What is Cold Calling in Sales?

Cold calling is a conventional method of contacting prospects. It’s as simple as picking up the phone and calling the list of prospects you’re aiming to convert.

What is the purpose of cold calling?

The goal of cold calling is to engage a prospect in a discussion about their needs and determine the next steps.

People continue to claim that B2B cold calling is dead, but many successful firms rely on it to generate money. Businesses, whether Fortune 500 companies or high-growth startups, have sales representatives who aggressively phone numbers on a daily basis.

Cold Calling  

Cold-calling potential prospects can be challenging and time-consuming. Cold calling is a traditional sales technique that converts strangers into prospects. CEOs and other top executives said they prefer email and other forms of communication over phone calls, especially during the early stages of project development.

Cold Calling Tips

1.Set Cold Calling Process and Benchmark

Prospecting is never easy without a plan and benchmarks in place to assure sales productivity. Spend some time reviewing your cold calling process and brainstorming methods to improve outbound cold calling. There are numerous ways to optimise the cold calling process. Begin by answering a few important questions.

• What number of leads do you have?
• How many calls do you make?
• How many decision-makers have you actually reached? (reach rate) What percentage of people you reach are qualified to buy your product?
• How many of these qualified chances have you closed?
• Once you have these figures, you will be able to determine which stages of your cold calling process require improvement.

2.Respect your prospects’ time.

When you call a prospect cold, you are really invading on their time. As a result, demonstrating your value within the initial few seconds of the call is critical; otherwise, the prospect may end the conversation right away. In this circumstance, asking for permission to proceed with comprehensive information is generally helpful.

For example, you may ask something specific like “May I take 45 seconds of your time to [value statement]” to capture your prospect’s attention while also gaining their approval to continue speaking.

Even if the prospect gives you the go-ahead, keep the communication short and straightforward while focusing on the next steps, such as scheduling a meeting or demo to move the business forward.

It is usually a good idea to have a targeted list of prospects before you start contacting, rather than making random calls. Make the most of your and your prospects’ time by contacting decision-makers who match your criteria.

3.Are You Pitching Prematurely?

This is a common error sales professionals make when prospects call cold. 84% of purchasers say sales representatives are bothersome in their efforts to persuade them to buy. They begin a pitch far too soon, without first determining what the prospect wants and whether your offer can help them in any way.

Do you ever wonder why most of your prospects dislike listening to your sales pitch? Because most sales reps believe that what they appreciate about a pen (for example) is likewise appealing to prospects. Instead of gathering information, engaging the prospect, and providing the solution in reaction to the data they uncover, they simply go into a generic pitch.

Assume you’re selling your SaaS product to Mr. Smith (a marketing manager at your potential account) over the phone, and after a quick introduction, you launch into your pitch, full of enthusiasm. And the sales representative keeps tossing darts in the dark without a defined aim.

Surereach provides you with more information about your prospects, including technographic and firmographic data. This allows you to modify your sales pitch so that the interaction remains engaged and meaningful. Surereach can also assist you locate accounts that are actively seeking for similar products or services to yours by analyzing buying intent data.

4.Prepare for common objections.

Whether you like it or not, hearing no is a normal part of cold calling, so you must understand how to deal with any objections that occur throughout your interactions. Here are the three most common obstacles you’ll face when making cold calls. Prepare and practise your replies in advance.

5.Never Multitask During Sales Calls.

Sitting at your workstation (or working from home), hours of cold calling can become monotonous. Dialling leads, seeking to contact decision-makers, and again hearing the same objections. It’s tempting to fill your mind with more enjoyable distractions when dealing with objection after objection.

If you divert your attention to another task during the call, you are likely to miss what your prospect is saying. Truly listening is tough when your attention is divided between other things. A lack of comprehension may result in a loss of opportunities. If you want to be at the top of your game, full engagement is required.

6.Recover from a Bad Sales Call

During a cold call, a particularly stinging rejection can utterly crush your selling spirit. However, failure is an unavoidable aspect of the sales process. Not every prospect is a suitable fit for your solution in any given situation.

Get some distance from what transpired so that you can gain perspective. Simply spend a minute or two listening to your favourite song, reading some inspirational quotes, or doing something that elevates your spirits and puts you in a good mood. Do something intriguing. Then come back for the next call. Pick up the phone, dial a fresh number, focus, and turn the call into a new opportunity.

7.Follow-up is necessary.

According to Marketing Donut, 80% of sales require five follow-up phone calls to close. However, according to this survey, nearly half of all salesmen give up after just one follow-up. A strong follow-up approach always keeps you ahead of the competition.

Make sure you’re giving value to each follow-up call to boost your chances of getting the sale. Never conclude a call without explaining the next steps. Salespeople must conclude each engagement with a clearly defined plan. This may be to organize a follow-up call/meeting, an on-site visit, or even a presentation for other stakeholders to emphasize the relevance of your solution.

Also Read: A Guide to Good Sales

1.Effective Call Calling Techniques

• List the three largest problems your solution solves for your clients.

If you are selling to different levels or jobs, you may need to repeat this step for each one. Don’t guess. Talk with your existing customers and ask them:

• Why did they purchase it?

• What did they hope for?

If your company is a new start-up, you can conduct interviews to obtain these responses. If your organisation is more established, you may already have marketing materials containing customer quotations or a playbook that includes these answers.

2.Create a validation question.

This is a suitable template to use: “Most (role) that I speak with tell me that they are attempting to solve one of three problems: (problem 1), (problem 2), or (issue 3). Does that sound like you at all?

3.Determine whether you can look online to see if your prospects desire to fix these difficulties.

4.Use this template to understand each prospect before calling:

Problem we solve:

• Why do I think this prospect has this problem?

• Why do I think this prospect wants to address this problem?

This is a simple foundation for making highly productive cold calls. However, don’t let its simplicity deceive you. It assists you in accomplishing the primary objectives of any cold call: qualifying the lead, determining their potential to close immediately, and scheduling a meeting.

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