Earlier in my life I had worked in telephone sales. For any of you that had never been in sales, I would highly suggest doing it for a short while at least. The guys that were the best salesmen were also the best with picking up women. The reasons were pretty simple. First they had no fear when it was time to get the appointment. If a person said no it was no big deal. Most people would have fear and would hesitate and hesitation and showing a lack of confidence was a killer. Also, these guys could keep going for the appointments in a positive way and without losing their composure. Most people would back off and wouldn't want to anger this person on the other end of the phone. The good ones would just go for it.

The similarities between getting an appointment and a date are strikingly similar. It is almost the same exact process. You are getting a complete stranger to openly meet with someone at a set day date and time for a specific purpose. I thought that if i post the outline on how to make a successful cold call that it may give a bit of insight. It may be able to help break down your pickups to a degree and see where you are losing women. I am going to post both the basic cold call script we would use. Also, I'll post a comparable script as if you were meeting and asking someone out. I must stress this. I'm not saying to use the words I use for the pickup. It is only to show the structure alone.



1. Introduce self and company
--- Hello, Mrs Jones. This is John Smith calling from ABC Sales.
2 Create rapport
How are you today? Some weather we are having.
3 Use attention getting remark
I was calling you along with other homeowner's in Thomastown and discussing the rising cost of home maintainence..
4 Ask fact finding questions
Is your home wood, brick or siding?
How old is it? how often do you paint?

5 Deliver sales message
- The reason i asked was because here at ABC Sales we are a leader in the siding market. We have a siding that can save 30 percent on heating and cooling costs and never chips peels or fades. We are currently offering free estimates.
6. Ask for work hours
So what hours do you work?
7. Ask for appointment
So i can have a representative out tomorrow is 4 good or is a little better at 4:30 better for you?
8. Over come objections (then assume the appointment)
I understand you're not in the market at the moment. I surely couldn't ask you to make a decision over a phone call. But you did say that you and your husband have to paint every other year and we do offer a product that never needs painting. (return to close---so is 4 or a little better at 4:30 better for you?)

9 Get driving directions- self explanatory

10 Express thanks self explanatory

Pickup Sample

1. Introduce Self
--- Hi there, I'm Chad. Great to meet you.
2. Create rapport.
-- That's some bracelet you have there. Watch out or everyone will be jealous of you.
3- Use attention getting remark.
My friends and I were looking for a new club to hit and we heard great things about this place so we thought we'd give it a try.
4- Ask fact finding questions
- who are you here with? are you seeing anyone? what do you do for a living? do you normally work days or evenings?

5- Deliver sales message
----The reason I asked is that I'm recently single myself. blah blah

6-- Ask for work hours if you haven't asked already

7 - Ask for appointment/date
So we can do something tomorrow at 7 or is a little later at 7:30 better for you?

8- Overcome objections (then assume the appointment)
Oh I understand you're not looking for anyone a this time. I couldn't ask for any sort of a commitment considering we just met. But you had said you are single and like to go to new clubs, So let's go together. Is tomorrow at 7 or a little later at 7:30 better for you?

9. Get driving directions-
Agree to meet at The Club Club at 7:30 on High Street.
10 Express thanks- self explanatory

I thought this may help put things out there in a visual way. You'd have to do things your way and with your style. But if you have an outline it's easier to work on specific parts. I hope it is of some help.

Graybeard,

GREAT POST! I have a background in Automotive Sales and as a Sales Manager/Internet Sales Manager. I know what you mean about this. I have attended multiple sales classes on phone techniques and other things. There is a lot to be said for sales techniques applied to pickup. I highly recommend people check that stuff out. I still listen to cd's about sales almost every morning just because it's habit and good information.

PEACE,

Jon

_________________
Been around the world twice, Talked to everyone once...

Oh the forced choice. That's good stuff right there. I'm going into college fundraising. It's like sales where I'm trying to get them to give me money, but different because I'm not giving them anything back (except a sense of self-satisfaction helping a good cause)

To clarify for non-sales people, I'll demonstrate forced choice through examples.

Not forced choice (fundraising): Would you like to put that pledge on a credit card?
Not forced choice (pickup): Would you like to see me tomorrow at 7:00?

Forced choice (fundraising): Would you like to put that pledge on a Visa or Mastercard?
Forced choice (pickup): So would you like to see me tomorrow at 7:00 or would you prefer 7:30?

The trick is that "no" is not a syntactically appropriate response to a forced choice. It leads people into a frame where they've already agreed to your proposal and are just now hammering out the details. I've had TREMENDOUS success using this to raise money in the past... hadn't occurred to me to use it in pickup until Graybeard's post. Nice job.

