This week, we have a special guest on The Cold Calling Podcast - Mark Whitehouse, Director of Channel Alliances.

We talk with Mark about how “indirect selling” (i.e. using partners) can help you increase your sales pipeline and close more business.

Mark explains why you should add channel selling to your arsenal, discusses some of the criteria for choosing the right partners to help you sell your solutions/services, and examines what your ideal partner might want from you.

More details on Channel Alliances can be found at their website at www.channel-alliances.com.

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, or if you would like to suggest a topic for a future show, please e-mail mike@coldcallingpodcast.com or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com, or call our audio comment line on 020 7193 1295 (from within the UK) or +44 20 7193 1295 (from outside the UK).

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 CCP025 - Channel Selling [24:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4381)

This week on the Cold Calling Podcast, we discuss some techniques you can use to steer telephone conversations in the direction YOU would like them to go, rather than be at the mercy of the person you are calling.

We stress the merits of recording your conversations, so you can listen back and fine-tune your approach, and we cover various tips and tricks you can use, including the use of “loaded” questions, silence, interruptions and changing the subject, to give you control of the conversation.

We also have an update on our competition (entries are still being accepted until 31st January 2007, so send us your best tips and tricks if you want the opportunity to win a Creative Zen).

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, or if you would like to suggest a topic for a future show, please e-mail mike@coldcallingpodcast.com or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com, or call our audio comment line on 020 7193 1295 (from the UK) or +44 20 7193 1295 (from overseas).

 CCP024 - Steering Conversations [24:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4396)

Hello and Happy New Year!

For our first episode of 2007, we discuss how to leverage information you might uncover on one call, on your next and subsequesnt calls.

Using this technique can make your cold calling much more effective. Leading in with “inside information” that is both relevant and topical to the prospect you are calling, can yield excellent results.

We also have a couple of announcements to make about The Cold Calling Podcast going into 2007, and there is a competition where you can win a Creative Zen MP3 player.

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, or if you would like to suggest a topic for a future show, please e-mail mike@coldcallingpodcast.com or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com, or call our audio comment line on 020 7193 1295 (from the UK) or +44 20 7193 1295 (from overseas).

 CCP023 - Using Feedback for Leverage [28:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3926)

This week, we talk about how to deal with the “Sales Prevention Dept”, or more accurately, all those annoying things that make your selling job more difficult.

These can include interfering line managers, changing territories, quarterly targets, CRM/Sales Tracking systems, timesheets, the 9 to 5 office mentality, internal meetings, exhibitions, and a whole host of other things that can generally get in your way and waste your time.

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, or if you would like to suggest a topic for a future show, please e-mail mike@coldcallingpodcast.com or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com.

Please note that this will be our last podcast of 2006. We are taking a break now until January, so we would like to wish all of our listeners a very Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Speak to you all again in 2007!

Greg and Mike.

 CCP022 - The Sales Prevention Dept [22:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4042)

On this week’s episode, we talk about easy it is to get trapped when you’re cold calling. There are a number of ways you can be trapped, including:

- By personal assistants and secretaries
- By middle managers and control freaks
- By decision makers who don’t move things forward
- By voicemail

We discuss ways to avoid falling into these traps, and how to escape from them if you do get caught.

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, or if you would like to suggest a topic for a future show, please e-mail mike@coldcallingpodcast.com or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com.

 CCP021 - Trapped! [17:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3826)

On this, our twentieth episode, we talk about five common types of objection you might face when cold-calling, and how to deal with each one. The five most common are:

• Send me something in the mail
• We already have one of those
• We don’t have that problem
• It’s not a priority for us right now
• (on second call) I didn’t get a chance to look at your stuff yet

We also talk about the difference between sincere and insincere objections, and how to recognize, and deal with, each.

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, or if you would like to suggest a topic for a future show, please e-mail mike@coldcallingpodcast.com or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com.

 CCP020 - Objection Handling [23:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4627)

This week, we revisit a topic we covered a while back in show number 2 - Finding Direct Numbers.

Hot on the heels of last weeks episode, where we covered how to find target names using LinkedIn, we felt this would be a good time to explain again some of the more useful techniques for finding direct numbers, by fair means or foul!

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, or if you would like to suggest a topic for a future show, please e-mail mike@coldcallingpodcast.com or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com.

 CCP019 - Direct Numbers II (The Sequel) [17:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4159)

This week, we focus exclusively on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) as a means of finding new prospects to call. LinkedIn is an absolute goldmine when it comes to finding target individuals, so long as you know how to get the best out of it.

We talk you through how to use the People Search function to best effect.

Please e-mail mike@coldcallingpodcast.com or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com if you have any suggestions, comments, questions or feedback.

 CCP018 - Linking Up to New Prospects [15:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3658)

On this weeks show, we talk about cultural differences. How should you change your approach when cold-calling decision makers who are based in a different country, or who come from an entirely different culture, to your own? What works in the US does not necessarily work in the UK, and vice versa.

Additionaly, we talk about some of the things you should be aware of when calling France, Germany, Scandinavia, Middle East, Asia, etc.

This is a topic on which we would really welcome some feedback, so please send your e-mails to mike@coldcallingpodcast.com and/or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com.

 CCP017 - Cultural Differences [24:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3131)

This week, we talk about the difficulties of actually dipping more than a toe into the Cold Calling water. We are aware that a lot of our listeners find it hard to actually submerge themselves in cold calling, so we talk through some tips and techniques to actually get yourself more into it.

And for the “old hands” who have been cold calling for a long time, we talk about the dangers of getting complacent, and provide some pointers on ways to stop that from happening.

Please e-mail mike@coldcallingpodcast.com or greg@coldcallingpodcast.com with any suggestions, comments, feedback, etc.

 CCP016 - Is The Water Too Cold [21:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3696)