Thanks to stay-at-home orders, telesales is seeing a resurgence, but you still need the right strategy. Check out our cold calling techniques to help you convert more calls in 2021 and get your business moving again!

Maybe they don’t understand how powerful it is, or maybe they don’t have a good grasp of winning cold calling techniques, but a lot of salespeople try to push cold calling as a dated practice. That was true even before the pandemic and the decline of in-person interactions. However, those salespeople were very wrong. 

Pre-pandemic research indicates that a whopping 92% of all customer interactions happen over the phone. That’s a pretty significant number of opportunities, and they all start with that first call, making it all the more important to brush up on your cold calling techniques.

We get it. Prospecting is a challenge. 40% of salespeople say that prospecting is the most difficult part of their jobs. It’s no surprise, then, that many salespeople don’t like cold calling. This is encouraging news, though. If you approach it right, you can get your foot in the door and your competition is limited. 

With that in mind, check out these tips on cold calling best practices so you can achieve better results and develop a renewed relationship with the process.

Connect with more prospects, manage call scripts, track your success, and more with Call Logic’s auto-dialing software. Sign up for a free demo to learn more!

Start using these cold calling techniques today and watch your sales numbers soar

1. Learn to love it

If you don’t enjoy something, that’ll likely be reflected in your tone, words, or overall enthusiasm, and people aren’t likely to give their money to someone who lacks passion. Some people are naturals for telesales, but some are not. If you hate cold calling—well, don’t. And yes, it’s easy enough to say that, but if you find things about it that you enjoy (like making money!), your pitch will come across much more vital. Think of it as a competition with yourself. Challenge yourself. Celebrate little wins and ignore the losses. Get excited about the connections you’ll make and the people you’ll meet, regardless if it leads anywhere. Embrace the experience, forget about the stress.

2. Scripts save

Reading from a call script is one of the most useful cold calling techniques you can turn to. It may feel a little foreign at first, maybe even a little fake. Practice in your down time. Try out your scripts on family and friends to see how you’re doing. In time, you’ll discover a script helps keep you on track, remember all the essential points, and stick to a reasonable amount of time for each call.

3. Thrive on rejection

It sounds counter-intuitive, but thriving on rejection is valuable because it helps you overcome the most challenging part of telesales. Nobody likes to be told no, but in sales more than anywhere else, the rejection isn’t personal. Use each rejection as fuel for success in your next call. The more rejection you get, the closer you probably are to a win. (Though you should still evaluate your performance to ensure you’re using the best cold calling techniques.)

4. Timing counts

While you can’t make all of your calls simultaneously, it may be helpful to prioritize your calls based on ideal cold calling times. While there’s some difference of opinion on this, between 4 pm and 5 pm is generally considered the best time to cold call, followed by between 8 am and 9 am. The best day to call is typically Thursday. Whenever you call, try to avoid lunchtime, evenings, and Mondays.

5. Start smart

Next on our list of cold calling techniques is to get off to a strong start. After you’ve identified yourself, open with a compelling quip or anecdote to get someone’s attention rather than spilling right into your pitch. It’s true, you only have a short time (10-15 seconds) to pique interest, but that doesn’t mean you need to pique interest with what you’re selling. Use charisma. Use wit and charm. Be interesting, and people will be interested.

6. Mind your tone

Most of us don’t spend a lot of time listening to ourselves. That can be a critical mistake in telesales, where body language is non-existent. Make sure that your tone is bright and enthusiastic. Pay attention throughout the call, so you don’t accidentally slip into a dull monotone. Use auto-dialing software like Call Logic to record your calls, then play them back to hear what you sound like to others and discover any areas in which you could improve.

7. Get personal

Prospects are less likely to engage if you sound generic. Tailor your call scripts to make them more personal, unique to each prospect. Find common ground, be it family, sports, entertainment, or something else. (Avoid politics, though, just in case.) Address their specific need and how your product or service will solve for that need. Personalization breeds empathy, one of the best cold calling techniques for building relationships.

8. Stand and smile

It sounds goofy at first, but if you make all of your calls from a desk, you run the risk of becoming bland and robotic. Use a hands-free set so you can stand up, walk around, motion with your hands (if that’s something you’d naturally do)—pretend you’re interacting in person. That also means, smile! True, no one will see it, but smiling naturally brightens tone and makes you sound more vibrant than you might be feeling. Plus, it’ll be good practice for when you do meet face-to-face!

9. Summarize and follow up

Finally, when the call is coming to an end, summarize what you’ve discussed, the next steps you’re going to take, and the next steps you want your prospect to take. Remember, first calls don’t usually result in sales, so focus your cold calling techniques on smaller goals—setting the next meeting, collecting or distributing more information, drilling down further into a prospect’s needs, etc. Once you’ve summarized the call, set your autodialer to remind you to check in after a few days or a week. Sending follow up emails can also be very effective and can easily be automated through software like Call Logic. If you can get a prospect across the line to the next milestone, you’ll likely find the rest of the process to be much more natural and enjoyable.

There’s no time like now to brush up on your phone sales skills. Even a little bit each day can go a long way toward winning more sales.

Automate parts of your cold calling, manage client information, stay on track, and more with Call Logic. Contact us for a free demo to see just how much value we can add to your business!