Pitch Blackout - Cold - Calling

#1

Hey,
A little bit about myself, I’ve been working in Sales for the past 3 and a half years, overall, the experience was amazing, and I was getting better with every day that went by.
Lately, I have opened my own business in the industry that I work in, and everything was going great, until one day, I’ve started doing my regular cold-calls, and it seems to me that all the self-confidence that I’ve had, and everything that I used in my pitch, completely disappeared out of my head.
A couple of days went by, and I’ve been getting confused, it seems like the more I think about it, the more mistakes I make, and I get stuck mid conversation due to over thinking every single word that comes out of my mouth.

I wanted to see how do you deal with such unexpected situations, and is it even normal?

Would appreciate a good advice, and some further insight on the situation.

Thank you,
Jason.

#2

Hey Jason! First of all, it’s totally normal to feel nervous during a cold call. I think the first step to control pitch anxiety is to gather all the relevent information you may need before you jump into calls. It’s a good idea to write down your pitch and to memorize the beginning of it. Knowing more about your prospects and being prepared for their objections is essential to feel calm and in control of the situation. Finally, beating anxiety is not something you can do overnight, it takes time and practice, so be patient! I hope this helps you!

#3

Hi Jason, like brclarke mentioned - being nervous is completely normal regardless of your experience. How much customer prep are you doing before your cold calls? Are you looking into your customer, targeting them with specific products and services? Even a quick couple minute google search in the car beforehand can pay dividends.

I’ve always found that doing my research, isolating a specific product or service, and studying up before hand to be incredibly helpful. Preparation usually beats uncertainty.

Secondly, cold calling is an art. Even if you opened a new business doing exactly what you were doing before, the pitch changes. It takes time, effort, experience and preparation to execute. Also, you might just be on a string of tough calls - which is sales. It only takes one good cold call to get that mojo flowing again!

#4

I think it’s important to keep in mind that the road to success success isn’t linear. There will be twists and turns along the road to reach your goals. The important thing is to keep going! You won’t always be at the top of your game, and you will take steps back occasionally. I think the fact that you’re nervous means that you really care about the success of your business. Before every call, I like to close my eyes, take a deep breathe, and play out the call ahead in my mind and end that story with a deal closed. It puts me in a great mood instead of being nervous and wondering the whole time if I’m going to get the sale.

#5

Hey Jason! I believe the reason behind your lack of confidence is that this time you’re running your own company and selling your own product, instead of selling for others. Maybe you’re stressed about your business and trying hard to make it work and that’s why you suddenly feel unsure about your sales pitch. If I were you, I’d try to relax and focus on how well you know you can do it. As bclarke was suggesting, it might be a good idea to practice your pitch a little before the call or have a script ready in case you blackout. You probably don’t need this, but it can help you get your confidence back.

#6

You have received very good advice especially to practice before you make contact with prospects.

After 20 years of door-to-door cold calling, I have learned that selling moves from thinking with your mind to thinking with your eyes. With verbal and visual practice, your body takes over and speaking and seeing what is important becomes automatic. You have trained your vision to pick up body signals from your prospect along with absorbing and interpreting his or her words and the immediate changing environment. These are triggering mechanisms for your mind to retrieve the appropriate verbal response. You have trained your mind and eyes to “feel” the situation.

For morning practice, I would simultaneously speak my opening lines and read any material posted behind my prospect. He or she could even ask questions and the answers would flow out.

Have you ever seen someone “choke” an easy shot while playing pool? Thinking about what your doing after you have already trained your body what to do, can only sabotage the situation.