen to you, what do you think
your family’s needs for income would be?”

Gregg Sells Stainless Steel
Gregg sells stainless steel, here are some of the questions he
asks:
“How often do you buy stainless steel?”
“What do you make with it?”
“What kind of steel do you buy?”
“How do you decide whom to buy it from?”
“What quantities do you buy?”
TurnaroundQuestionsStimulateConversation
Take a look at the previous lists of questions. Study each of
them. Not a single one can be answered with a yes or no, nor
can they be answered with a “We’re all take care of.”
Each of these questions is a legitimate business question, and
based upon the answer, could generate several more follow-up
questions as you dig deeper into the prospect’s situation.
And though they appear to be rather innocuous, each of them
will tell you something valuable about the person’s personal or
business situation.
CreateYourOwnListofTurnaroundQuestions
I would like you to take a break from reading this training manual
for a few minutes and start writing your own list of turnaround
questions. This is what I want you to do:
1. Write your questions in your word processor. Don’t write
them on a pad of paper because it’s too time consuming
to rewrite them.
2. Each of your questions must be open ended. They can’t
be answered by a yes or no. To make a question open
ended use any of these words, Who, What, Why, When,
Where or How.

You can also use phrases such as, “What do you think
about...” or “How do you feel about...”
3. Make a list of at least ten questions. What are the key
questions you want answers to? What is the single most
important piece of information you want to learn that will
tell you if you’ve got a real prospect? How would you
phrase your question so that you’re able to extract this
piece of information during a five to ten minute phone call.
4. Rewrite your list of questions so they appear in a logical
order or sequence. Softer questions first followed by
more detailed or specific questions.
5. Read your questions out loud. How do they sound to
you. Read them to your friends, colleagues or coworkers.
What do they think of them?
6. Practice asking your questions. When you get on the
phone keep a list of your questions on the top of your
desk.
How Do You Come Across on the
Phone?
I know you’ve been using the phone since you were about 4
years old, but have you ever thought about how you come
across on the phone? And no matter how good you are on the
phone, you can still work on improving your telephone tech-
niques.
Your Feelings And Emotions Come Across Loud And
Clear
Have you ever been really angry about something and then gotten
on the phone to call someone else — who had nothing to do

with the source of your anger — and then let this poor unsus-
pecting soul have it?
I know that I have, and usually I felt so bad about it afterwards
that I often called to apologize for my rude behavior.
Well, whatever your feeling is inside — happy, sad, joyful, de-
pressed — it will be reflected in your voice as soon as you pick
up the receiver and start talking to someone. If you were speak-
ing with an individual face to face, he or she would see — and
respond to — your nonverbal messages, such as your facial
expressions, eye movements, and posture, as well as the ges-
tures you make with your hands, arms, and legs.
And when you’re on the telephone, even though the party at the
other end of the phone can’t see these nonverbal gestures, your
attitudes, feelings, thoughts, and opinions are immediately trans-
mitted by the tone of your voice, it’s pitch, the speed with which
you talk, and even your choice of words.
So whenever you’re speaking on the phone, you’re going to be
conveying a message. It may be one that indicates that you’re
happy to talk and want the conversation to continue. Or the
message could be one that indicates that you’re bored and disin-
terested, and have a desire to be doing something else at this
very moment.
Keep A Smile On Your Face
You may find this hard to believe, but you’ll come across much
better on the phone when you can keep a smile on your face and
project that smile onto the other person. People warm up to you
when you meet them face to face and smile. They’ll do the same
thing when you smile at them through the phone.
PhoneTip: For many years, I’ve kept a picture of a smiling face
in front of me as a reminder to smile. It helps me sound more