I did want to add something else here about using sales techniques for pickups. When you are dealing with a client naturally they are going to have a number of rejections. Usually they are things like the following, "I'm not interested.", "We're not in the market", "We can't afford it" and the list goes on and on. But 99 percent of the rejections come down to just a few common used phrases like this. But in any telemarketing office, there will be rebuttals for every common rejection. The good employees will memorize these and have them at a moment's notice in their mind should they be needed. But a great telemarketer will eventually rewrite these into words to fit their own personality. Believe me, if you fake it, it will show. Now what I want to bring up here is a technique that rebuttals are handled. It is called C.O.P.A. It breaks down like this.

Confirm

Overcome

Prepare

Assume Appointment

Let's say in the sales world someone says "I can't afford it"

you would first CONFIRM it.

"Oh I understand you can't afford it Mrs Jones"

You basically parrot back their worry after saying "I understand..." By doing this, this shows empathy and also shows you are listening. From personal experience you want to almost laugh politely when saying it as if they didn't understand you and were mistaken.

then you

OVERCOME

"I couldn't ask you to make any purchase over my phone call"

this is where you sort of knock down their rejection

PREPARE

"We're really just talking about having an estimate for future reference"

this step is a bit wishy washy but it's basically where you turn the conversation back towards getting the appointment. Also---VERY IMPORTANT- if they give you any info to use against them use it

ASSUME APPOINTMENT

"So would tomorrow at 4 or 4:30 be better for you?"


I know this stuff is bland and doesn't seem practical yet. But I'll show a few pickup type situations. These are just to show the pattern and to show how it could be used. I'm not suggesting that using these verbatim is the best choice. But it will give a starting point.

she says
1. "I'm not looking for a relationship right now"

you say something to this effect

"Oh, I understand you're not looking for a relationship right now"
"It would be my lucky day if today was the day you wanted to start a relationship"
"But you had said over drinks that you haven't been able to get out enough"
"So is tomorrow at 7 or 7:30 better for you?"

she says
2. "You're not my type"

"Oh I understand that I'm not the type of guy you usually look for"
"It would be my lucky day if when I walked in you said "OMG, he's the one!"
"But you had said you have never been to a football game"
"So is Sunday at 11 or 11:30 better for you?"

she says
3."I'm just trying to have a drink with my friends"

"Oh I understand that your free time is precious to you"
"It would be my lucky day if you were here by yourself waiting for me"
"But opportunity only comes around every so often"
"So is tomorrow at 3 or 3:30 better for you?"


If you haven't had sales experience some parts of this may confuse you which I'd be glad to help with if I can.

But I want to also list a few observations I learned from spending a number of years telemarketing that will apply to pickups.

1. To a degree you do have to be yourself. If you are someone that is country you don't try to talk like a rapper. Use words you'd normally use. You want to be very natural. Plus you won't be stumbling for words. You must control the conversation. If you lose control, then you are relying on simply luck so you better be the hottest guy in the club.

2. In most cases, this will be the first time you've met. This means any silly story you have or joke will be new to the target. You may have said it 1000 times but it's new to them. Also, you have to sell it as if it's the first time you've ever said it.

3. Listen. You don't just listen to be polite. Yes, it looks good. But when you let them talk it's to get info. Not just any info but info to use against them. Don't just wait for your turn to talk.

4. Nothing sells better than truth. This is tied into listening. But let's say a girl says her mom has diabetes. Well most of us know someone with diabetes. If you just say something like "Oh I know where you are coming from. I used to give my grandmother shots of insulin and she went through a lot." Now she's going to know what you just said was truthful. But if you essentially are mister obvious and say a few truthful things you have so much more credibility. It could be 'Oh you don't have to tell me about college exams. I spent so many nights cramming." "Oh I remember when gasoline was under 2 dollars" "Oh my mom is short too! She has to get on a stepladder just to get to her shelves". But if you let them in a bit and say things that are truthful their shield goes down and you are just a regular person in their eyes and less of a threat.

5. It's all about getting to the close. Your goal is to get to the Day Date Time close as many times as possible and at the best percentage possible. The more you get there the more success you have. If you just chit chat and never ask then you may as well stay home.

6. Vocal Delivery. First, you want to be upbeat and talk slightly faster than normal. This will make you sound excited and usually positive. Secondly, tone is crucial. You want your tone to be somewhat even. If your voice gets higher as you are asking for the appointment it makes you sound whiny, anything but confident, shows fear and also makes you annoying. Lastly, Volume-- If you are loud and clear with what you say you appear as if you have nothing to hide. Wouldn't a person that mumbles make you skeptical? A person that mumbles is like someone that uses fine print in a contract. We were often forced to stand to pitch people so we could project more. In my experience, you speak a little fast, a little loud and have tone you may over do it at first but you'll naturally back off a bit and at some point you find your sweet spot that's just right.