I started over 30 years ago cold calling for a start up and increased sales from $5k to $50k a month in 2 years. I then joined an established company and started using Attention Marketing and it grew sales from $100k to over $300k a month in 2 years. My latest Attention Marketing Campaign to the top 20 law firms in my city netted me 5 as clients. Attention Marketing accelerated my sales conversion. I am thinking of giving a free webinar on Attention Marketing and the process I use. Would anyone be interested in attending my free webinar?
Introduce yourself/company as if you were a new neighbor. DON'T overwhelm anyone with a business agenda. Your initial goal should be to make a friend which is the first step in making a customer. I ran the sales training program at Sun Oil before I went out on my own. Regardless of what anyone tells you, people still prefer to do business with people they like--all things being equal.
Be Brief. Be Bright. You have seconds to connect why YOU solve a problem for THEM and why YOU are their best choice. If you stammer, ask too many "small talk" questions, or are evasive, you're done. If you cannot get from "Hello!" to "I can solve your issue with this, expediently, easily, and affordably" you are done.
Here is some of what I use to weed out the wasted time callers.... When I get cold calls and they are more interested in the "Hi how are you" talk, I hang up. If you are evasive in answering questions, I hang up. If you keep asking for the manager or business owner and don't answer questions, I hang up. If you are too generic in your answers, I hang up.
I did cold calling for a company for about 13 years. I learned that you have less than 30 seconds to either blow it or succeed. You do need a script, but the script can be bad and lose you 99%. The script can be good, too. But the script needs to help you learn how to lead in and "go fishing" and gauge interest and lead you to what to say next to connect and book a meeting. That's the entire point. over 99% of cold callers I get cannot get me to book because they are so focused on the script, and the script is poor and weeds them out for me.
Learn and adapt. Learn to be brief. Learn to be bright. Learn to connect in 30 seconds or less. KNOW who you are calling. Don't call and ask for "the manager or owner." Know their name. Know what it is you do for them, and cut right to the chase.
I'm a sales coach and trainer based in Long Beach and I've read some of the other responses. Obviously a warm call is better than a cold call, but cold calling is still the most cost effective and time efficient way to fill your calendar with appointments IF you know how to do it well. I suggest "permission-based" cold calling. It would sound like this: "Hey Al, this is Jeff Goldberg from Jeff Goldberg & Associates. I'm sure I caught you at a busy time but if you have just 30 seconds I can share why I'm calling and then you can decide if you'd like to continue the conversation or not. Fair enough?" Assuming the prospect agrees, it's time for your brief commercial, but I like a statement based format first..."Al, a lot of the VPs of Sales I speak with tell me they're frustrated that their sales cycle takes to long. JG&A is a sales training and coaching firm. We help companies like yours achieve measurable and sustainable sales increases, and one of the ways we do that is by helping you to shorten your sales cycle. Al, is it worth speaking further?" The other key is to be prepared for when the other person says "No." Most prospects have a knee-jerk reaction to cold calls so you must be ready to work through the most common objections. The good news is there are only seven. Hope this helps!
Know what your desired outcome is. Don't try and sell on the first call. When I was doing this 15 years ago. My goal was to find out if they had a use for my service. I did this by asking questions. Get them talking. If you are talking, you are sounding like every other telemarketer. If they had a use for my service, I would ask to book a call. This depends, of course, on what it is you are selling.
Here are some tips for new business calling: Embrace rejection, don’t run from it. Focus on immediate learning, NOT immediate sales. Do your detective work to create a targeted prospect list. Follow your scripts like an actor, NOT like a robot. Make the right ask and set the proper next steps. Leave effective voicemails
I do! I am in Health, Wellness & Beauty…I reach out to MedSpas and Doctor’s whose fields are related. I have gained several Business Partners that way.
What’s the worse that can happen? They will say they are not interested in my offer. The best scenario is they say yes and we continue the conversation!
There is no right answer. But, something that will make your cold calling easier is to first research who you are planning on calling. Find out about their business and see if your product or service might be a fit. It will reduce the number of "no's" you get. I like to visit the business when I cold call and get to know the owner/manager/staff. Knowledge of your potential prospect is king. Remember: the cold call is only the first step to building a relationship.
Comments (1-10)
I started over 30 years ago cold calling for a start up and increased sales from $5k to $50k a month in 2 years. I then joined an established company and started using Attention Marketing and it grew sales from $100k to over $300k a month in 2 years. My latest Attention Marketing Campaign to the top 20 law firms in my city netted me 5 as clients. Attention Marketing accelerated my sales conversion. I am thinking of giving a free webinar on Attention Marketing and the process I use. Would anyone be interested in attending my free webinar?
Introduce yourself/company as if you were a new neighbor. DON'T overwhelm anyone with a business agenda. Your initial goal should be to make a friend which is the first step in making a customer. I ran the sales training program at Sun Oil before I went out on my own. Regardless of what anyone tells you, people still prefer to do business with people they like--all things being equal.
Here are my stats and why I asked the question:
*82% of buyers say they’ve accepted sales meetings after a connection that began with a cold call.
*57% of B2B C-level executives prefer to be contacted by phone, according to B2B cold calling surveys.
*Companies that don’t believe in the effectiveness of cold calling experience 42% less growth than companies who do believe in cold calling.
Be Brief. Be Bright. You have seconds to connect why YOU solve a problem for THEM and why YOU are their best choice. If you stammer, ask too many "small talk" questions, or are evasive, you're done. If you cannot get from "Hello!" to "I can solve your issue with this, expediently, easily, and affordably" you are done.
Here is some of what I use to weed out the wasted time callers.... When I get cold calls and they are more interested in the "Hi how are you" talk, I hang up. If you are evasive in answering questions, I hang up. If you keep asking for the manager or business owner and don't answer questions, I hang up. If you are too generic in your answers, I hang up.
I did cold calling for a company for about 13 years. I learned that you have less than 30 seconds to either blow it or succeed. You do need a script, but the script can be bad and lose you 99%. The script can be good, too. But the script needs to help you learn how to lead in and "go fishing" and gauge interest and lead you to what to say next to connect and book a meeting. That's the entire point. over 99% of cold callers I get cannot get me to book because they are so focused on the script, and the script is poor and weeds them out for me.
Learn and adapt. Learn to be brief. Learn to be bright. Learn to connect in 30 seconds or less. KNOW who you are calling. Don't call and ask for "the manager or owner." Know their name. Know what it is you do for them, and cut right to the chase.
This is all "basics."
Know what your desired outcome is. Don't try and sell on the first call. When I was doing this 15 years ago. My goal was to find out if they had a use for my service. I did this by asking questions. Get them talking. If you are talking, you are sounding like every other telemarketer. If they had a use for my service, I would ask to book a call. This depends, of course, on what it is you are selling.
Embrace rejection, don’t run from it.
Focus on immediate learning, NOT immediate sales.
Do your detective work to create a targeted prospect list.
Follow your scripts like an actor, NOT like a robot.
Make the right ask and set the proper next steps.
Leave effective voicemails
I do! I am in Health, Wellness & Beauty…I reach out to MedSpas and Doctor’s whose fields are related. I have gained several Business Partners that way.
What’s the worse that can happen? They will say they are not interested in my offer. The best scenario is they say yes and we continue the conversation!
There is no right answer. But, something that will make your cold calling easier is to first research who you are planning on calling. Find out about their business and see if your product or service might be a fit. It will reduce the number of "no's" you get. I like to visit the business when I cold call and get to know the owner/manager/staff. Knowledge of your potential prospect is king. Remember: the cold call is only the first step to building a relationship.
Don't do any.