Unveiling the Most Important Cold Calling Tips
Cold calling is an essential part of any outbound sales strategy. And when done correctly, it can bring in significant revenue.
Despite the rise of digital marketing strategies, cold calling remains a powerful tool for generating leads and closing deals. However, it can be tough and requires a well-thought-out approach to be effective. Here are some crucial cold calling tips that can help you succeed.
1. Every good cold calling campaign starts with a crystal clear ideal customer profile (ICP)
One of the most important cold calling tips is to research your prospects before making the call.
Clearly identify what type of person would be likely to use your product and what problem you are solving for them. Start by outlining these points
What is the typical title of someone who has the problem I can solve?
What industry do they typically work in?
What size company do they typically work in?
Poorly defined ICP: VP of sales
Crystal Clear ICP: VP of Sales at software companies that use SalesLoft and have 50-500 employees.
Understand who they are, what they do, their pain points, and how your product or service can solve their problems. This information will help you tailor your conversation to suit their needs and interests.
Use tools like LinkedIn and databases (ZoomInfo, Apollo.io, Lusha, ExactBuyer, etc.) to gather information about your prospects. Find out about their industry trends, competitors, recent news or events related to their business.
2. Plan Out Every Part of Your Cold Call
Planning is crucial when it comes to cold calling. Before making a call, prepare a script outlining what you want to say during the conversation. However, don't stick rigidly to it; instead use it as a guide.
Most cold call scripts consist of 4-5 different parts. Things like:
Opener
Hook
Pitch
Objection Handles
Close
Example:
Opener: Hi Bob - This is (name) from (company). I know I’m calling you out of the blue, but can I tell you why I’m calling.
Hook: I often speak with other (title)’s who say that they often run into (insert problem). How are you handling this at the moment?
Pitch: So that’s exactly why I’m calling. We’ve been working with a few other similar companies to solve this by doing XYZ. I was wondering if you might be curious to see how we solve this.
[objection handles]
Close: Any interest in investing a few minutes tomorrow to see exactly how we solve this problem?
Plan out your cold call script and tailor it to your own specific business
3. Your tone matters (and not in the way you might expect)
How you say things can often be more important than what you say. If you sound like a traditional salesperson, prospects are going to treat you like every other salesperson. Instead, take a high-status approach to your cold calls. Here’s how:
Avoid uptones. This is where you end your sentences with an upward inflection. Use downward inflections to project confidence
Speak slowly. Oftentimes when people get nervous, they speak fast. Speak confidently and slowly.
Don’t use buzzwords. Using industry jargon destroys your credibility. Speak to communicate, don’t speak to impress.
4. Call Deliverability Matters
Nobody will answer your cold calls if your number shows up as “Spam”. So how can you take steps to account for this? Here area few ideas:
Rotate phone numbers. Don’t use one phone number for all of your cold calls
Monitor your phone numbers
Ramp up your call volume when using a new phone number
Use a branded caller ID. Branded caller ID is when your number shows up with who is calling. Not many people are doing this right now so it’s a great way to differentiate yourself. For more info on this, check out PhoneBurner’s website
Call people who answer. Using a pre-validated list is a great way to have more conversations with your prospects and book more meetings. Our recommended provider for this is Phone Ready Leads. You send them your list of prospects, they’ll identify the ones that answer the phone, they send the list back to you, you call the validated list, you book more meetings and make more money because you only speak with prospects who answer the phone
5. Follow Up
The last but definitely not least important tip for successful cold calling is following up after your initial contact with prospects.
If a prospect shows interest during your call but isn't ready to make a decision yet, schedule another call or send an email summarizing what was discussed during your conversation along with additional information about your product/service as needed.
Following up shows prospects that you're genuinely interested in helping them solve their problems rather than just making a sale which can significantly increase your chances of closing deals in future interactions.
Conclusion
Cold calling may seem daunting at first but by implementing these tips into your strategy - clearly identifying your ICP; creating a plan for your cold calls; optimizing your voice tone; accounting for call deliverability; following up after initial contacts - it becomes less intimidating more manageable over time leading ultimately towards success in generating leads closing deals effectively efficiently for business growth profitability long term sustainability.
Remember that practice makes perfect when it comes to mastering these techniques so don’t get discouraged if things don’t go as planned initially – keep refining approach until find what works best for unique situation circumstances!