Cold Calling and the Success Mantra

Balasubramanian Jayaraman21st May 2012

How to be successful in Cold Calling

Undoubtedly the first 30/60 seconds conversation with your Prospect is very crucial in cold calling. If you fail to get his attention, the whole purpose of the call is defeated.Here are a few ways to improvise your approach and create a window of opportunity by having an engaging conversation with your prospects.

Write down your Introduction

That’s right, SCRIPT it out. I am not a great believer in having a script. I don’t mean the entire call. Just your opening introduction statement. Like many people, even I believe that scripting would lead to people sounding monotonous in their conversations.

I have tried this in the past to try sounding casual and impulsive approach to sound more natural. It may be more natural but ultimately it is far less effective. You totally, certainly need to have a well scripted introduction to ensure you make the most of those few vital seconds where the person decides to listen or drive you off. Remember, if you don’t get their interest here, the call is DOA.

Know your main objectives

The main purpose of your opener is NOT to establish rapport. It is NOT to make a new friend. It is NOT to go into your sales pitch. And it is NOT to secure a meeting.

The primary objective is to get the client to pay attention and not hang up the phone for another twenty or thirty seconds. It’s to hook them and get them interested enough to give you a little more rope. (See Page #9 to learn how).

Never be dishonest

Do NOT ask “How are you today?” Survey after survey tells us that prospects think this is a out of date and insincere question. And let’s be frank; they are right.

This question reeks of “salesperson” right from the get go and it puts your prospect on the defensive. If you do this, stop right now.

Ask the Right Question

Never ask, “Did I catch you at a good time?” or words to that effect

When you do this, you immediately give your Prospect a reason to get rid of you.

Instead, use this handy little phrase, “Brian, if I have caught you at a good time, what I would like to do is ask you few questions…”

The prospect senses that you’re asking if it’s a good time but what you are really saying is that you’d like to ask some questions. This is a VERY good and proven technique.

Don’t say “We are a leading supplier (provider) of …”

Unexciting! They hear that 20 times a day. It’s a ridiculous claim and by the way, who cares? Do you think they actually believe it? How will that help them solve a hitch they have? If you want a prospect to sit up and take notice, use adverbs that describe the problems that you solve.

For example, you might say, “I work with similar industries or verticals like yours’ who are worried about their Social Media ROI.”

Tell the client the purpose of your call - Quickly and directly Remember: Your prospect is not expecting your call. You are catching him off guard. Their focus is probably on a completely different subject.

Therefore your message should be concise and straight to the point. Tell them exactly why you’re calling and what you want. In the above example, the reason is extremely clear: “… what I would like to do is ask you few questions…”

Provide a benefit

Please!. Sadly, this is the most often ignored section of an opening statement. This is how you get the prospect to actually want to LISTEN longer (see Page #4).

When you script your opener put yourself in the client’s shoes and ask “Why would I care?” You must be able to answer the question, ‘what’s in it for me?’ The more specific the benefit is, the better your chances of continuing on. What will working with you (or buying from you) do for that prospect?

Ask a question and get the prospect involved

Once you’ve established who you are, the company you work for, the reason you are calling and the benefits your provide, simply ask a question.

This will get the prospect involved and engaged. Most importantly it will stop you from pitching further. It creates a dialogue. It eliminates a monologue

Practice makes perfect

Every word, every nuance, every syllable, even your tone must be practiced until it is delivered with absolute conviction.

If you don’t practice, it will sound like your reading from a script. If you don’t practice say goodbye to continuing the call. If you don’t practice, you’ll start to wing it and you will dilute the quality of the call. And that too, will be the end of the call. You’re on stage. Deliver your lines like a Super star.

Stay disciplined and focused

Stick to the script you’ve developed for the first twenty five live calls. Don’t change a word. You’ll be tempted to try and edit after every call. Note your thoughts but do NOT change it. It will take that long for you to feel comfortable with the words and it will take that long to properly evaluate the prospect’s response.

Only then should you go back and edit your opener. But then only change one element of the opener. In doing so, you are controlling the ‘variables.’ If you try to revamp the entire thing, you won’t know what was working and what was not. Change your benefits. Or change the reason for your call. But do so, one at time and make another twenty five calls before making any other changes

Conclusion

Create a script which covers:Who you areWhere you are calling from (Company)The purpose of your callAnd benefits to the prospect

Messaging:Should be clear and conciseAsk one or more questions (Make it interactive)

ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR NEXT COLD CALLING SESSION