Aikido And The Art Of Cold Calling

By Author: Ari Galper
Total Articles: 8
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Imagine being in a crowded concert or bar. All of a sudden, a
fight breaks out between two men who've had too much to drink.

You happen to be a few steps away, and the next thing you know,
one of the men turns to you and looks as if he's going to take a
swing at you.

What's your first instinct? Most of us will do one of two
things. We'll either try to step away, or we'll raise our arms
to deflect him and fight back, which can result in harm to you
or to your attacker.

But if you were trained in Aikido, the Japanese martial art that
focuses on diverting an attacker's energy, you could quickly
diffuse the situation by immobilizing him without harming him in
any way.

In essence, you're diffusing the energy that he's using to try
and attack you in a way that takes the conflict out of the
situation.

Unlock The Game and the philosophy behind Aikido have many
similarities. Traditional cold calling and selling are designed
to focus only on the close by presenting -- or in too many
cases, pushing -- your solution ...
... onto prospects, sometimes even
when they're not interested. But if you focus only on your goal
of making the sale before having a discussion about the problems
that you can help your prospects solve, something happens.

They start feeling that you're attacking them. After all,
you're a stranger to them, and when you start talking about
yourself and your solution rather than about them and their
specific issues, you immediately trigger their suspicion and
cause them to start pushing back.

This pushback is the resistance or energy that Unlock The Game
teaches you to diffuse. Then both of you can quickly get on the
same page and open a natural dialogue that will let you
determine whether it makes sense for you to work together.

Let's look at the cold calling experience. Cold Calling

Suppose you're at your desk and you receive a call from someone
who says Hi, my name is Jack Johnson, I'm with XYZ Company, and
we're a full-solution provider of... Is your first reaction to
welcome and be open to his call? Or do your mental defenses
immediately kick in and you shut down against this stranger
salesperson?

Probably the latter, especially if you sense that the caller is
focused on his interests and not yours.

That's why this old-school cold calling approach triggers the
resistance and negative energy that prospects immediately throw
your way.

The Unlock The Game way to make a successful cold call --
"successful being defined as not triggering rejection -- is by
beginning your call with, Hi, my name is Jack, maybe you can
help me out for a moment? That simple question is a very
natural way of beginning a conversation with a stranger.

But you can't just read this word for word, like a script. It
won't work. That would be like an Aikido instructor teaching a
first-time student the physical movements before he or she has
learned the philosophy necessary to carry them out.

The same applies here. First you need to integrate a new Mindset
that changes the goal of your call from making the sale, or
getting an appointment, to engaging the person in a natural
two-way dialogue.

To do this, your voice has to be low-key. You have to avoid
communicating any hint of typical salesperson enthusiasm, or
any sense that you're trying to direct the conversation to an
end goal. Once you integrate the Mindset, all this kicks in
naturally.

So, if you want to succeed in prospecting and cold calling,
become aware of how you might be triggering the resistance or
energy that instinctively causes prospects to push back against
you. Keep in mind that this process will work only if you fully
integrate the Mindset so it feels as natural to you as
breathing.

In short, if you're using any form of traditional selling, you
could be triggering a resistance every time you communicate with
your prospect. But if you learn this new Mindset, along with
words and phrases that remove any conflict or tension from the
relationship, you'll have taken your first steps toward your
black belt in unlocking the cold calling game!
About the Author Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets that even the sales gurus don't know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.UnlockTheColdCallingGame.com