Customer Reviews

Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have read all of the "sales 101" books, Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, even Hurb Cohen's "you can negotiate anything" and I feel from my personal experience that this book not only gives you the tools to become more sucessful, but gives you the confidence in yourself to "get back on track". I sell ATM machines to business owners, and have recently moved into a new town with new prospects, requiring me to get back in "the field" to knock on some doors. This book helped me get over the uncomfortable feeling of cold calling, and put everything into prospective. It also helped me remember the basic elements of the sale. This guy is great, and I just bought the follow up book, CLOSING TECHNIQUES that is equally helpful-I just wanted to pass on the info, sales can be tough, this just makes it simple, as well as more rewarding!

I am aware of the reviews here that say that this book is very basic, and that's true, but that's what Steven Schiffman intended, and that's the beauty of it. It is a bare-bones, very basic guide to using the telephone effectively to secure an in-person sales appointment. I have to think that the negative reviews may be mostly from people who do phone sales, where the techniques in this book would not apply, and in which case they should purchase Steven Schiffman's telemarketing book instead (I think that perhaps the 'Cold Calling' title may mislead people to think the book is about how to make telephone sales, which it isn't). I can guarantee that anyone who does intend to get a face-to-face appointment and who thinks these techniques are too simple is overcomplicating their phone calls. The absolute best piece of information in the book is that you are not trying to sell anything over the phone other than a meeting. Nearly every salesperson I know tries to sell the customer on thier product or company over the phone in order to secure an appointment, but I can say that my appointment rate is higher than any of those people when using the simple approach that is outlined in this book. Common sense? Absolutely, most sales books are. The problem is that 9 out of 10 salespeople don't practice common sense, and Steven Schiffman's books help you to see that the sales process shouldn't be a hard and complicated process.

I've been in business to business sales for a long time, and I've read many sales books by many authors (and every salesperson should do the same), and I think they're all good, if nothing more than to learn more about other people's methods. However, I've gotten the most out of Steven Schiffman's techniques, and for me they have worked. If you do enjoy this book, or Steven Schiffman as an author, check out Brian Tracy also. He has a similar, easy to read style of writing as well.

I picked up this book, and several others, on cold-calling because I knew I just was not doing it the best way I could. I have been in sales for years and I HATE cold-calling. Who doesn't? This book helped me focus on what is really important - setting appointments and getting in front of the customer and provide personal contact. I lost that focus somewhere and my cold-calls were flat.

I sell HR and OD consulting and getting senior executives and HR Directors to give you the time of day is very difficult. Since reading the book and implementing his suggestions, I am much more comfortable cold-calling and setting 2.5 times as many appointments.

The book is easy to read and full of simple ideas and solutions, but if you don't implement the ideas, even the greatest of ideas won't work. Give this book a read. ... it is the best money I have spent in a long time.

Also, his ideas about getting people to call you back are so simple and effective, I almost laughed when I started receiving so many call-backs. Just goes to show you, give his ideas a chance, even if you think they won't work.

I have read several cold calling books and I was delighted to find that someone has tried to simplfy the cold-calling process. There were some features in the book that I have overlooked in the past in my calls. However, the indended audience of this book is not telemarketers and the book never claims to help this group of people, so I dont know why everyone else is crucifying it in their reviews. The book is intended for sales consultants who need to set up in-person meetings to demo a product or service, nothing more, nothing less.

Where the book fails is to assist people who need to make cold calls to sell, but do not have the luxury of being able to go on face-to-face meetings. Much of my business depends on selling smaller accounts over the phone and for this the book is useless other than to perhaps begin a dialect.

The author is simply trying to assist salespeople who want to set up more meetings to do so and his short and direct approach I think accomplishes that and there are several corrections to mistakes that I constantly made before I read the book.

Its worth 9 bucks, but like I said, it was not meant for telemarketers or phone only sales. Besides, am I to believe that anyone with any real sales skill is selling via telemarketing to peoples homes while they are eating dinner.

I've read many books. This one was fantastic. I have been in sales for 17 years; am in a new position and a friend recommended the book. I have already recommended it to several friends. What I loved the most was that it was concise and to the point. It gave me small steps to practice. I wrote information on 3X5 cards to remind myself about the Ledge, the 3R's and FUDH. You need to read this book if you cold call or sell on the phone. Getting the appointment is the focus of this book and Stephan tells you how.

Steve Schiffman gives it to you without much in the way of frills- this book is a no-nonsense way to cut to the chase on the cold call- I have used it with my own employees, and in other jobs I have convinced management to modify their approaches where scripts actually ran over a page (no kidding!). Everywhere I've applied Schiffman's approach, I've had success.

I would call this book a must read for novice and veteran alike, managers included. sometimes the simplest approach is the one that is hardest to see. Practical, common-sense applications of the most fundamental inside sales approach: the cold call.

Yes, this book is simple. I think that is the best thing about Mr. Schiffman's approach. As salespeople, we are often subjected to a barrage of sneaky techniques, and it was refreshing to be exposed to this bare-bones style that is straight-forward and results-oriented. I especially enjoyed the idea that the goal of each step in the sales process is to progress into the next. Mr. Schiffman begins by telling us that selling is a numbers game...and how right he is. His no-nonsense declaration of this fact early on should be enough to let even the most inexperienced salesperson know that the rejection we face is not personal, it's the law of averages. As for his supposed omission of a section on "calling fear"...if you are afraid to pick up a telphone, you may be in the wrong business. My one criticism of this book, however, is that Mr. Schiffman assumes we are able to automatically gain access to decision-makers. As any experienced salesperson will tell you, this may be the single biggest obstacle in cold calling, especially for beginners. His unwillingness to properly address this issue is what keeps this book from being truly great.

I have been in sales for the past 13 years, and have been using Schiffman's techniques for now four years, and let me tell you, I am making at least two new appointments a day, and the decision makers that I reach are taking me seriously.
It is what it is, not hard to understand, easy to read and a book for all kinds of sellers.
If you want to be just like the regular Jo nobody salesman, please don't buy and do not read this book. However, should you want to create immediate effect,be different, and be taken seriously, this is the book you will need.

Stephan basically covers all grounds on tele-sales, and gives credible targets for achieving real results. Wonderful book to have for us busy salespeople who can't afford the time of day to read even daily news-headlines and 1000-page sales bibles. The only shortfall is a key psychological ingredient of cold-calling: fear of rejection - which Stephan covers very superficially.

First, let's make clear that this book is about how to conduct cold calls to set up appointments. It isn't about how to sell a product over the phone. Therefore, it'll only help you if you sell "big ticket" items such as consulting, computer systems, financial services, or other similar products or services. If you sell magazine subscriptions, or the new and improved X5 Widget Plus, you're out of luck.

Next, the book is slightly repetative and could have been easily condensed into a 2,000-3,500 word article. However, that doesn't mean that it isn't a very powerful and productive system. In fact, the system Mr. Schiffman spells out is terrific. Management consultants have been using this system for years (although most of us haven't realized it) with dramatic effect. Despite the corny cover design and relatively poor editing, I highly recommend this book for any professional looking for a system to increase sales appointments. Overall grade: A-A+.