Make The Cold Call Hot

When cold calling a prospective client, you have about 30 seconds to get your message across before the fatal “no thanks, not interested.” Here are some indispensable words of advice to turn a call into a sale.

Salutation
Get right to the point with an introduction such as “Hi, this is Mary from ABC company. We specialize in assisting <industry> with <benefit statement>.” Avoid insincere-sounding openings of little utility, such as “How are you today?” Avoid setting a trap for yourself with questions such as “Did you receive the information I sent you?” which often prompts the prospect to respond with “No, send it again.” You will either be cutting the conversation short or demeaning the information by proceeding without it. Stay away from questions that precipitate a negative response.
Engaging Questions
To ensure that your prospect is an active participant in the dialogue, create the opportunity for positive responses while getting the information you require as the salesperson. Employ open-ended questions such as “How are you currently handling that?” or “What are you currently doing to improve that situation?” These questions generally start with “tell me about.” Consider what meaningful questions you can ask the prospect with the purpose of getting them talking. Avoid run-on sentences or one-way conversations that alienate the client by going on and on about how large your company is, how many years you’ve been in business, etc. Speak in snippets because attention spans are short-lived. You’ve got less than 30 seconds for your compelling message, and if you can engage the prospect and make them an active participant in the conversation, you’ll gain rapport.

People like to talk, and, if given the opportunity, will verbalize what they think they need without being pressed.

Benefit Statements
The prospect often has many prod­ucts and services from which to choose, and just as often is already associated with your competition. A salesperson must be prepared to stress his/her company’s unique edge and amenities. How will you save time, increase profits and reduce costs? Quantify the prospect’s potential savings and earnings by having your statistics and dealings with other companies ready and available. Increase your credibility by displaying your knowledge of the prospect’s industry and of his/her competitors. The prospect must go from looking down on you for intruding to looking up to you for a solu­tion. For example, “I’m calling to talk to you about how we’ve increased revenue for ABC coffee com­pany by 20%, calling upon convenience stores and getting meetings with the owners to discuss their services. Our clients have also found we help with retention since we alleviate the stress and rejection associated with making introductory calls.” In this example, three things occurred. The benefit statements included increased revenue (which was quantified) and higher retention. The competition’s name was mentioned along with specifics of what marketplace you targeted, adding cred­ibility to your pitch.

Close for Appointment
A sales­person who wants the appointment must ask for it. Prospects rarely beg for the appointment during a cold call. A salesperson must know how to stay on course or how to get back on if detoured by objections. An example of a proactive close is “Do you have a calendar in front of you? Take a look at what looks good for you over the next week or two.”

Prepare Now for Meeting — Gather Information
Before ending the introductory call, gather whatever pertinent information you need so that the prospect’s needs assessment can be more personally tailored for the face-to-face meeting. This information may be obtained by asking such questions as “Have you ever outsourced this function before?” or “How many employees do you have?” Avoid intrusive or obligatory questions, or questions better reserved for the meeting, such as “What does your budget look like?” or “If you find value in our service would you be willing to commit?”

Reconfirm Appointment
Forgotten appointments are part of life, so be sure to advise your prospect to write the appointment down. The call may be properly terminated with: “OK, Joe, I keep 100% of the appointments I set, so I’ll see you on Thursday the 18th at 3 p.m., OK? Here’s my number in case an emergency comes up… It was great speaking to you.” By offering your number, the onus is on the prospect to call to cancel (as opposed to your having to call to confirm and making it easy). Avoid making a confirmation call the day before, and if you do, try to simply leave a message. Also, if the appointment is a couple of weeks out, write a handwrit­ten “thank you for your time” card, thanking the prospect for the opportunity to meet. It not only flatters the prospect, as anything handwritten has become a rarity, but also serves as a reminder of the appointment. Handle Objections
The good news is that there are only about six to 10 objections you will hear over and over again. The bad news is, until you become proficient at handling these objections, you will have minimal success. People will rarely jump into your arms in the first 15 seconds of a call, and when they do, consider it luck and good timing!

Below are some examples of the most common objections and rebuttals to overcome them.