Why a "warmer" call just isn't enough

I just read a great rant about warm calls vs. cold calls by Wendy Weiss, the self-proclaimed Queen of Cold Calling.  Wendy meets a lot of salespeople who mistakenly treat the term "warm call" as synonymous with "easy money." and it bugs her.  She writes:

The idea of a "warm call" is that you've had some prior contact with your prospect and that you have somehow "warmed up" the call. The prior contact might be with a letter sent before your call, it might be that you have encountered the prospect elsewhere. It could be that you have a referral.

All too frequently, callers who use the "I only warm call" approach do not adequately prepare for their calls. Instead, they rely on the appellation "warm." If you are one of these callers, stop right here and ask yourself these questions:

• How many "warm" prospects have said "no" to me over the years?
• Would those calls have been more productive if I had been better prepared and more in control of my message?

Wendy repeats something I alluded to recently in a post about referral follow-up: "Although you may have a referral, that is no guarantee that your prospect will meet with you or have any interest at all in your products or services."  You MUST prepare for your call or meeting with every prospect, regardless of how they came over your transom. 

I do want to clarify one point. Wendy writes: "'Cold call, warm call,' it's simply a state of mind. Your mind. Your prospect does not make those distinctions. Just because you have designated a call to be 'warm' doesn't mean that the person you are calling thinks it's 'warm.'"

While she's right that a referral doesn't guarantee a receptive prospect, we shouldn't ignore the fact that a referral or introduction from the right person can make a big difference in the prospect's mind and give your credibility a tremendous boost.

Nevertheless, even the warmest call can only get you so far.   You still face the ultimate task of selling the prospect on why they need you.

And that brings me to my final point.  When you get a referral, you provide yourself with access to the single most valuable sales tool on earth: information.  Your ability to learn something about prospects before you speak with them is ultimately more valuable than the warmth factor.

Once you've been given a name or the promise of an introductory meeting, start doing your homework.

1. Gather all the information you possibly can about the referred prospect from your referral source (if you've been wearing your detective hat, you'll have some valuable info even before you ask for the introduction).
2. Do your own research based on what you already know. 
3. Prepare a good list of questions that you can ask the prospect relating to what you've learned (don't assume what you've been told by the referral source is correct-you'll want to use the information as a jumping-off point and confirm it directly with the prospect before trying to use it as a selling point).
4. Prepare some benefit statements that tie your expertise, services, products, etc. to the problems or issues you believe the prospect has based on your preliminary information.  Again, confirm these issues directly with the prospect before you start talking about the benefits.

Remember, you are an ADVISOR.  You're a professional problem solver. 

ad·vice   n. Opinion about what could or should be done about a situation or problem; counsel.

The more you know about the prospect's problems and concerns when you initiate contact, the more effectively you can articulate the benefits of working with you and how your capabilities can make a difference in the prospect's life.

Referrals are by no means a sure thing.  What they ARE is an opportunity to prepare more effectively for the same task you face with every prospect: understanding their problems, and then convincing them that you can solve those problems better than anyone else.