Cold call objections happen, especially from new prospects. Here are some ways to meet common objections and move past them.
Cold calling may be one of the most misunderstood aspects of telesales, and for a good reason. For the average person making a cold call, objections abound from their audiences, especially if it’s a new contact or connection. Many prospects don’t even give you a chance to make your pitch before abruptly suggesting that they’re too busy, they don’t have the budget, etc. If you give up there, cold calling will surely be a place where you struggle, especially if you’re a new sales agent.
The reality, though, is that cold calls are still effective and can lead to closed sales deals. Need proof? According to a RAIN Group survey, 82% of corporate buyers “accept meetings with sellers who reach out to them.” Furthermore, 69% of buyers were willing to take calls from new suppliers.
At the most basic level, cold calling is successful when the salesperson doesn’t give up right away. However, handling cold call objections is more complex than simply digging your heels in. Push too hard, and you’ll make the prospect less and less interested. Push the wrong buttons, same effect. If, on the other hand, you have some responses lined up for anticipated objections, there’s a good chance you’ll at least keep the conversation going, which is a massive step towards making something of a cold call.
Here are some common cold call objections you may run into and a few tips on how to move past them into a more meaningful discussion.
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6 Common cold call objections and strategies to overcome them
1. “Now’s not a good time.”
It’s a classic. Sometimes a prospect will tell you it’s not a good time as soon as they realize that it’s a sales call. Whether or not it’s true, they’ve left you with an opening to continue the conversation. Ask them directly if now is really not a good time or if they aren’t interested in what you specifically have to sell. Most of the time, they’ll say it’s not a good time, in which case you can ask when a better time to chat would be. Offer some times to make it easier for them. If your offering can genuinely add value for a qualified prospect, they’ll make time later to get on the phone with you and hear more.
2. “I’m not interested.”
Another of the most common cold call objections you’ll hear from a prospect is that they aren’t interested. Again, you’ll likely hear this even before you’ve had a chance to get into the meat of the conversation, so be prepared to respond in a way that advances the dialogue. Are they not interested at all, or is now just not a good time to speak? What are they doing to address whatever issue you’re looking to solve for them? And what value can you offer to make a conversation worth their time? If there’s truly no interest, that’s one thing, but if you can generate interest, you may have saved the call.
3. “I’m working with someone else already.”
This is one of the more difficult cold call objections to overcome, but it’s not impossible. If they say they’re working with someone else, don’t end the call there. Do some digging. Who are they working with? What’s their experience been like? What would they like to see from their provider that they haven’t seen? Again, the idea is to create or demonstrate value so a prospect can think good and hard about whether or not they might be up for switching. It’s likely that a good number of your prospects would be open to switching if they understood why doing so would benefit them. Make it a viable option by learning more about pain points and being able to solve them.
4. “I’ve never heard of you.”
Just because a prospect hasn’t heard of you doesn’t mean you can’t get them on board with your product and company. Once more, we’re back to demonstrating value. Have a short pitch ready for this objection that allows you to briefly and effectively explain what it is your company does, how well respected you are in the market, and then finally, what value you can add that a prospect perhaps isn’t currently getting. This is one of the more straightforward cold call objections to get past because, in reality, there are dozens of businesses out there people haven’t heard of, but once they do, they can change their tune pretty quickly.
5. “We don’t have the budget right now.”
Many cold call objections have to do with financial concerns. However, if a prospect understands what you can offer, they may be able to find that budget after all. Dig into their budgetary concerns and—you guessed it—demonstrate the value that they’ll get for their money. If you truly have a qualified prospect, then there’s a good chance they’ll find the budget they need if you can show them how your product will either save them money, or better yet, make them more money later on.
6. “Send me some information, and I’ll get back to you if I’m interested.”
It might be compelling to give in to this objection, but it likely won’t get you anywhere. You’ll send an email that will pile up in an already-cluttered inbox, and you’ll be forgotten about, though not necessarily because you don’t have a good offering. When this objection comes up, forget about selling the product. Instead, focus on selling an information meeting. “I’d be happy to send you some information, but I believe I can show you greater value if we can discuss the offering in more detail. Do you have time next week for a 15-minute call?” By offering to go more in depth, you not only allow yourself to still sell the product, but you also show that you care enough about a client to take time to go into greater detail, demonstrating the value your offering has for them without them having to figure it out from a one-sheet or whatever you might send them.
In short, demonstrate the value of your offering. This is the best way to overcome just about all cold call objections and at the very least get a meeting set to go into greater detail, which is where you’ll be able to generate more interest.
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