Think you have all the keys to cold calling success? Consider adding these rarely-shared tips to your strategy.
Unless you’re brand new to cold calling, you’ve likely picked up some successful tricks along the way. Some pointers, however, don’t get shared often. These keys to cold calling success are held top secret by some of the most successful salespeople. They’re the things that most salespeople aren’t doing, and may not even know about. Nonetheless, they’re critical to taking an average sales record into winning territory.
The funny thing is, there’s nothing ground-breaking about this advice. The information isn’t kept under physical lock and key, even if it’s not readily shared. In fact, i’s likely that more often than not, the people who possess this knowledge merely forget that they once had to learn it in the first place.
What makes these keys to cold calling work so well is that they come from people in the same types of higher-up positions as the prospects you may be trying to contact, which means the advice has been tested by people who’ve been both the salesperson and the executive getting sales calls. Use these steps towards successful cold calling so that you, too, may one day become the executive.
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The 7 hidden keys to cold calling success
1. Do more talking than you’d expect.
Many cold calling tips suggest that you listen more than you talk. The sentiment here is right, but it’s not necessarily a literal suggestion; it’s more of a strategic philosophy. In reality, one of the keys to cold calling successfully is to make your pitch, and you can’t do that with your ears.
Ultimately, it’s a balance. Open your call briefly, let the prospect respond, then, if appropriate, go into a short, scripted monologue. Get them on board with your idea. Then listen again. Then talk again, building the case for your sale. Active listening is an integral part of selling, but let’s also acknowledge that active talking is necessary.
2. Pitch the meeting, not the product.
This is one area where almost all salespeople get tripped up from time to time. When you make a cold call, don’t go in with the intention of making a sale. Go in with the purpose of setting a meeting. That’s all. No negotiations, no contracts. You are just scheduling a simple meeting.
“Hi, Ms. Roberts. Thank you for taking my call. Congratulations on your company’s new acquisition. If you don’t already have a plan for onboarding all of your new employees, I’d love to share with you how my company specializes in helping tech companies succeed with large-scale onboarding. Would we be able to schedule a meeting later this week or early next week?”
Of course, make the specific information relevant to your business, but think of setting the meeting as your close. Then you’ll have a chance at a real close.
3. Call at the opportune moment.
Another of the keys to cold calling success is to remember that timing is everything. When a company hires a new C-level executive, when a big merger is completed, or when a company makes another major announcement, start making your calls. Whether it’s new leadership or a new direction or both, big announcements mean that there’s room for influence and usually a need for help implementing new practices. Be ready when these moments come about, and get calling right away.
4. Don’t leave that voicemail just yet.
If you cold call someone and leave a message right away, you’re putting the ball in their court to call you back. Guess what? It’s probably not going to happen.
Instead, consider multiple outreach attempts to be one of your keys to cold calling. Schedule your calls across a reasonable number of days, but don’t give them the ball until you don’t have any other choice but to punt. If after three or four tries, you still haven’t connected, leave a brief voicemail that focuses on getting a call back.
5. Focus on calls, not wins.
It’s all too easy to become sidetracked by quotas. Paying too much attention to your wins column, though, can be detrimental. Focus instead on the number of calls you need to make in a given day. Assume they will all say yes (even if they can’t right now). This takes the pressure off your shoulders, which makes you come across as more relaxed, which ultimately makes you a better salesperson. Trusting that the wins will come on their own is perhaps one of the most difficult keys to cold calling success, but also one of the most necessary.
6. Acknowledge a wider audience.
Yes, you may be calling one single person on the phone, but industry people talk to each other. Especially if you’re reaching out to an executive or decision-maker, you might want to think about it as though you’re speaking to a whole room of them. Why? Because the impression you make on one call may precede the impression you make on another. Someone may know who you are even before you get a chance to pitch because they’ve heard about you from someone else. This leaves little room for error (but plenty of room for word-of-mouth success). Always think about an individual cold call as a brief presentation.
7. Find a happy place.
You may have heard before that one of the keys to cold calling is to smile while you talk. Take this a step further. Find something that makes you smile before you start your call. Look at a picture of your family. Light a scented candle or incense stick that inspires you. Do something that puts a smile on your face and hold on to that during your call. Making calls while you’re in your happy place increases the chances of you coming across as likable, and if you ultimately want someone to give you their money, they’re going to need to like you!
Find your happy place with Call Logic’s call management system. Schedule a free demo today to see what’ll make you smile!