Your Inner CEO: "Leave a profanity at the sound of the beep...."

When you make a first call to a prospective client, your first few words are the most important -- so you want to get them right. Always state your name first, even if the person you’re talking with will have no idea who you are. Then ask to speak with your referral, and mention the name and affiliation of the person who gave you the contact.

Like this: “Good morning. This is Steve Parker. I’m calling Janet Sloan, referred by Brian Hunt at The Wall Street Journal.”

Notice three elements: your name, the name of the person you want to contact, and the identity of the person who gave you the referral. If you’re calling a corporate office, sometimes you’ll be asked the reason for your call. So once again mention the name of the person who gave you the referral, and add some information about how the referral came about.

You might say, “Brian suggested I get in touch regarding computer support.” Don’t feel you have to go into any more detail. And just use the first name of the person who referred you. One important key to successful phone communication is to be very respectful but also informal. Usually the person on the other end of the line will mirror your approach. If you’re tense, they’ll be tense. If you’re calm, low key, and confident, you’ll get the same positive energy back.

Once you do get the referral on the line, introduce yourself again by name. Then mention the person who referred you along with a brief reason for your call. “Brian Hunt at The Wall Street Journal suggested I call you about computer support.”

If you get a neutral or positive response, go one step further. “I was able to help Brian with a computer support program and he though you might be in the market for something similar. Is that correct?”

Sometimes this will open the door to further discussion. Other times it will just give you an opportunity to sign off from a referral who is clearly not interested. And occasionally it will even lead to another referral. In any case, always keep the person who referred you in the loop about the outcome. They’ll appreciate knowing what happened and may give you more referrals as a result.

What about voicemail? Many people look at voicemail as a dead end. They say to themselves, “Oh well, I’ll leave a message and maybe I’ll get a call back.” They don’t really believe that, but they're relieved not to have to talk with someone, so they leave a message. That’s how they avoid dealing with a potentially negative response.

This can lead to some dangerous ways of thinking. By the time the day is over, you might feel good because you’ve made a lot of calls and left a lot of messages. But your real productivity has been minimal. And over time that can take its toll.

Voicemail can actually be an opportunity. Voicemail can become the starting point for locating the person you’re trying to contact. It’s the starting point because you’re not going to let it be the ending point. Instead, you’re going to hit the “O” button and do your best to get a live person on the phone. When you do get connected to someone, here’s how the dialogue might go:

“Hi, could you help me out for a second? I’m trying to get hold of Mr. X and I got his voicemail. Would you happen to know if he’s at lunch, or on vacation, or in a meeting?”

Notice that you aren’t just asking to find Mr. X. You’re also providing possible solutions for finding him. This helps the phone receptionist feel as if he or she is part of the problem-solving process.

The receptionist is likely to offer one of two responses. The first is, “Yes, he’s in a meeting (or at lunch, or on vacation) and I’m not sure when he’ll be back at his desk.”

This answer has just given you a lot more information than you would have if you had just left a voicemail. Now you know your contact’s whereabouts in real time and you can call back at a better time.

The second possible response is, “No, I really don’t know where he is.” In this case, you reply, “That’s not a problem. Would you happen to know anyone whose desk or office is near him or who works in his area who might know where he is?” Again, you’re offering another option. Sometimes the receptionist will then transfer you to a colleague of your contact who can help you.

But the receptionist might also reply, “No, I don’t know anyone in his area.” You then say, “Would you happen to have a paging system or his cell phone number by any chance?”

If the receptionist can’t help you at that point either, just say, “Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help.” Then hang up and call back another time. You’re still much better off than if you’d just left a voicemail and let it go at that. You’ve been much more proactive and resilient. More often than you might expect, you’ll get through to your prospect just because you took a few extra steps.

The most important elements for finding new clients – whether by referrals or otherwise -- are optimism and resilience. You need inner certainty that you will get new clients even if you face some rejection in the process. A genuine liking for people is also really essential. You can see this in your own relationships. When you have a conversation with someone, you can quickly pick up on whether they really like you or are indifferent to you -- and you are much more likely to do business with those who like you.