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Best Cold Calling Techniques and Tips to Ramp Up Your Sales Success

Colombia's Best • Nov 17, 2021

Best Cold Calling Techniques and Tips to Ramp Up Your Sales Success

Everyone has received that random phone call from a salesperson during the middle of the day where you hang up before even finding out their reason for calling. At some point in time, someone has had to ask why they keep trying at all in the first place.

You probably could have guessed this, but your reason for making a cold call is with hopes to convince your potential prospect to purchase your product or service. With an effective strategy, this can still be attained.

What is cold calling?

A cold call is an unsolicited sales call on one prospect by a sales rep, either on the phone or in person, in an attempt to sell goods or services. Cold calls are usually performed on a prospect that has not previously expressed interest in your product/service.

A good cold calling script has five sections:

Start your call with a quick and concise greeting.

This is where you will introduce yourself and your company.

Give a brief description of your product’s benefits.

Request an appointment to continue talking with your prospect.

This is where you will respond to any questions or objections that you will often run into.

Why do you need to have great cold calling tactics?

Some people feel that cold calling is no longer a legal and effective way to generate sales-this is untrue. The strategies for cold calling today have changed because buyers of today have changed how they buy. This means sales reps have had to adapt and change their tactics to appeal to the different needs of today’s prospects.

An effective cold calling technique will set you apart from other cold callers, leave a lasting impression and heighten your success rate. In addition, cold calling tips and sales tips that you can apply will help you master cold calls and increase your closing rate.

eight successful cold calling tips

Here are eight successful cold calling tips that will help you during your sales pitch:

Let Rejection Inspire You

All sales reps encounter rejection at some point. It’s just something that comes with making sales calls. No one is successful in closing with all of their prospects.

Here are some applicable methods to help you get over your fear of rejection:

Applicable scenario #1:

If a buyer answers no to your proposal nicely, ask them why not respectfully. For example, you can say this:

“I value and admire your ability, to be honest with me. My sales manager encourages me to try my best to find and help the right people solve their problems. Just to help me better understand, why do you feel we are unable to service you?”

Applicable scenario #2:

Run worst-case scenario practice phone calls with your sales team to become familiar with rejection while having sales conversations.

Learning your customer should be the central point, not sales

Look at every conversation with prospects on your prospect list as a learning experience, whether they decided to give you and the company their business or not.

Here are some steps that you might take as you gain experience in cold calling:

1. Use a script

If this is your first cold call, begin cold calling using a script alone at first.

2. Identify challenges

Identify what part of the sales process you're having difficulty with. This is usually the part where someone shuts you down at.

3. edit

Rewrite those lines of the sales dialogue until you notice people aren't rejecting you anymore and keep tweaking it as needed.

Utilize Technology to eliminate mundane tasks

In today’s modern world of cold calling, there are many tools and services you and sales teams can use to make the job easier and more efficient. Here are some of the ways you can use these tools:

  • Create a cold calling post on social media with interesting content that helps the prospective customer solve their business problems.
  • Follow up with potential prospects through emails and include an email subject line that relates to the business.

Some other tools you can use are:

Outreach – This tool is helpful for full sequence management and other things like phone, emails, SMS, and social.

ConnectAndSell – This places you in live conversations with prospects as soon as they answer. They also help with manually dialing, navigating phone trees, waiting on hold, talking to gatekeepers, and scheduling follow-ups.

Don’t waste Your own time or the prospect's time

Most people that you call will be annoyed that you’ve interrupted their day. So your goal is to find the right people who will benefit from what you offer. If your prospect doesn’t need what you’re offering, then you’re wasting both your own time and theirs as well.

Typical contact traits to look for in a quality candidate:

  • Role/title
  • Tools they use to aid their work
  • Who they report to
  • Authority

Incorporate your personality into the sales script

In a way, you are an actor, and cold calling scripts help you complete your performance throughout the cold calling process. So don’t just read your lines.

Make sure you include your own emotions and personality in a way that feels natural to you in your sales conversation.

Find a functioning call schedule

If you just randomly call at any time without a schedule, you won’t see results. Keeping track of when a prospect is more likely to answer the phone and want to speak to you will help your success rate.

Applicable scenario #1:

Research the activity records of those who purchased and determine which days and what time period this occurred.

Applicable scenario #2:

Focus your efforts during this time by speaking with high-quality targeted customers.

Research shows that cold calls are most effective right before lunch or toward the end of the workday on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Make a Proper Inquiry and line up the next steps

Your objective isn’t to close the deal on a call, but you need to make a request in your closing line. After you do this, you need to clarify the following steps so that you and your prospective customer are on the same page.

Don’t try to coerce your customer into complying throughout stages of the transaction. Instead, help them to make an informed decision based on their needs.

Leave an effective voicemail

A prospect isn’t always going to pick up the phone, so it’s essential to learn how to leave a voicemail that’s effective when you make your cold calls. Choose which tactics you’ll use to arouse your customer’s interest enough to the point where you will receive a callback.

Determine what you want your potential client to know when listening to your message. For example:

  • You may want them just to know who you are
  • You’ve been recommended by someone they know
  • You can help them solve an issue you know they deal with

 

You’re bound to face difficulty, questions, and all other sorts of opposition while on a cold call, but how you meet this adversity will determine your success as a salesperson. Just remember you’re not alone, and you have these and many other tips as a guide to help you in your journey.

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