You’ve researched your company’s products and you’ve practiced your irresistible script. You’re almost ready to make the call. Here are a few tactical tips for cold-calling.
Time your calls. Depending on your prospects, try to determine the best time of the day to call. If you’re calling your prospect at the office, there’s a better chance your prospect will pick up the phone in early morning or late afternoons. The gatekeeper is usually off duty at that time. If you don’t have a clue who your prospects are, any time is just as good.
Get grounded before the call. Find a place that you can call with little distraction. Remind yourself that you’re providing a valuable service for the prospect. This ties back to believing in your product. Be detached to outcome of the call and don’t take any rejection personally. All it means is that your product doesn’t fill the need of your prospect at that time or there is something more you can learn about making effective cold-calls.
Bunch the calls starting with the least important first. You’ll warm up after a few calls and you would want to ride on that momentum. The first few calls are also good practices as you receive some real responses so you can be better prepared for the next calls. That’s why it’s advisable to make the less important calls first.
Launch a voice mail campaign. Often, you will reach the voice mail. It may take several calls before you can reach your prospect. Prepare a voice mail campaign so you would have established some kind of relationship with your prospect when you finally get to speak.
Create enticing voice messages based on the suggested script format in Part 1 of this article:
• Use familiar greetings
• Establish credibility
• Create curiosity
• Close confidently
Keep your message to about 30-seconds. There is no need to squeeze in all the details in one go, as you may need to call several times before your prospect picks up the phone. This leaves room for you to leave another piece of detail in your next voice message. Be sure to follow up on your calls after you leave a message.
Be creative with your follow up. It can be a combination of voice mail, email or snail mail. The goal is to build a relationship with your prospect even though you may not get a chance to talk on the phone yet.
Have fun with cold-calling. If you can master the art of cold-calling, you’ll have acquired valuable marketing skills no matter what field you will branch out to - equity analyst, hedge fund manager or perhaps becoming a business owner one day.
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