There’s no doubt that cold calling has not enjoyed the best of reputations over the years. A badly executed cold call, at best can be irritating to the recipient. At worst, it can end in an abusive interaction by both parties and a slamming down of the telephone.
Done correctly though, cold calling is without doubt one of the most cost effective and profitable ways to find new business – fast.
You can build excellent relationships and find companies who are looking for your products or services every day. It is perfectly possible to speak with 25 decision makers in one day and make qualified appointments with up to 10% of them. Imagine what that could do for your business?
Scripts
Scripts don’t work and that’s a fact. A robotic set of words spewed out to anyone who will listen – and then expecting to get a ‘yes’ at the end, is the practice that gave cold calling a bad name years ago. A bad script works on the principal that – ‘A stopped clock tells the right time twice a day’ and cold calling is just a ‘numbers game’.
By contrast, you know an approach that’s working when someone says “I’m really glad you called”, or “thanks for your call” at the end of a conversation.
The alternative to a script is a call guide that allows the person placing the cold call to have a logical conversation with the receiver, allowing them to participate fully. It is vital to gain rapport quickly and to ask pertinent questions that the recipient recognises may help solve problems that they have. When a call goes in this direction, very profitable relationships can begin to develop, which then turns into very profitable business for you.
Objection handling
‘Objection handling’ is a term that is used to describe how a cold caller deals with an objection raised by the recipient of a cold call.
This practice involves argumentative exchanges of views between the cold caller and recipient – usually ending in the recipient becoming annoyed and putting the phone down.
Objections happen when a cold call has been made using a rigid script or a poor approach. The recipient raises an objection because he/she cannot see that they have a use for the product of services that is being pitched on the call or they are not finding the call interesting enough to listen to.
An interesting approach is the call guide, which involves highlighting the unique selling points of your companies’ products or services plus asking the right questions to unearth needs and provide solutions will win hands down and create the right environment for the recipient of the call to say – ‘ you called at just the right time’.
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