friendly and open. My suggestion to you: Put a small mirror
on your desk so that you can watch yourself smile.
Be Enthusiastic
Have you ever had conversations with people who sound as if
they’ve just come back from a funeral or a wake? They’re talking
in a very dull and dreary monotone. The tone of voice is com-
pletely void of life and energy, and this is when they’re calling to
tell you good news! I don’t know about you, but when I get
these kinds of calls I want to crawl under the desk and hide.
So when you get on the phone, put life, energy, and emotion in
your voice. Express yourself verbally and emotionally. Make
your voice so interesting that the person at the other end of the
phone wants to hear what it is that you’ve got to say.
Like laughter, enthusiasm is contagious. Let your enthusiasm
about your job, career, product, service, or business show in
your voice, your gestures, and in your energy level when you’re
talking on the phone. When it’s apparent that you enjoy and are
excited about what you do you’ll keep your prospect more
interested in the things you’re saying.
PhoneTip: Have fun when you’re on the phone. Be yourself.
Let your sense of humor show through and don’t forget to
laugh. Laughter can be a great ice breaker.
PhoneTip: Always take a deep breath before you begin to
speak. Your voice has more depth and power when you have
air in your lungs.
Hear How Others Hear You
I know that up until now, you’ve probably never given a
moment’s thought to your telephone technique, but it can be a

real ear-opener when you record some of your calls and hear
yourself as other’s hear you.
You would be amazed at how many times you said things such
as “you know,” “and,” and “um,” during each sentence. Then
there are the sentences that you start but never complete. And
finally, there’s your voice itself. What does it sound like? Is it
energetic and enthusiastic, or does it come across like a limp
washed-rag?
But no matter what your voice sounds like today, with just a little
bit of practice on your part, it’s very easy to improve your ability
to express yourself and communicate with other people over the
phone. When you play back a tape of yourself speaking on the
phone and hear what you’re saying and how you’re saying it,
you become much more aware of the speech habits you’ve
picked up.
For just a few dollars, you can go to an electronics store — like
Radio Shack — and purchase a phone adapter that enables you
to record telephone calls. (Before you start recording your calls,
however, you should find out if you have any legal responsibility
to inform the other party that the call is being recorded.)
The first few times I recorded myself I was appalled at how I
thought my voice sounded, and to this day, I still don’t like
hearing my voice on tape. But as I thought about it, I realized
that I had been speaking with people for years, and most of them
enjoyed talking with me, some for even hours at a time. So the
concern that I had about the tone of my voice was my problem,
and nobody else’s.
MakeYourVoiceSound Interesting
Most people make decisions based not only on what a person
says, but on how that person says it. And when you’re speaking
on the phone you want the other person to listen.
When you can make the sound of your voice more interesting —

by varying the volume, pitch, modulation, and intonation — it’s
much easier to keep your listener’s attention.
Pay Attention To The Speed At Which You Talk.
Don’t talk too slowly or you’ll bore your listener to death;
but don’t speak too quickly either, or they may not catch
everything you’re saying. Just try to speak at the same rate
of speed that you use when you’re talking to a friend on
the phone, about 150 to 200 words per minute.
Change Your Pace. Vary your pace to fit the content or
mood of what you’re saying. When you’re talking about
something that’s exciting, sound excited and speak a little
quicker or faster. And when you’re talking about some-
thing that’s serious, sound serious and slow things down.
Raise And Lower Your Voice. To keep your listener
interested in what you’re saying, change the volume at
which you’re speaking. When you get excited, it’s okay to
speak loudly; and when you want to make a very impor-
tant point, speak softly, or even whisper. When you whis-
per, people listen!
Pronounce your words clearly, cleanly and distinctly. Keep
enough air in your lungs so you end your sentences with power
as you put em-PHA-sis on the last syl-LAB-le of the last word.
Doing so enables you to speak with power and conviction.
Remember: Take a deep breath before you begin a new sen-
tence and a deeper breath before you begin a new paragraph.
This gives you an extra moment to collect your thoughts, in
addition to keeping you from talking too quickly.
Add Depth And Power To Your Voice
Here are three easy and simple exercises that will help you add
depth and power to your voice:

