Cold calling is a smart strategy to reach out to potential customers and convincing them to make a purchase.
Reaching out to strangers and convincing them to purchase a product is not as easy as it sounds.
It could be a very challenging and frustrating venture because you might experience a lot of rejections.
As a new marketer or salesperson, calling a total stranger and talking with him/her on the phone could strike fear and uncertainty into you.
How can you succeed in your cold calling campaign?
What are the things you need to do to achieve good results?
We are going to show you how to cold call strangers and what you need to do to achieve good results.
Cold Calling Tips that yields Good Results
Here are some cold calling tips to connect with prospects and help increase your conversion rates.
Plan all your questions in Advance
Before calling a potential prospect, you need to first have all the questions you are going to ask at hand.
You need to be prepared to answer any questions which the prospect is going to ask you.
Ask relevant questions that you can use to qualify the prospect and know if the prospect is a valuable prospect or not.
Do not fidget when talking with the prospect, be confident and make the prospect realize that you very well know what you are talking about.
Focus your Questions and Attention on your Prospect
As a marketer or a salesperson, you are the one reaching out to a potential prospect, hence all your attention and questions should be focused on the prospect.
It should be all about the prospect. Ask important questions that will identify the problems and needs of the prospect.
Don’t Overwhelm your prospect with too many Questions in the First Call
Remember you are talking to a stranger for the first time.
Though you need to ask the prospect questions so you can qualify the prospect, you also need to be careful as not to ask too many questions.
The first call is to get to know your prospect a little bit. Briefly introduce yourself and ask a few relevant questions.
Don’t overwhelm your prospect with too many questions. Too many questions can anger a prospect or scare a prospect away.
Keep your Prospect Relaxed
When cold calling a stranger, you first need to make the stranger relax and feel comfortable to talk to you.
Most people don’t like to talk to strangers, they will hang up immediately they are not comfortable talking with you.
If you can make your prospect to be relaxed, he/she will be free and more open to share their problems and needs with you.
You will be able to communicate with more prospect and make more conversions when you keep your prospects relaxed.
Find out How your Product will Benefit your Prospect
For a prospect to buy your product, there should be something that he/she will benefit.
What value does your product bring?
What problem can your product solve?
Each prospect has different problems and need; you need to first find out how your product will benefit a particular prospect in order to increase your chances of making sales.
Don’t Attempt to Sell on your first Cold Call
Your first cold call should be all about your prospect and not about yourself or how selling your product.
You should be sincerely concerned about your prospect and your prospect should feel your sincerity.
This will create trust in the mind of your prospect. Focus on building relationships.
When a prospect trusts you, he/she will naturally want to buy from you.
Successful Cold Calling Scripts
We are going to look at some examples of successful cold calling scripts that you can use in your cold calling campaign.
Reference a Mutual Connection
Naturally, people are more willing to respond to you when there is a mutual connection.
Referencing a mutual connection in a cold call will make a prospect feel more safe and relaxed to talk with you.
Here is an example of a cold call script referencing a mutual connection;
Hello [NAME],
John and I are seeing extraordinary outcomes with [CLIENT COMPANY]’s advertising computerization right now and when discussing who else would profit from it, your name came up.
Congrats on [securing venture/new procurement/other personalization]. What you’re doing at [PROSPECT COMPANY] is noteworthy!
I’d love to demonstrate to you how we’ve helped John produce [RESULT] and how we might probably do likewise for you. Will you be interested?
Provide your Prospect with Different Options
When you provide prospects with options, you give them room to think more about what you are offering.
Options make people feel that they have choices. This is a smart strategy to get a prospect interested in what you are saying.
Here is an example of a cold calling script providing options for a prospect;
Hello [name],
This is Mary from the Virtual Sales Academy. How are you?
We’re providing certain answers to help you enlist and train new generations of salespeople. Is that something you’d like to know more about?
(In the event that ‘yes.’)
There are two different ways organizations work with us. We can either enable them to discover salespeople for a level of the base compensation, or help them train new salespeople with our web package, on-request, virtual deals preparing programs that show them how to take prospects from inquisitive to customer. Which one would you need to hear most about?
Ask a Personal Question as an Opener
Here, you ask your prospect a personal question to open them up into communicating further with you.
It is a strategy to get a prospect to open up to you and be more relaxed to talk to you.
Here is an example;
Hi [name],
I noticed you worked at [mention company name]. How was your experience working with them?
