Cold Calling

Yes, you heard it right. We are talking about Cold Calling in this blog today.  

Yeah, I know you hate cold calling. Every one of us hates it, but let’s get to know the interesting fact about it, 

What is cold calling?  

Cold calling is the technique of calling people (not saying customer or consumer here) who have not heard about your brand or company and trying to convert into leads.  

In this era of digital life where Email Marketing and WhatsApp marketing is playing a major role, let me share some important “Cold Calling Tips and Tricks” with you to make your sales pitch smoother.  

These cold calling tips and tricks are based on my own experience in my sales career which I feel will surely help you bringing in a structure so that this seemingly difficult job will feel like any other task you will manage. 

Preparation 

Preparation is key.  

Everyone has received calls where they felt like hanging up after 10 seconds.  

Therefore, good preparation will help you to feel confident right from the beginning and also grasp the prospect’s attention so that you are being perceived as relevant.  

The following tips should help you get the best prepared before you pick up your phone. Because we know, preparation is the key. 

Get into the Right Mood

The first tip is being in the right mood. 

Cold calling is nothing anyone would love from day one. Also, even the best performing cold caller will have good and bad days. 

To be an effective cold caller, you must be aware of what your current mood is and how it will affect your voice and thus, your confidence with which you talk to your Prospect.

Research the Company and its Industry

The second cold calling tip is doing some research on the company and its industry.  

Take 5 min to research the company you are calling into. Find out how they make money through annual reports and other media articles.  

Have a look into what competitors are in this field and who are the leading ones.  

This will give you an understanding of how a company is positioned in its market.  

Should you not find any information here, great! Take that as a chance to ask your Prospect. 

Know your Prospect

Knowing your Prospect is the third cold calling tip. 

Use social media profiles to better understanding the person you are calling.  

Know who is connected to them and what education they have.  

Often a common past will help you open a conversation much easier. 

Understand the Persona Pains

You need to understand the pain point of the person you are going to call, and this becomes the fourth cold calling tip, 

Try to think, what major pains and questions are keeping the person up at night in his job.  

A sales manager wants to improve revenue; a service manager is interested in cutting costs and improve customer satisfaction.  

These pains come with challenges which your product or service should directly help solving. 

Have your Call List Ready

Now coming to the fifth tip is having your call list ready and handy.  

Prepare a list of prospects that fulfill similar criteria as the companies as well as the prospect persona with its pains.  

That way, you don’t need to rethink after every call what you want to say. Instead, you’ll improve your flow and confidence.  

To build a good list, use historical data of your company or do some research on external data using example industry magazines to find similar companies. 

The Call 

So now you have done your homework. That should already make you feel more confident because you have a message to deliver and a conversation to have with the right people. And if one does not want to talk about the points you raise, the next one will. The following paragraph will help you structuring the call itself so that even if you happen to drift off the topic, you can always get back to these anchors. 

Passing the GateKeeper is a very important trick amongst all. 

More than often, you will stumble upon a gatekeeper when cold calling.  

They come in different shapes and time. Often it is the personal assistant, but can also be a colleague or the receptionist.  

Keep in mind that they are not the ones meant to hear your greatest elevator pitch but what you need to tell them is why you need to speak to the person right now.  

Here is one example of what you can say; 

I would like to speak to Mr Sharma because I am setting up the agenda for a potential first meeting and I would like to get his feedback on the most relevant points he would see relevant to discuss. 

Have a Strong Elevator Pitch? 

Your elevator pitch must always be ready and with a strong punchline, and this is our seventh tip. 

The most common mistake of an elevator pitch is that people talk about how great their product is.  

Instead, you should say what problem it solves for them. Should it be not too obvious which ones they are, list 3 common pains you solve and let the prospect choose one of them.  

If he sees none of them relevant, great, ask him what his biggest pain points are. 

Make a clear Up-Front-Contract (UFC) 

Eighth is to Make a clear Up-Front-Contract (UFC).  

An Up-Front-Contract is when you agree with your prospect how much time you will take for this call, what you ideally want to get out of it and what you are willing to share with him.  

To give a good idea to the prospect of what he is getting into, give him two typical scenarios of how these calls will end: 

Typically, after 10 min we should be able to determine from the examples we share and the pain points you tell us, whether a follow-up meeting can be scheduled. 

Cold Calling Tips: The Finish Line

Finishing the line becomes the ninth

You finally get to talk to the person you wanted to and had a great conversation with.  

Happy days Stop!  

Now it’s time to close the call with a strong finish line and set clear next steps.  

Otherwise, all the great preparation is lost, and next time you might not be so lucky to get that much time again. 

Analyze your Results

The tenth tip Analyse your results.  

To continue improving the 10 Cold Calling Tips, the most important one is to analyze your results.  

Go through your list and see how many meetings you managed to schedule, how many rejections you got, and how often you got stuck at the gatekeeper.  

These insights will help you to determine your weak spots and continuously improve with every additional call. 

Do try these tips and let me know your experience in the comments below.  

Happy Calling.