About the author: This guest post was provided by Clifford Chi, Content Specialist at Flockjay. Check out their post with proven tech sales cold calling tips to help you succeed as a sales person.
We don’t have to tell you how hard cold calling is. As a salesperson, you already know that it’s one of the toughest tasks in the working world.
That’s why we want to help you crush your cold calls with this list of 12 cold calling tips proven to work. Read on so you can crush your cold calls and, in turn, your quota!
Cold calling tips
1. First and foremost, review leads from prospecting
Before you pick up the phone, make sure to evaluate the value of each of your prospects and prioritize the best-fit leads. This way, you can allocate more of your time and effort to the companies that are more likely to close into customers.
2. Do your homework
Researching your contact and tailoring the call to their specific situation is crucial for asking them the right questions and engaging them in a discussion that could potentially move them to the next step of the sales process. It’s the same idea as researching the company before you interview, so you can know exactly what to say.
Even though it’s ideal to spend no more than 5 minutes on your research, make sure to check out your contact’s LinkedIn profile so you know their name, company, title, and industry. Additionally, surf the web for any relevant news stories about them, their company, or their industry and listen to any recent podcasts they might’ve been featured in.
3. Prepare a cold call script
Writing down what you plan to cover can serve as a helpful guide during your call, especially if you’re a new sales rep. This call won’t usually stay “on script”, but it will help you get your call started and make sure you hit your key talking points.
4. Prepare answers for common objections
Objections are bound to come up during a cold call. However, if your contact throws up an objection, that doesn’t mean they’re rejecting you or ending the conversation. You just need to know how to address them properly. So prior to your call, prepare some common responses to objections that your prospect may have. Keep reading for some examples of common objections and our suggested responses.
5. Smile & dial
This is one of our favorite cold calling tips. People won’t remember if you struggled through part of your pitch, but they will remember if you sounded sad, scared, or apologetic when you called them. HOW you say something is as equally important as WHAT you say. Your energy, confidence, and enthusiasm can be felt through the phone, so make sure to get in a positive mood before you press call.
6. Lead with a quick, clear, and direct introduction
You only have one chance to make a good first impression, so it’s crucial that you nail your introduction when you’re on the phone. We recommend following this four-step process to help you do so.
Include your name and company
One of the things prospects find annoying about cold calls is that they usually have no idea who is on the other end of the line. With this in mind, always remember to clearly and politely introduce yourself at the beginning of the conversation.
Present a compelling value proposition within 1-2 sentences
In order to pique your prospect’s interest in your product, it’s crucial to clearly and concisely describe the results that it’ll produce for their company. To do this, consider using one or two striking statistics. But, make sure not to overwhelm the person with data.
Include “Why You, Why Now”
“Why You, Why Now” means you should not only state why your product is a good fit for your prospect’s company but also for their current situation. This shows that you actually did your homework and care about benefiting their business.
Ask an open-ended question about their current operations.
When you ask an open-ended question about your prospect’s current operations, you’ll get them to assess whether their current solution is doing the job or not. And if it’s not, that’ll open up the floodgates for you to steer into their pain points and pitch your product as the solution.
Example introduction
“Hi, I am MT calling from Front (name and company). We are an internal collaboration tool that helps companies provide top-tier support to their customers (value prop). I saw you raised a recent round and I am reaching out to share how our customers have become 3x more efficient in managing their customer operations (why you? why now?). How do you currently manage your customer support team? (question)”
For more help, check out our elevator pitch template.
7. Determine if they are the decision-maker
You can have the best cold call of your life, but if it’s not with the person who signs off on purchasing new products, then you might as well not have made the call. To make sure you’re talking to a decision-maker, ask qualifying questions like, “Are you the right person to discuss this with further?” or “Are you the key decision-maker for this line of inquiry?”
8. Ask about the problem your product solves
People love talking about themselves, especially when it comes to their struggles at work. It’s cathartic. So if you can get them to vent about a problem that your product directly addresses, they’ll be much more responsive to you when you pitch your product as the solution.
9. Use objections as a way to discover more about your prospect
Like we mentioned before, an objection isn’t a rejection. It’s an opportunity to engage your prospect in further conversation and ask them more discovery questions.
For instance, if a prospect tells you that they’re too busy to talk right now, your response could be, “Totally understand having so many projects to work on. I’m curious, what’s the top priority for you right now and why?”
Below, we’ve fleshed out a framework for handling any objection that occurs throughout the sales cycle. You can use this framework for any objection, such as timing, money, or priorities.
Step 1: Acknowledge & empathize
The most common mistake sales reps make is getting frustrated with the prospect when they throw up an objection. Instead, they should acknowledge what their prospect says and empathize with it. We’ve all been in their shoes before, so if you can show them that you were listening to them and that you understand them, then they’re more likely to continue the conversation with you.
For example, if your prospect says, “Your product is too expensive,” you can say, “I know we’re on the pricer side…”
Step 2: Uncover
The next step to take when an objection gets thrown your way is to ask your prospect more questions so you can uncover their pain points. This shows them that you care about their needs.
Uncovering will also provide you with more information that can help you move the conversation forward. Continuing with the, “It’s too expensive” objection, you can uncover by asking “But is this more of an issue with your budget?”
Step 3: Respond to objections
Once you’ve uncovered the prospect’s pain points, it’s time to respond to their objections. During this step of the process, you need to educate them on how your product will solve their problem.
For example, if your prospect continues to throw up objections regarding price, you can respond with, “If you could see a 200% ROI in a year, would our product still be too expensive?”
Step 4: Confirm objections have been answered
Lastly, always confirm that you’ve addressed your prospect’s objections. For instance, you could ask your prospect who thinks your product is too expensive, “So you would need a 150% ROI in a year for our price point to be worth it?”
10. Listen more than you talk
A common rule of thumb regarding cold calling is to listen more than you talk. You should shoot to listen for 70% of the time and talk for 30% of the time. And when you are talking, make sure you’re efficient, clear, conversational, friendly, and understanding.
11. Be happy to repeat anything
Your prospects might have a little trouble absorbing every piece of information that you’re going to cover during your call. This means you’ll probably need to repeat a few things. Whenever this happens, remember to always remain calm and helpful.
12. Record the details of your call in your CRM
Your CRM is your source of truth, so use it to keep records of all your calls. Make sure to log the name of contact and the company as well as their job title, date of contact, contact info, lead source, what was said, how long the conversation lasted, the outcomes of the call, etc.
Get on track to start crushing your cold calls today
Cold calling will never be easy, but we hope our tips can help make them easier for you. Be sure to check back to this blog post whenever you need help crushing your cold calls! If you’re considering a career in tech, Flockjay’s 10-week tech sales bootcamp will teach you everything you need to know, help you land a job, and give you access to a bustling professional network ready to support your career growth for life. You’ll learn the ins and outs of cold calling, interviewing, what it means to be a member of a diverse and inclusive community, and so much more through this interactive bootcamp. No prior experience or degree is required to apply.
Pathrise is a full service organization that helps people land their dream job in tech. We work extensively with software engineers by providing technical workshops, 1-on-1 mentoring sessions, and pair programming sessions. In addition, we offer guidance on other components of the job search, including resume and portfolio optimization, LinkedIn optimization, behavioral interview preparation, reverse recruiting strategies, salary negotiation, and more.
Apply today.
