The Art Of The Cold Call

One of the oldest sales techniques is the cold call. It is also widely ridiculed and derided! Most people do not enjoy receiving cold calls, and this is one of the main reasons why the practice of cold calling is so mercilessly made fun of. In fact, a lot of people don’t like having things “sold” to them at all! You have probably been on the other end of this and experienced this yourself. And because you have experienced this firsthand, you ought to realize what the biggest key to successful cold calling is: Do it differently from the way everyone else does it! You have already lost the battle if someone picks up the phone and immediately begins to think, “How can I get off the phone with this cold caller?” Instead, you need to figure out how to cold call differently.

The first thing you have to do is put in your time researching. A little research can go a long way, and can save you a lot of time. Instead of calling people blindly – as if putting a scarf over your eyes at the firing range – research can help you call in a more focused manner. There are plenty of avenues by which you can gather good information to help your cold calls, but research and studies of your own are the most valuable of all.

When you call, you have to have confidence. One of the best ways to achieve the necessary level of confidence – and in fact, one of the best ways to cold call in general – is to have a script. Once you have a script, stick to it! You do not need a word-for-word script – just a general outline of what you will say, and the order in which you will say it. Furthermore, you should aim to perfect and refine this script over time. When you realize that something works, add it to the script. When you find that something does not work, take it out.

As you gain more experience, you can start customizing your script depending on the flow of the conversation, or on who you are speaking with. Maybe you will want to soften things up when speaking to a small business owner. Add a more formal tone if you are speaking with a high-ranking executive. The more cold calls you make, the more adept you will be at making adjustments.

Some companies have stated that cold calls no longer work, and they have cut them out of their strategy. But with the proper use of cold calls, they can actually benefit your business a lot!