Asking Leading Questions
Here, you asking relevant and important questions that will help you know more about the challenges of your prospect and also help you to qualify your prospect.
When you ask leading questions and your prospect answers your questions, it creates room for more conversation so you can have more insight and understand how to solve those challenges.
Here is an example;
Hello [name],
Which tools or solutions are you using to help you with your sales process?
A Cold Call after sending an Email
Maybe you have sent a cold email to a prospect but you haven’t received any reply after some days or weeks, calling the prospect will increase your chances of getting a response.
Since you already sent an email before, you have made the first step already.
Reference the email when you are speaking with the prospect.
Here is an example;
Hi [NAME],
This is Peter here calling from [company name]. I sent you an email last Thursday, did you get an opportunity to read it?
[PERSONALIZE BASED ON RESPONSE]The reason I messaged is that I realized that you’re responsible for the sales process and activities at your company. Is that right?
Politely ask for a Few Minutes
When you politely ask a stranger for a few minutes of their time, he/she will be more willing to give you a listening ear.
Be civil when asking and make sure you don’t spend more than the time you asked for. If you asked for 3 minutes, make sure you don’t exceed 3 minutes. This will make the prospect believe in you and what you say. It will also make the process know that you value his/her time.
Here is an example;
Hi [name],
Please, could you give me just 3 minutes of your time? I would like to discuss an important issue with you which is sure going to benefit you and your organization a lot.
Reference a Voicemail you left already
This is when you previously left a voicemail for the prospect but he/she has not responded to it or called you back.
After you have waited for some hours or some days and still your prospect has not responded to your voicemail or called back, you need to call your prospect again.
When on a call with your prospect, you need to reference the voicemail by letting him/her know that you have previously left a voicemail.
Here is an example;
Hi [NAME].
This is John with [mention your company name]. I called you before but you weren’t available so I left a voicemail.
The purpose behind my call is I have a thought on the most proficient method to conceivably enable you to improve the complicated procedure of recruiting employees. We provide easy ways for recruitment and we help big companies recruit employees.
I would like to know if you will be interested in our service, as it would help your company in recruiting the best employees and make recruitment an easy ride.
Calling back a Prospect that asked you to Call Back
Maybe you called a prospect before but he/she was busy when you called and asked you to call back.
When calling back, make the prospect know that you have called before but he/she asked you to call back and you are doing that now.
If you had the chance to say anything before he/she asked you to call back, reiterate what you said.
Here is an example;
Hello [NAME],
I’m getting back to you as requested. I hope now is a good time to talk?
If the prospect replied “Yes”, then you continue.
Great! As I was saying, we provide [mention the services]. We thought you might be interested. Do you mind if I ask you some few questions to better understand your needs and challenges so I can determine the best way to solve them?
Provide a One-Sentence Value Proposition
Here, you provide the value of your product or service in one sentence.
This is where you put the value and benefit of your product at the forefront and let your prospect know what your product is all about.
Here is an example;
Hi [name],
This is John from [company name]. I am reaching out to sales-driven organizations to ascertain how they will benefit from our service.
To make you understand what we do in a single sentence, we are a sales-driven organization and our core service is to provide sales automation tools that will help salespeople drive in more sales in a relatively short time and make sales process as easy as possible.
As the sales manager of your organization, I thought it wise to get in touch with you. Would you be interested in our service?
Ask a Question that forces a Quick Reply
Here, the key is to ask a question that will force your prospect to give an immediate reply.
With the reply, you can further your conversation with the prospect.
Here is an example;
Hi [name],
This is John from [your company name]. My company is currently undergoing a restructure and we are selling off our product at giveaway prices. We are a furniture company that produces luxury furnitures for homes.
Would you be interested in buying?
Ask for Direction
This is a situation when you make a call but you are not sure of whom to speak with
Ask the person who answers the phone to forward the call to the right person you should speak with.
Here is an example;
Hello,
My name is John. I work with [your company name]. I am calling to talk with the manager of the sales department in your organization.
I am not sure if you are the right person I should speak with. If you are not could, you please put me through to the right person?
Thanks.
Offering Assistance
Here, you are offering assistance to your prospect. First, you need to research the prospect company and note areas that need some amendments or areas with issues that can be worked on.
Notify your prospect on those areas and state how you could help provide solutions to their problem.
Here is an example;
Hi [name],
My name is John, from [mention your company name].
