For some sales professionals, cold calling almost always equates to cold feet. Anytime you need to call a prospect you’ve never reached out to before, specifically to offer a product or service, that’s a cold call. And the pain of rejection is just too real for some!
But that’s our first tip for you: overcome the fear of rejection. Rejection happens. Many times. Even to the best salespeople. Remember that every time you pick up the phone to make a cold call.
Cold calling is just one of the many things you need to do when trying to add to your sales pipeline. And it’s a skill you must master. If you do it right, you may just avoid the sting of rejection. Here are some tips:
- Research your prospects.
This is a must. You cannot start talking to a new prospect without at least knowing enough about their company (size, industry, marketing and advertising campaigns, location, etc.) what your prospect does specifically (role/title, level/rank, etc.), and the latest news on the company (check out their social media accounts). If your contact’s social media accounts are available, check those too. The more you know, the better.
By researching your prospects, you can also vet your list and disqualify some. Your time is as precious as theirs. If the prospect seems like a qualified lead, establish some “just in case the call goes really smoothly” talking points: maybe you’ve had a client from the same industry, know someone the contact knows, and so on. Then make that call.
- Practice your script.
You will most likely have a spiel ready. Practice it. Listen to yourself: Do you sound like a robot? You should sound like how you’d normally sound when talking to anyone. Practice your spiel with someone too, and create different scenarios: friendly prospect, indifferent prospect, hostile prospect. It’s advisable to practice with a salesperson familiar with common cold calling obstacles, so he can prepare you with the tough questions and comebacks.
In your practice, make sure to rehearse a conversation that involves you asking questions and the “prospect” answering, and vice-versa. Then train yourself to ask open-ended questions—these are questions not answerable by yes or no. Asking open-ended questions makes it easier to keep the conversation going. It’s not shut down immediately.
- Walk with your customer on his journey. Don’t rush it.
Cold calling is step one. What’s your step two? You have to be aware of a customer’s journey and buying process. This is your first time to make contact, and it’s better to walk your prospect through the process, let him know what’s next. Build a rapport first; establish trust and confidence. With this first call, your goal should not be to make a sale. You can’t go from step #1 to step #5.
- Goal of the call: find out what your prospect needs
This is what you should really aim for in a cold call: find out what your prospect could possibly need. What problem can you fix? What value or benefit can you provide your prospect? Once you’ve established this, the next steps—for you and for your prospect—will be much clearer.
- Listen
You would think that this would come naturally for all salespeople engaged in cold calls. But that’s not always the case. By listening intently to your prospect, everything is clarified, you get to follow up with relevant questions, and you show your prospect that you are genuinely interested. Most sales people tune out the minute a contact starts to sound like he is not interested… don’t! You can still quickly and effectively turn the situation around. Find out why he is not interested and switch out your strategy. That’s how cold calls become successful: when you listen and manage to turn these calls into real, engaged conversations.
