Rumor says cold calling is dead, and prospects are fed up with it.
But ask any sales leaders, and they will agree to disagree. Most Fortune 500 companies, SMB, startups all rely on cold calling even today.
If you are using the same old-school techniques for cold calling and expecting leads to generate on their own, that won't work.
As technologies change, you need to adapt to them.
Considering the current situation in 2022, where companies have adjusted to the remote team culture, and now we have seen high success where teams have started cold calling.
Today, we’ll take you through:
◾What is cold calling?
◾What are the 8 tips and tricks you can use in cold calling?
- Make A Solid Pitch
- Choose A Strategic Call Time
- Set The Right Tone
- Leave Voicemails
- The Follow-up Frenzy
- Take Detailed Notes
- Listen And Then Talk
- Record Your Activities
So, before we jump into the tips of cold calling, let’s understand what is cold calling?.
What is Cold Calling?
Cold calling refers to the activity where the sales reps reach out to the potential customers for selling their solution through multiple channels like telephone or person. But the challenge here is that the representatives have no idea if the person will decide on the call or simply hang up.
We will look at eight tips and tricks that you can use in your cold calling.
8 cold calling tips and tricks tried and tested by sales experts
1. Make A Solid Pitch
You don’t want to get into the ring unprepared. Especially when you are new to sales. During the initial calls, it is evident that you will sweat.
When you are nervous, you tend to fumble a lot. If this happens, you might forget some crucial points. The other person may not understand and will be unable to decipher your message.
But you don’t want your prospects to see this. Because if the person on the other end knows that you are nervous, they will ask you to cut down on the pricing or might not even consider buying from you.
So to take your A-game into the ring, prepare a solid pitch.
Start by talking about the problems and end with customer stories.
But this doesn’t mean that you can recite every word in the pitch. The pitch should be like a checklist of topics you want to talk about to the other person.
2. Choose A Strategic Call Time
If you do not figure this out, you will call the same person a zillion times and waste their and your precious time.
There are good times and bad times. If your call gets through a good time, it is highly likely to connect.
Monday mornings are the worsts. There are slim chances that the other person will talk to you.
Put yourself in the prospect’s shoe.
You have just returned from a fantastic weekend. You have tons of emails and missed calls to check. What are the chances that you will talk to anyone on the call on this busy day?
So when to call?
- Try reaching out on Wednesdays and Thursdays. You can consider these two options–early in the morning or later in the day. If you’re an early bird, try calling at 6:45 and 9 in the morning.
- Also, you can consider afternoon time slots. Between 3 PM- 6 PM can be idle time. People are done with their lunch and have returned to their desks. They will first check their emails and then start their work. Use this time to connect with them but make sure that you do not stretch the discussion beyond 5 PM because people leave the office.
3. Set The Right Tone
Even if you say all the right words, but your tone is wrong, you are not going to make that sale. Steli Efti, the CEO of Close.io, says that according to research, your tone can determine the success of your cold call at a staggering rate of 93 percent.
You have to sound confident and excited–just like a radio jockey.
If you sound boring, the prospect might not want to deal with you. Understand that if you are not confident about selling, how can you expect the customers to do so.
Understandably, cold calling is not easy, and you cannot be enthusiastic all the time. But there is no room for aggression at any point of the cold call. You have to maintain your tone even if things are turning south.
What are some lesser-known tricks to close deals faster in 2022?
4. Leave Voicemails
When the customer does not connect with you, you shouldn’t be afraid of sending voicemails. Most of the telemarketers and recruiters do not leave voicemails. But if you follow it, there are higher chances that you can connect with your customers easily.
An apt voicemail should be between eight to fourteen seconds.
So prepare a note for voicemails too. Fourteen seconds pass very quickly. Consider voice calls as your sales pitch. If you do it correctly, there are high chances that the person will give you a callback, and they might turn into potential customers.
Say you want to mention your company's name, your name, and the purpose of the call. So take a note of the entire voice call first and then decide the essential things that should be added.
Pro Tip: Do not give all the information about your solution voicemail. Keep a room for the customer to think. Only then your response rate will increase.
5. The Follow-up Frenzy
When you are done calling the prospect a couple of times, you are still far away from selling your product. There can be over five more follow-up calls and meetings, after which the deal closes.
You must constantly be in touch with the prospect before they disappear from the sales cycle. The best time to follow-up with them is when they open your emails or even images with social media posts.
You can use the below follow-up messages.
"Circling back regarding last week’s call."
"Wanted to see if you got my email"
"Was curious if you made a decision yet?"
I’m calling to follow up on the proposal I sent"
"I haven’t heard back from you"
6. Take Notes
Let’s agree that we are humans, and we forget things often.
There is no shame in noting down the key points you feel are very important on the calls. People think that taking notes is a sign of an amateur. But that is not true.
When you take notes, you know the essential points you are considering. So when you follow-up with the prospects again, you will remember the critical pointers you want to consider.
How to use effective communication in a cold call?
7. Listen And Then Talk
On average, the cold call is around 2-4 minutes. That is fine if it goes a few minutes longer, but a 10-minute cold call is unusual. Also, you’re a business, and you have to reach out to X amount of people every day. So spending more than a few minutes per cold call will not help you achieve your goals.
During this short call, you must give the prospect the chance to talk. If you want to learn more about them, including their problems and needs, you can position your product/service as the perfect solution.
Remember that your prospect is an individual, not just another number in a long line of leads.
8. Record Your Activities
You must be aware of how the players watch replays of their games or matches to see how they did? Well, you should start doing the same. Record all your calls and when you are available, introspect what chances you might want to do.
You want to listen to both good and bad call performances.
- The good ones will let you review which of your tactics work. You can then continue using those tactics or tweak them for further success.
- What about the calls where you didn’t do well? These hold even greater value. By figuring out what didn’t quite work, you can improve on your process and begin making more sales through your cold calls.
Cold Calling Is Definitely Not Dead–Be Careful!
Maybe the process has changed over these years, but the essence of connecting people to sell your solution is still there.
The cold calling tips will work for you despite any specific industry.
With the coming of new technologies like conversation intelligence, you want to make use of it.
If you wish to record your cold calling activities and learn from them, check out Convin, which helps you analyze your cold calls and close more deals faster. Try Now!
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