Cold Calling – How To Make The First Call
Making the first call to someone you have never spoken to or never met is always daunting. Most people hate cold calling but to give yourself a chance of beating your sales targets it is essential. The good news is you can make it easier for yourself.
Right let’s get down to business and cover all the questions and queries I get, what’s the best opening, how do you handle objections and help I can’t get started!
The first and most important tip in cold calling is that you must get involved in a conversation. The quicker you get into a conversation the better as with the right questions and the right timing you will find out the information you need to decide if there is an opportunity worth going for – phew that was a long sentence!
To set the scene we have already sent a letter with a little novelty gift as in previous suggestions – the ‘get noticed’ approach. (I will cover the other two cold calling approaches in the near future)
You have your list of calls and contacts, you have blocked an hour of your time and you are ready to start.
First question what day of the week and when is the best time to start? It is down to personal preference however if I have to ring someone for the very first time I prefer calling in the afternoon – I have found Friday afternoon very profitable!
You pick up the phone take a deep breath and dial the number. After a few rings the phone is answered by the switchboard “Good afternoon the big prospect company”. This is the easiest part of the call as you answer with ‘Can you please put me through to Alan Brown’
There are two replies here! “Yes – putting you through now” or “Can you tell me who is calling please”. Again another easy reply for you “Yes it is Michael McMeekin of Arrow Sales”. Once again two potential replies! “Yes – putting you through now” or “Can you tell me what the call is about and do you know him/her and is he expecting your call”. This is the first big test!
Be honest “No I haven’t met him however I am calling for a couple of reasons, one of them is to see that he got the parachute man we sent him/her”. This seems to throw the switchboard into confusion. They call the person you have asked for and in most cases you get put through.
That might sound easy but try it out it does work and it is quite fun!
Now you are a speaking to the person you sent the letter and novelty gift to and you need take another deep breath. “Hello is that Alan Brown?” It is always good to confirm that you are speaking to the right person even if they answered the phone stating their name.
Hello Alan, “My name is Michael McMeekin from Arrow Sales; did you get the parachute man we sent you?”
The answer will be yes or no! If you get a yes they will mention it and say something like it is on their desk, took it home for the kids, they are having some fun with it in the office or someone in the office took it.
If you get a no it sometimes brings about a funny response. They get upset that they haven’t got it and say someone must have took it before the letter arrived on their desk.
Either response seems to relax your prospect so that you can introduce yourself properly. Get back into your pitch and re-introduce yourself
“My name is Michael McMeekin from Arrow Sales; we have never met before however we have helped companies such as ABC increase their sales. The reason for the call is to see if you are open to new and different ideas to increasing your sales”.
The we have never met before answers a question that is running through the prospects head – who is he and have I met him before? Mentioning another company that is similar to theirs also gains some interest as everyone wants to know information on how other companies are doing things.
I would also like to add please don’t ask him/her how they are doing? Having spoken to many people over the years it seems to annoy some people when you ask them how they are doing. You haven’t even met them why should you care how they are doing! The prospect knows it is a sales call so stick to sales on this first call.
Anyway back to the call. You have told the prospect who you are, what you have done for a company similar to theirs and you have asked them if they are open to new ideas to improve their company.
Now you are in a position to have a conversation and qualify whether there is an opportunity for you. The questions you ask are dependent on your product or service however I like to follow these headline questions:
- Where are they now?
- Where are they going?
- What do they use at the moment?
- What is missing that they need from existing processes/suppliers?
- What would fix this need?
- What criteria would they use for choosing an external resource/product/service?
You can tailor the questions to your product and service however you should be finding out if they have a need and a compelling reason to solve it and work with you.
You may not get an answer to all your questions on the first call but you are on the way to building a relationship with the prospect that will only grow when you continue with your ongoing campaign.
Does it work I hear you say – well take a look at this link?
And here is a copy of an email from Richard who has tried the process. He sent out eight letters, got five positive responses and one order. This is a copy of his email in my reply to how long did it take and what did you do?
‘ABOUT 3 WEEKS FROM INTRODUCTION TO SENDING THE COMPLETED ORDER, AND I USED /TWOTHREE PHONE CALLS
- ASK THE COMPANY FOR A CONTACT PERSON WHO DEALS WITH THE ORDERING
- SENT OUT MARKETING PACK FOR THEIR ATTENTION WITH FOLLOW UP CALL (3 DAYS AFTER) TO SEE IF THEY GOT IT AND INTRODUCTION TO ME’
Three weeks for a first order from a cold call!
Give it a go what have you got to lose. In the next couple of emails I will cover more cold calling tips and how to handle objections.
