Cold Calling Series: Post Call Considerations
You’ve made the call and your pitch. Let’s assume you did not make the sale. Now what?
1. Try calling again later (e.g., in a few weeks). Sometimes the timing is simply not right. Perhaps at a later date, the person will be more receptive to your pitch.
2. Cold calling is a numbers game to a great extent. So keep calling!
3. No matter what happens on the call, ALWAYS follow-up with a thank you email. If they didn’t even want additional information, be courteous and offer to be available in the event they change their mind. Unless there is a good reason not too (which there rarely is), try reaching out to this person, or someone else in their company, in a few weeks or months. Sometimes things change, and a need that wasn’t there before may have materialized.
4. Follow-up your call with a handwritten note sent by snail mail—even if you send a follow-up thank you via email. While your email will be received immediately, your note sent by snail mail will give you another audience with your prospect after several days, further reinforcing a positive perception of you in the mind of your prospect. Remember that few people send handwritten notes these days, so it is a great way to distinguish yourself as someone who really wants to do business with them.
J.B.
Read MoreCold Calling Series: Controlling the Call (PART 2)
Here are a few more things to keep in mind about how you should handle your call with a prospect.
1. The first 30 seconds of a call can be the most important. If you are not to the point in a friendly way, the person will end the conversation. Do not be monotonous or overbearing. Simply introduce yourself and give them a snapshot of why it is you called. Then ask a relevant question about their business or needs to get them engaged. Or try to establish a connection with them based on your research.
2. In the first 30 seconds, clearly state your most distinguishing factor over your competition. People get a lot of cold calls. Without a compelling distinguishing reason why a prospect should talk to you as opposed to your competitors, you will have increased the likelihood of getting brushed off. Perhaps you are the only vendor that can provide a certain level of service or product, or perhaps your company has more experts in a particular area than any other, etc.
3. Don’t talk too much. Through relevant questions about their business and needs, allow the prospect to do much of the talking. This creates a personal engagement that will help to close a sale. No one likes listening to a soliloquy. People lose interest.
4. If you can establish a connection with the person, you will increase your chances of getting the sale, such as another customer of yours who might know them, or someone else in the their company you know, or the fact that you did business with them before, or the fact that you used to live in their city—anything that will help establish a connection which will provide a foundation upon which to begin your pitch.
5. Start by establishing a rapport with the person. Don’t rush into your pitch. Once the ice is broken, they will be more likely to be receptive to what it is you are selling.
6. Don’t be afraid to use humor to break the ice, as long as it’s appropriate and in good taste.
7. Always be clear about your objective on the call. If the person loses sight of what it is you expect of him, you will lose his interest or he will get confused, and the easiest way for him to resolve this problem is to end the call.
J.B.
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Cold Calling Series: Controlling the Call (PART 1)
You’ve made the call! Now what? Below are a few thoughts about how to handle yourself after picking up the phone and dialing.
1. If you get voicemail, articulate your “hook” and invite a call back. Also, say that if you don’t get a call back in the next few days, that you will try again, as you assume they are very busy. This gives you an opportunity to follow-up, and will incentivize the person to actually return your call, knowing that you are not going to disappear if they simply ignore your call.
2. Take notes as you have a conversation with your prospect. This will remind you of important points to bring up and will allow you to revisit important items before future follow-up calls.
3. There is a debate as to whether to ask if this is a good time to call, or not. Certainly, doing so gives the person a perfect opportunity to end the call before you are able to say anything. But not asking this question “Did I catch you at a bad time?” is disrespecting a person’s time. Error on the side of respect. People will typically reciprocate with respecting you and what you are calling about. One good way to start which is a middle ground is: ”I’ve probably caught you in the middle something, but I was wondering if I could get just a few minutes of your time to chat about ….” This will respect the person, while letting the person know that even if he or she is busy, you will not take more than a few minutes of his or her time.
4. Experiment with different openings. Have a “hook” that is compelling and will make a person think, “Hmm, I get a lot of these calls, but this one sounds particularly interesting.” If you can’t offer up such a “hook,” then you will have substantially reduced your chance of getting beyond the first 30 seconds of a call.
5. Try to incorporate something you have learned about the prospect during your research into your introduction.
6. During your introduction, smile while you talk if on the phone, as if the person were in the same room with you. Your friendly demeanor will help diffuse any immediate objections a person might have.
7. Be enthusiastic. If you are not enthused, then you can’t expect your potential customer to be excited about buying whatever it is you are selling.
J.B.
Read MoreCold Calling Series: Pre-Call Considerations
Before making a cold call, you need to be cognizant of a few essential things to insure you are adequately prepared to make the most of your short time with a prospect. Remember to:
1. Research the company as much as possible before making the call. Who is responsible for making purchasing decisions? What are the company’s current priorities? Who are its biggest competitors? Who are its current vendors? Are there indications that your product simply would not be appropriate or too costly or otherwise unacceptable to the prospect?
2. Always try to identify the true decision maker in the company for your product or service through research before investing prospecting time in any particular person. This will substantially reduce the risk of wasting everyone’s time.
3. Be 100% prepared for your call. Have a script, but DON’T READ IT! This includes talking points for your introduction, statistics if appropriate, responses to common objections, and proposals for a next step in the process.
4. Be prepared for the most common objections, including Not interested, No current need, No budget, Too busy, and Already have a good vendor.
5. No matter what the response/objections, work to achieve a next step event, such as a follow-up call, sending information with a follow-up call, or, most preferably, a face-to-face meeting.
J.B.
Read MoreFor Cold Callers AND Non-Cold Callers
As cold callers know, cold calling is difficult and oftentimes frustrating. Perceptions of cold calling are, in many cases, negative. But for many industries, cold calling is essential. By learning more about the cold calling process, and how to deal with resistance, the cold caller can seek business more confidently.
For those who do not cold call, there are lessons that can be learned from cold calling. Unlike other sales activities, cold calling has the potential of capturing an entire sales process in literally minutes. Resistance is quick and an immediate response is necessary. Such a response can make or break the sale forever. Learning how to pitch and deal with resistance in a short period of time can help those who do not cold call to hone sales skills that can be utilized in longer sales processes.
The cold call process is comprised on 4 basic parts:
1. Pre-Call Considerations;
2. Controlling the Call;
3. Dealing with Resistance; and
4. Post-Call Considerations
In this series of posts, I will delve into each of these 4 basic parts of cold calling. The series will, I hope, provide immediately tangible ways for cold callers to improve their endeavors, and gain depth in the cold calling process. Non-cold callers will gain insight into how components of the cold calling process can help them achieve greater success.
J.B.
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