We are aware that your organization is faced with [specific issue]. We provide solutions for companies faced with these kinds of issues. We have worked with different companies such as [mention names of companies] to improve [specific issue] by [insert what your association does].
I think your company will benefit a lot from our services. I understand you may be involved right now. We could plan some other time to talk more about this.
My own telephone number is [phone number]. You can call me tomorrow from 9am-11am.
You’ve met the Prospect before at an Event
You’ve already met the prospect at an event before and you have had a brief discussion with him/her.
Putting a call through to such prospect is quite easy because you’ve already done the first phase of the introduction.
Here is an example;
Hi [prospect name],
This is John on the line. We met before at [mention where and how you met]. We had a brief discussion concerning [mention specific topic you discussed].
Like we earlier discussed, my job is to help companies such as yours reach their best potentials. I believe our product will help you in performing your duties effectively and efficiently. It will be very beneficial for the growth of your organization.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will be glad to answer them.
Offering a Service
Here, you are calling a prospect and letting the prospect know of the service you offer. You need to give the prospect room to decide if he needs your services or not.
Your service may be of benefit to a prospect and not be of benefit to another prospect. Since you are not providing a service based on prospect needs, the prospect will have to determine if he/she requires your services or not.
Here is an example;
Hi [prospect name],
I read your blog article about [specific subject] and I genuinely like your approach in regards to the issue, especially with respect to [specific point].
We at [insert your organization name] is engaged with providing [mention your services and what you do].
If this is something you will like to know, I will like to discuss more om it with you.
Offering to Contribute to Solve a Problem
Here, you are offering to be a part of a team to solve a specific problem. This creates trust in the mind of your prospect and allow you to easily sell your product or service with ease.
Here is an example;
Hi [prospect name],
I’ve been following [relevant topics] leaving the [Company Name] for up to several months, especially the progressing [relevant post, structure, rebrand, highlight].
One of my partners, [name of connection] is a supporter of the [Company Name] and she endorsed I reach you to check whether it’d be a good idea for me to contribute as well.
Fill me in with respect to whether this sounds good and I’d be happy to provide some solutions on a [deliverable] we can try out.
Marketing a Product or Service
Here, you are cold calling a prospect to market a particular product or service. You want the prospect to know what the product or service is all about.
Here is an example;
Hi [prospect name]
We have a product that is certain to expand profitability in your organization.
As a sales rep in your organization, we know about the significance of associating and expanding your client base. This is the reason we are connecting with you to educate you about this excellent sales automation tool.
It that has helped some outstanding organizations, for example, organization x, y, z to deliver leads.
This sales automation tool will be of great benefit to you and your organization as it will help you in generating leads and closing sales deals in an incredibly short amount of time with little effort.
I will be happy to discuss more on this if you are interested. You can reach me on [telephone number]. Thanks for your time.
Use a Positioning Statement
A positioning statement is a statement to show your prospect that you have work with similar organizations and you understand the industry.
Here, you are not talking about yourself but instead, you are talking about the company you worked with and your experience in the company.
Here is an example;
Hi [name],
I work with the sales managers in the hospitality department for over five years as a member of the sales team. My customers are always looking for ways to increase the productivity of their salespeople. Will I be guessing right if this sounds like you?
Make your Prospects do the talking by asking for their Opinions
This is a smart strategy to give room to your prospect to do the talking instead of you.
Ask for their opinion on a particular topic that you already have good knowledge about.
After they have given their opinions, then you can contribute as a professional, provide the correct answers to areas that your prospect was not very correct and proffer solutions.
Here is an example;
Hello [name],
This is John here. I’m making a few calls to individuals in the industry that I know have good knowledge of [mention specific topic and issues].
What are your thoughts and opinions on these issues?
Be on a Mission
Here, you are making your prospect realize that you are not selling but instead, you are on a mission.
Here is an example;
Hi [name],
This is John from [mention your company name]. I have a mission to help 200 people achieve greater results in [mention specific areas of interest]. I believe I can make a mark in this industry. Would you be interested?
Be an Advocate instead of a Salesperson
People generally want to know that the intention of what you are doing is not for your personal gain but for a greater good.
Be an advocate instead of a salesperson to capture the attention of your prospect.
Here is an example;
Hi [name],
My name is James, from [mention your company name]. I noticed your house is up for sale. As a professional real estate agent, I could find a suitable buyer for your house in less than a month. Would you be interested in my offer?