Humming Down. To lower the normal pitch of your
voice, so you can speak with more authority, hum down
the scale to the lowest note you can reach and hold it for
as long as you can. Do this three or four times a day as
you’re getting dressed in the morning. Within a few
weeks, you’ll find that you’re speaking with a deeper
voice.
Give Your Lungs A Work Out. The greater the volume
of air you have in your lungs, the richer the tone of your
voice, the deeper the pitch of your voice, and the more
powerful the volume.
To increase your lung capacity, take a deep breath and, in
a whisper, start counting very slowly. With your first
breath, you may be able to count to 6, 7, or 8. Take a
second breath, and you should be able to count to 10, 11
or 12.
With a third breath, you may get up to 15 or 16. And with
your fourth or fifth breath, you’ll probably be getting to
20. Do this for just two minutes a day, and within two
weeks, you should be able to count to 30, 35, 40, or even
higher on a single breath.
Count Out Loud. To make your voice sound more inter-
esting, practice counting aloud. Start by counting from 1
to 10 and do this over and over again (and then from 1 to
20, and from 1 to 30).
As you say the numbers, make each one sound different from
the previous number. Say some louder, others softer, some with
a higher voice, and others with a lower voice. Try to make each
one sound interesting.
With these three exercises, you’ll increase your lung capacity,
add power to your voice, and make it sound deeper and stron-
ger.

ImproveYourProductivityByUsingATelephone
Headset
Does your neck ever get stiff from cradling the telephone hand-
set between your ear, chin, and shoulder? Do you find it difficult
to take notes while you’re on the phone — because you just
can’t find an easy way to hold the phone to your left ear, use
your left elbow to keep the pad of paper from moving, write with
your right hand, and remain comfortable, all at the same time?
Do you experience increased muscle tension as you try to enter
information into the computer while speaking with someone on
the telephone?
If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you should be
using a telephone headset instead of the traditional handset. In
fact, if you spend any time at all on the phone, you should be
using a telephone headset. I’ve been using a headset for years
and have found that it’s not only comfortable, but it has greatly
improved my productivity and efficiency as well.
Today’s headsets are so light and comfortable that after you put
one on, you’ll quickly forget that you’re even wearing it. And
when you’re on the phone, you’ll have the use of both your
hands, so you can concentrate on the conversation instead of the
pain in your neck or the tenderness in your ear.
Get On The Phone
There are three questions that every salesperson asks when it
comes to getting on the phone:
When should I get on the phone?
How much time should I spend on the phone?
How many people should I call every day?
There are certain times during the day when you’re most likely to

find a prospect sitting at her desk and available to take your call.
As a general rule, people are usually in their offices from 9 a.m.
to 11 a.m. and from about 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Block out those
times on your calendar so you can get on the telephone and
make your calls.
But don’t limit yourself to those times. If you want to become
more successful get on the phone early in the morning, call
people during the lunch hour and call late in the day.
Remember: If you’ve nothing on your calendar, you should be
spending your entire day on the phone looking for customers.
GettingThroughToYourParty
If there’s someone you want to speak to, it’s your job to track
him or her down. Just because you left a message doesn’t mean
your call will be returned — your call may be much more impor-
tant to you than it is to the other person — and even if your call
is returned, the odds aren’t very good that you’ll be there to
answer that return call.
So, when you need to speak to someone, here are five tech-
niques you can use to increase your odds of getting through.
Work With The Secretary. If the person you’re trying
to reach is always in meetings, try to find out when she’ll
be available to take a call. If she’s on the phone, ask the
secretary if he or she has any idea how long the call will
last. Then ask whether it would be better for you to be put
on hold for a few moments or call back in 15 minutes.
When the secretary says, “Let me take your number, and
I’ll have Ms. Jackson call you back.” Just say, “Thank
you. I’ll call back later,” because Ms. Jackson probably
won’t be calling you back any time soon.
Get A Direct Number. Try to get the person’s direct

