Welcome to the world of cold calling. If you've ever felt a sense of awkwardness while picking up the phone and calling someone you don't know, you'll understand just how challenging making a cold call can be. Whether you are calling to confirm an appointment, asking for an interview slot or trying to sell something, mastering the art of such telephonic conversations will definitely make life easier for you. Forget the fear and believe in the following things
Be enthusiastic
Do your homework
Have a checklist
Focus on the goal when cold calling.
Research your markets and prospects.
Prepare an opening statement for your cold call.
What should be in the opening statement of your cold call?
Surrender to the outcome of your cold call so you can connect with your potential client at a human level
View the human connection as an exciting journey in which you encounter new and interesting people
Speak graciously and naturally as you would with any new acquaintance
Remember it’s about how you come across, not about how many people you call
Allow the conversation to evolve naturally
Invite both of you to decide together whether it’s worth your time to pursue the conversation further
Sound like a human being
Learn how to get gatekeepers
Understand your numbers
Strong work ethics
Clear objectives
Also have secondary objectives
Inform and educate
Listen and interpret
Objectivity is important
Involve and coordinate
Keep in touch as well the ultimate ownership
Stop chasing prospects
Connect with prospects
Creating trust with prospects
Diffuse any pressure that you sense
Change your language and way of speaking
Use phrases that are non-aggressive yet very effective
Anticipate Your Rebuttals
Your Attitude Determines Your Results
Preparing an opening statement
Stay focused
Avoid common mistakes
Follow-up
Cold calling actually enables the sales person to:
supersede existing suppliers
pre-empt the competition
identify and create huge new business possibilities
become indispensable as someone who can make things happen and create new business
build (your) personal reputation beyond job title and grade
establish relationships and a respect (for you) beyond normal sales responsibilities
and be an entrepreneur.
Cold calling uniquely:
positions you in a crucial pivotal role - you are an interpreter, translator, controller
is the key to new fresh opportunities - business and anything else
and more generally the cold calling capability empowers you to define and determine and take control of your own future.
Successful cold calling should be
honest/open
straightforward
interesting/helpful
different/innovative
thoughtful/reasoned
prepared/informed
professional/business-like
efficient/structured
respectful
enthusiastic/up-beat
informative/new
thought-provoking
time/cost-saving
opportunity/advantage
credible/reliable
demonstrable/referenced
Cold calling in recruitment terms refers to contacting prospective employers, over the phone or through the mail, who have not advertised a position. Your goal will be to obtain an interview for any future vacancies. These will be the prospective employers you identified in your research who employ people with your skills and qualifications. When you consider that four-fifths of the job market is closed, meaning you can't find out about available job openings unless you dig for them prospect for them, this method of job-hunting takes on great importance. Sales people have come to the conclusion that cold calling is ineffective, inefficient and a waste of their time. Others have developed a new approach to cold calling that enables sales people to call without ever being rejected. This approach is based on the idea that the purpose of the call is not to make a sale, but to build trust and discover the truth about whether there is a good match between the potential client and product or services offered.
There are ways in which cold calls can be effective. One is for the selling organization to start with a high quality, up-to-date database consisting of qualified prospects that have an interest in the product being sold. The other way is to use cold calls as a "step in the door". Rather than using the call to try to close a sale, it should be used as the initial contact in a long-term relationship. This has the effect of removing the sales pressure from calls and making the goal of the call to build trust. Cold calls can also be used to obtain quality sales leads, references, and testimonials.
Cold calls can also be done in person rather than over the phone, but this is rare because of the high cost of face-to-face sales calls.