This is the blog transcript of our video “Make Cold Calling Easy — Five Proven Techniques”. If you’d like to see more of our videos, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel here.
Hey there and welcome to week three of our cold calling miniseries. So far, you’ve learned a bit about what cold calling really is, and a surefire way to get rid of that cold call anxiety. But there’s still a lot of work to be done before you can lock down that sale using cold calls.
Today, we’re going to give you five proven techniques to improve your cold calls, lock down those sales, and grow your business.
Hey everyone, I’m Ian Campbell, CEO of Mission Suite. Before we jump into today’s video, do me a favor and hit the subscribe button and ring the bell so that you’re notified whenever we post new videos.
For over a decade, I’ve helped clients get the most out of their contacts with Mission Suite. Far too often we let our leads grow cold and stale, and that’s a real problem. Part of it stems from our unwillingness to reach out and make the necessary calls to get meetings and, ultimately, get sales..
Hopefully, after watching those last two videos, you have a renewed sense of purpose in making cold calls, but you still may not be sure you’re doing it right. Don’t worry. That’s why we’re here today. Here are five proven techniques on improving your cold calls.
Number one. Set a goal.
This actually goes hand in hand with our last video, where we discussed overcoming cold call anxiety. When making a call, you need to go into it with a purpose, otherwise, you’ll come out of it with an unproductive call.
We’ve all done this at some point. Perhaps you’ve made a call, had a great conversation, but ultimately came away empty-handed.
Maybe it had everything to do with you not being able to do anything for that prospect. But there’s a good chance that you also let yourself get so distracted by your own connection with them that you let the conversation get away from you. I’ve done this myself more times than I care to admit.
If you don’t have a goal going into it, you won’t know how to lead the call to its desired end — because you won’t have one.
Now, as I mentioned in the last video, the end goal of most cold calls is to get a meeting, but the goal of every call doesn’t need to be so lofty. I recommend checking out last week’s video to see what I’m talking about. There you’ll get an idea of what sort of goals you should be making to help make a super productive cold call.
So, don’t pick up that phone unless you KNOW how you want that call to end, and have a series of backup goals to fall back on should your primary goal not pan out.
Number two. Do your research.
You’d be surprised at the number of people who don’t do any research before they pick up the phone to make a call..
Making cold calls isn’t about closing your eyes and dialing up the first business your finger lands on in the phone book – not anymore anyway.
You need to lay the groundwork beforehand.
What is this business?
What are its pain points?
How can you help?
Perhaps most importantly, who are you calling, what role do they have in the business, and how can YOU help THEM personally?
If you understand all this going into each call, you can fine-tune your cold call script and cater it specifically to them. Do that, and you’ll not only be more able to adapt to the conversation and achieve your goal for this call, but you’ll also reduce your anxiety.
The more you know about something, the easier it is to talk about.
And that’s not all. The more work you put in upfront, the less likely you are to call someone who you know is a bad fit for you or your business.
After spending thirty minutes researching ACME and its CEO Wile E. Coyote, you may realize it’s just not a good fit for them and not a good fit for you. No point in calling them. You’ve effectively spared yourself an awkward and fruitless conversation.
Remember, less time wasted on pointless cold calls is good news for you and it’s good news for them.
So research away. Get on Google, the business’ page, as well as the LinkedIn page of who you’re calling.
What are their priorities?
What business philosophies do they hold sacred that you can use as leverage in your call?
Information is power you can use to unload onto your cold calling script, making for a conversation that’s THAT much more effective.
And if you’re interested in making your own cold call script, you can check out the link in the description below to head to the cold call script builder.
And speaking of script…
Number three. Gut your cold calling script.
By this time, I’m hoping that it’s clear that you should go into every cold call with some semblance of a script. If you don’t have a script, you’re bound to waste the caller’s time and your own.
But it’s not enough to have a script. You have to make sure it’s hitting all those right notes — intriguing your potential customer to keep listening.
Gong Labs reported last year that successful cold calls are nearly twice as long as unsuccessful ones (I’ll drop a link to the article in the description) — but that’s not to say you can just twiddle your thumbs on the line and run the clock in hopes of making a personal connection.