number, extension, or cell phone so you can bypass the
secretary, administrative assistant, or switchboard entirely.
Call Early In The Morning. Many business people are
at their desks as early as 7 a.m. each morning. So ask the
secretary if the person you’re trying to reach is an early
bird.
Call Late In The Day. Many people are also working
long after 5 p.m., so perhaps you can get through if you
call after 5:30 p.m.
Call During Lunch. Many people work through lunch or
eat at their desks. So give it a shot and try your luck by
calling at 12:30 p.m.
Take Notes Of The Conversation
I know that I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, when you
speak to a person on the phone, you should keep notes of your
conversation. Jot down a note on the prospect’s call sheet, or
enter it into their contact record in your database.
How To Call A Stranger
For many salespeople, calling a stranger can be an absolutely
terrifying experience. And even though they’ve been selling for
years they still don’t like doing it.
Here is a simple four-step approach you can use to make calling
a stranger less terrifying:
1. Get The Person’s Name. The first thing you need to do
is get the name of the person to whom you would want to
speak. To do this, you should place an exploratory call to
the company’s main number. Then you ask the person
who answers the phone (probably a receptionist, operator,

or secretary), “What is the name of the person who is the
. . . [president of the company, head of human resources,
and so on]?”
2. How Is It Spelled? Then you ask for the correct spelling
of the person’s name. If the person who is giving you this
information starts to ask you lots of questions like, “Who
are you?” or “What do you want?” or “Why do you
want this information?” just say “I want to send Ms.
Jackson a letter.” Then say, “Thank you so very much
for your help” and hang up the phone.
3. Call Later In The Day Or Tomorrow. Now that you’ve
got the person’s name, call later in the day or the following
morning, and ask whether he or she is available.
4. Does The Person Have A Direct Phone? As you’re
asking whether Ms. Jackson is in, you can ask in an off-
handed way, “Oh, by the way, what is her direct phone
number?”
Now that someone has put your call through, one of several
things is going to happen:
The person is at his or her desk and will actually take your
call.
You get the voice mail system.
A secretary will answer and screen the call.
Let’s explore each situation.
YourCallGoesThrough
Let’s say your call is put through, and you find that the person
actually answers her own phone. You start by saying “Hi Ms.
Jackson, My name is [ ]. Do you have a moment?” This is

explained in detail in the “Making Your Telephone Call” section
of the training manual.
You Get Voice Mail
More likely than not, you’re going to get the person’s voice mail.
Now you have to decide whether or not to leave a voice mail
message. However, if you do leave a message, don’t expect to
receive a return call. (I’ll be discussing voice mail in the next
section.)
You Get The Secretary
A good secretary is trained to screen the boss’s calls, so you
should be prepared to answer a few questions, but you don’t
want to volunteer much information.
When the secretary says, “Hello, this is Ms. Jackson’s office,”
you ask, “Is Ms. Jackson available?” (With this question, you
want to try to learn whether she’s in the office, on the phone, in a
meeting, or away from his desk.)
The secretary then asks, “Who’s calling?” To which you reply,
“This is Mr. Mayer. Is she available?” (You repeat the question
because you want the secretary to give you information without
volunteering any information yourself.)
At this point, the secretary may put your call through or possibly
put you on hold to tell the boss that you’re on the phone.
If the secretary comes back and asks you the name of your
company and why you’re calling and then puts you on hold
again, it’s a pretty good indication that the boss is having her
calls screened. Another possibility is that the secretary may start
to ask you more questions. It’s at this point that you want to try
to make the secretary your friend.
Remember: Most secretaries feel that it’s their job to protect the

