This article is the Lead part of the series on the topic of the perfect phone call structure. If you missed out on the previous articles then it’s essential that you give them a read.

There are four prior to this, why not start by reading the introduction to the perfect cold calling structure.

Introduction:

So remember the structure to follow for any call is

“Only I Can Love Prospecting”

Outlining the structure that is:

• Open
• Intrigue
• Captivate
• Lead
• Position

In this article we’re going to delve into…

Lead

So contrary to the application of many, a cold call should be much like a meeting or any selling.

We should approach calls with a stance of listen first, exercising intelligent questioning, in particular focusing on pain and pleasure questioning.

For help on Pain and pleasure questioning have a read of our previous articles on these topics below:

Most importantly we want to use leading questions.

Leading Questions

For the unaware, leading questions are those which move the buyer down the path you wish to push them down. These are the types of questions where you can learn more about the buyer, their key decision making criteria, items that they value and those which they associate less value to.

What’s integral here is that you must be mindful of your strengths and USPs. Leading questions should revolve around your strengths. We highlight in our book Sales Icon: Selling in the Shadows how best to apply this, but to give you an insight, we follow a three step process.

1. Identify strength
2. Develop leading question
3. Apply strength statement

Let’s use an example to make this crystal clear:

Example

So to make this simple just imagine that you work for a small business and say that agility is your strength. In this case a leading question that may work would be something like the below:

Leading Question

“How important is it for your partner of choice to be agile and change with your working practices?” (buyers answer)

Pain Discovery

“How agile would you say your current partner is?”

Strength Statement

“When it comes to agility, this is an area we really excel, a good example would be the work we carried out with X…”

Things to be conscious of are:

1. Ask as many questions as necessary
   • The key parts here are to uncover what’s important to the buyer and lead them down the road where you excel
2. Extract Pain and Pleasure
   • Extract as much pain as you can, the more you can uncover the greater effect your strength statement will have on the buyer, so focus on their pain initially and their desired pleasure state
3. Don’t always use a strength statement
   • Be tactful with the application here, remember the listen first approach. Don’t apply a strength statement every single time, only do so when you see an opportunity to heavily influence the buyer. So if you find a pain point where you have a great deal of strength then that would be the perfect occasion to use a strength statement 

Hopefully this justifies why we use the terminology leading questions. We want to lead them down the path of least resistance, the path which amplifies our strengths.

Do look out for our next article which will be on the Position part of the calling structure.

If you enjoyed this article then why not have a read of some of our others below:

• Success in Sales – From Hard Work or Talent?
• Don’t Be An Insensitive P****, Look After Your Staff
• Invest In Yourself For Results
• Take Your Cold Calling To The Next Level
• Positioning A Close With The Buyer On A Cold Call

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