Every word you utter is one more second your potential client is being pried away from their business, so you need to make your case FAST in order to earn those precious extra minutes with them. So, after creating your cold calling script, take a closer look. What words can be cut, and which sections can be propelled upward to better help solve your potential customer’s problem?
Ironically enough, one other crucial aspect of this step is that you spend as much time as you can pitching your product or service. This means you should be spending most of the time talking. Cold calls where the caller did most of the talking were much more successful than those who mostly listened.
NOW isn’t the time to hear their problems – that’s going to come later.
Remember, your main goal for now is to lock down a meeting. You can listen to their story once you’re at that meeting. Until then, talk more, but make sure you’re speaking effectively and to the point based on what you know about the person you’re calling.
So, again, make sure your cold call script is clean. That every word piles on to your sales pitch — and do your best to discuss who you are and what you’re selling. The more time the prospective client spends listening to your convincing pitch, the more likely they are to be convinced and jump on a future call with you, where you can then listen to them and hear what they have to say.
If you’re starting to feel bad about not having done any of these things — DON’T. For a lot of us, selling doesn’t come naturally, and we end up accidentally wasting the time of a lot of potential clients. The important thing is that we learn and work to improve every single day.
Have you ever found yourself accidentally wasting a prospective client’s time thanks to a lack of research? Let me know in the comments down below. And while you’re down there, don’t forget to like and subscribe if you’re getting something out of this video. Okay, now onto numbers four and five.
Number four. Tell your caller upfront why you’re calling.
We’ve all had phone calls from people we don’t know. If we’re not cutting them off right at the top of the call, we’re just sitting on the other end of the line, politely waiting to see what this person’s going to try and sell us.
In fact, until we hear that, chances are we’re not going to listen to much of what they have to say. We’re all waiting for that other boot to drop, so there’s no point dragging it out.
As a caller, you may think you’re buying yourself precious seconds, but you’re actually doing the opposite.
According to them, callers that state their objective outright are more than twice as likely to end successfully. Once you state your purpose, the potential client will drop their guard and be more likely to listen to what you’re saying now that they know WHY you’re calling. So get right to it.
Once they answer, tell them who you are and what business you’re calling from. Once they know that, let them know why you’re calling.
Chances are, they’ll be relieved, and if they cut you off then and there, you’ll have saved yourself precious minutes that can be used to reach out to another prospective client.
Finally, number five. LEARN from your mistakes.
I know, once you have a template down, it’s tempting to keep trudging ahead.
It’s easy to be set in your ways and hope that your call pans out. But if you find you get cut off at the same section in your call every time, it may be time to rethink everything leading up to that point.
Are you asking an awkward question that’s difficult to answer?
Are you being too vague so that your listener isn’t able to connect with your proposition?
There are tons of possibilities for you to examine your call script but remember that just because you get rejected doesn’t mean you can’t learn from each interaction.
As you grow more familiar with the cold calling process and, let’s face it, rejection, you’ll be able to better identify what is and isn’t working. DON’T IGNORE THAT INFORMATION. Every step you get closer to making successful calls is one step closer to taking your business to the next level.
As I mentioned before, you should set a goal for every call. If you miss those goals then, at the very least, you should set a goal to LEARN why your call failed.
Do this, and you’ll not only get stronger, but you’ll learn to embrace the rejection, making you that much stronger for the world of cold calling.
Your Turn
So these are five proven tips to help improve your cold calls, and there are many more out there.
You may have noticed that a couple of them require something of a cold calling template.
If you don’t have one don’t worry, we’re here to help. We’ve put together a foolproof way to create a cold calling template of your very own that’s personalized for your business and your potential clients. This template is a CRUCIAL first step into making sure your cold calls are successful, so be sure to take advantage.Head down to the description below and check it out for yourself!
Hey I hope you got something out of this video. And if you did, go ahead and give it a thumbs up and maybe a share so that others can see it too. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell so that you’re notified whenever we post new videos and while you’re at it, check out these videos too!
We’ll see you next time around!