boss from unwanted telephone calls, and they’re trained to
say “No” to whomever is calling.
Make The Secretary Your Friend
Now you have to make the secretary your friend. When the
secretary starts asking you questions, the first thing you should
say — in a nice and friendly voice — is, “To whom am I speak-
ing? Are you Ms. Jackson’s secretary or assistant?” (Write
down the person’s name so you won’t forget it.)
If you’re speaking to a temporary secretary or someone who’s
just filling in, just say, “Thank you very much. I’ll call back
later.” (You don’t want to waste your time talking with someone
who can’t be of much help to you, so get off the phone as fast
as you can.)
If you are speaking with the secretary, he or she will probably
begin by asking you questions as to who you are and why
you’re calling.
To these questions you should give short, concise answers and
once again ask, “Is Ms. Jackson available?” At this point, the
secretary will probably say that Ms. Jackson is in a meeting and
ask if you would like to leave a message.
Now you’ve got two choices: To leave or not to leave a mes-
sage, that is the question. What you choose to do depends on
the situation and how comfortable you feel in talking with the
secretary.
You may want to go into detail as to why you’re calling and see
whether the secretary can be of help to you. Perhaps she can
refer you to someone else within the company.
You may decide to end the call by saying,
“Thank you very much for your help. I’ll just call back
later. Will Ms. Jackson be available later this afternoon,

or would tomorrow morning be a better time to call?
And by the way, does Ms. Jackson come in early in the
morning? And does she have a direct phone number or
cell phone?”
(Again, you want to try to discover when the person may be
available to receive a call.)
Remember these three tips:
Don’t try to sell your product, service, or idea to the
secretary. The boss is the decision maker, not the secre-
tary. Your job is to sell the secretary on putting your call
through to the person you want to talk to.
If you aren’t having any luck getting past the secretary, try
calling another department to see whether you can get
someone to give you the prospect’s direct number.
Call the office of someone who is higher than the person
you’re trying to reach and use that person’s name as your
referral. Then you can say something like, “I was speak-
ing with Mr. Smith’s office and he suggested that I speak
with Ms. Jackson. Is she available?”
Dealing With Voice Mail
The lamentation of every salesperson is that they can’t reach the
people they’re calling and always get voice mail. Then when they
leave a message, it’s not returned.
Let’s revisit two important concepts that were explained earlier in
thistrainingmanual:
The One Percent Rule. The One Percent Rule states
that only one in every hundred prospects is going to buy
from you.
The Rule Of A Hundred. The Rule Of A Hundred states

that as you work you’re list of 100 prospects, you’re only
going to reach — speak to — about half of them. Those
that remain will be unreachable. They’re always in meet-
ings, away from their desk, out of the office, or on the
phone.
It is these people that you’re going to have the biggest frustra-
tions with because they’re the ones you’ll be leaving voice mail
messages for. Voice mail messages that will never be returned.
That is why it is so very important for you to have a large uni-
verse of prospects to call on. After you’ve tried to reach a per-
son a specified number of times — you set the limit — move on
and look for a better prospect.
Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t leave a voice mail mes-
sage. What I am saying is that you shouldn’t expect that person
to call you back. Furthermore, it’s your job to reach the person.
It’s not their job to return your call. So leave a message, and
schedule another follow-up in your database so you can call the
person in a few days, because they probably won’t be returning
your call.
However, if you choose not to leave a message, you can call
them over and over until you do reach them. (This is much easier
to do when you’ve their direct number so you don’t have to go
through the switchboard or speak with the person’s assistant.)
Here are ten tips on how to leave better voice mail messages:
1. Think about what you want to say and how you want to
say it — before you make the call. Each time you make a
call, assume you will be getting voice mail.
2. Don’t begin speaking — leaving your message — until
you hear the machine beep. ( I know that almost every-
body should know this, but you would be surprised at the

