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Start with the right empowered attitude and a fearless approach to cold calling and you will be successful. To cold call correctly, you must have a company customer profile you are targeting so you can filter out the suspects that aren't prospects for your business.

Understanding the Opponent
Your opponent is the friendly, helpful receptionist who was hired because of their supportive and pleasant nature. If you approach the receptionist incorrectly, you will meet the nasty and protective gate keeper.

If you approach the receptionist as a salesperson, you automatically trigger the nasty personality. However, if you approach the receptionist as someone lost and needing help, you will trigger the friendly receptionist. The receptionist will chose which one you are when they see you or hear you speak.

The Approach
If you walk into a building as a salesperson, do you think the receptionist will recognize you as a salesperson? If you look like, act like and sound like a salesperson, you are a salesperson. If you look like and act like a customers and someone that needs some help, you will be recognized as someone to help.

When I make cold calls, I never tell anyone who I am or where I am from. It isn't important and if I did, I reveal my hidden salesperson agenda. Instead, I ask for help and time. Something like this - "I'm hoping you can help me, do you have a minute?" I then wait for a helpful response before I ask my first question.

I won't dress and appear like a salesperson from my industry when I cold call. If I did, the receptionist will see me for who I am before I say a word. Instead, I will to dress like a customer, no briefcase or indication I am a salesperson.

The Cold Calling Questions:
Your first question should be so revealing that the answer identifies "IF" the contact is a prospect for your business. Something like this - "Thank you, is (company name) involved with (revealing clue)? Ask this question expecting an answer and if you don't like the answer, ask it a different way and even challenge the answer if it seems wrong.

Remember, you don't want to seem like a salesperson. A salesperson would rarely challenge a receptionist and will accept being lied to. If you approach cold calling correctly, you will get the information you want answered quickly.

If the prospect matches your customer profile, you will begin asking more questions. If they don't match your profile, you are done and should move on to the next cold calling opportunity. Doing this, you won't be wasting your time or the time of the receptionist and can make more calls.

When you approach cold calling as a lost puppy looking for help with all the body language and voice inflections, you will magically get all the information you want and be able to find prospects faster and with better information.