number of people who start talking before the outgoing
message is finished.)
3. Before you start speaking, take a deep breath so that your
lungs are full of air. This gives your voice more depth and
power.
4. When you speak, speak slowly, clearly, and distinctly so
that the person will understand what you’re saying. Don’t
swallow your words.
5. Make your voice sound interesting. Speak with enthusi-
asm. Put some energy into your voice.
6. Always give your phone number twice, once at the begin-
ning of the message and again at the end. Though many of
the people you call already have your number, they may
be calling in for their messages and may not have your
number with them.
7. When you leave your message, state the most important
points first, with the lesser points following. Use your
Elevator Speech to describe who you are and what you
do. Phrase your message so that it offers a benefit to the
person. Give them a compelling reason why they should
return your call.
8. When you leave your name, in addition to saying it, spell it
out. (“This is Jeffrey Mayer, M A Y E R.”)
9. If you’re including your mailing address, speak slowly and
spell out the name of your street and city after you say the
address. (“50 East Bellevue Place, B E L E V U E,
Chicago, Illinois.”)
10. Leave a specific time, or a window of time, when you’ll
be available for the person to call you back. For example:
“I’ll be in my office and available tomorrow morning.”
Or “I’m always in my office every afternoon after 2:00.”

Remember: Be energetic and enthusiastic. Let your personality
brighten the other person’s day.
PhoneTip: If you leave voice mail messages several times for a
person and they aren’t returned, try to talk with the person’s
assistant, someone else in the department, or the receptionist
to find out if the person you’re calling is in town and avail-
able. If you’re unable to reach this person, try to get the name
of someone else with whom you can speak. Don’t sit around
waiting for a return call that won’t be forthcoming.
The Telephone Is Your Friend
The telephone is your friend. It’s the most effective and efficient
tool that you have for finding new customers. Get on the phone
every day. Prospecting — and looking for new business — is a
full-time job.
Play the law of large numbers. Put the One Percent Rule and the
Rule Of A Hundred to work for you. Develop a great Elevator
Speech and learn how to ask great questions.
In no time at all you’ll be finding more prospects, creating more
opportunities, closing more sales and making more money...
Guaranteed!

Your CommentsAbout This Training Manual
What are the BEST useable ideas you gained from this Training Manual?
How do you plan to apply these ideas?
How will these ideas help you close more sales and grow your business?
Please send your thoughts/comments to Jeff@SucceedingInBusiness.com.
Jeffrey Mayer’s Tele-Mentoring Program
Do you want to improve your prospecting and networking skills?
Coldcalling?Telephonetechniques?Timemanagementskills?
Do you want help with your strategic business planning?
Do you want to learn how to ask better questions? Reach
decision makers? Overcome objections?
One-on-one Tele-Coaching is now available for business
owners, corporate executives, sales managers and salespeople.
Jeffrey Mayer, president of http://www.SucceedingInBusiness.com, coaches
business people on how to grow their business, close more sales, and make more
money.
Call 312-944-4184 for more information. Or send e-mail - with a phone num-
ber - to mentoring@SucceedingInBusiness.com.
“JeffreyMayerreallyunderstandstheessentialsofrunningasuccessfulandprofitablebusiness.
Heknowshowtofocusinonthekeybusinessissuestogeneratemaximumprofitability.”
NormanR.Bobins,Chairman,President&CEO, LaSalleBank,N.A.ChicagoIL
“JeffreyMayerhasbecomemy"AgentofChange."Hisconceptsareintense,thought
provoking,deepandfarreaching.OverthepastyearIhadtriedabunchofthings.
Nothingworked.OutofdesperationIcalledJeff.Inthefirstmonthweworkedtogether,I
tripledmybusiness.Ifyouwanttogrowyourbusiness,giveJeffacall!”
MarkPallar,President,PallerFinancialServices
“Mysaleshavedoubled,myprofitshavetripled,andI'mworkingfewerhours,sinceI
startedworkingwithJeffreyMayer.”
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“My monthly sales doubled from $20,000 to $40,000 after working
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helped me increase the average size of my sales from $2200 to $3200.
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