How to Improve Your Cold-Calling Skills

Let’s face it: nobody really enjoys making cold calls. But sparking a connection remains a crucial skill to have whether you are a business owner, job seeker or even a volunteer looking to raise money. Here's a guide to closing more deals with fewer dials.

Tweet

iStock

Let's face it: Nobody really enjoys making cold calls. But the fact is that cold calling remains a part of life whether you are a business owner, a job seeker, or even a volunteer looking to raise money for your local non-profit group, says Eliot Burdett, co-founder of Peak Sales Recruiting in Ottawa, Canada. "Even with the rise of the Internet, which has changed the way people buy, having the ability to connect with someone cold on the phone remains a valuable skill for anyone to have," he says.

The problem, quite frankly, is that like any skill, cold calling requires practice. And even then, the numbers don't always add up, says Joanne Black, founder of NoMoreColdCalling in Greenbrae, California, and author of a book by the same name. "People who cold call will make between 100 and 150 dials, talk to between 18 and 20 people, and schedule six to eight appointments," she says. "And if they're lucky, close one deal."

We've compiled some expert tips below to help you improve your odds of closing more deals with fewer dials.

Dig Deeper: Improving Your Cold-Calling Technique


Improving Your Cold-Calling Skills: Set a Calling Schedule

Set a target number of calls per week and schedule time every day to make a portion of these calls, Burdett advises. "This kind of discipline will create rhythm and the calling habit, don't procrastinate, just do it," he says. "The more calls you make the easier it gets."

The best times to call are early or late in the day when potential customers are less busy and more likely to answer their own phones. You may also prefer to use a hands-free device or headset that allows you to stand up and walk around when you're talking to sound more energized.

One of the first questions to ask  might be, "Is this a good time to talk?" If it isn't, ask the person when a better time might be. Then, get them to schedule it on their calendar. Then, when you call back, they'll be expecting you. Pick a quick and clever way to break the ice - perhaps with a short dose of humor.

Dig Deeper: Advice on How to Practice Your Sales Pitch

Improving Your Cold-Calling Skills: Communicate Value

Start your call by promising brevity and keep your promise, says Stephanie Hackney of Branding Masters in Austin, Texas. "Before you lift the receiver, you need to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what you provide has value to the people you'll be calling on," she says. "Once you know that, and you can show why your potential customers care, create simple wording that briefly communicates that value and answers the customer's primary question: What's in it for me? As a customer, I don't care what you have or what your product does, I want to know how it benefits me. How does it make my life better, easier?"

One key is to communicate the benefits of what you're calling about, not just its features. Remember also to focus on what your customer needs, not on what you have.

Questions you should be keeping in mind, Hackney says, are:

•    Is your product and/or service offering solving your customer's issues, or is it simply something you want to offer?

•    Have you adequately researched the market to determine there is a real need for what you have to offer? If not, then go back to the drawing board until you are able to answer “yes' to that question.

Dig Deeper: A Sales Force Built on Cold-Calling


Improving Your Cold-Calling Skills: How to Head-Off Objections

You should know every reason your potential customers might have for not wanting to give you the time of day, Hackney says. One way to prepare for this is to script answers to every objection you can think of, and then think of and answer more. Identify a list of several meaningful and probing questions that will stimulate a conversation and allow you to develop a relationship.

Role-playing is perhaps the best way to develop the list of objections, says Hackney, especially if you can convince an uninterested (and therefore more objective) person to play the role of the customer.

If you are asked a question you can't answer, don't make up an answer just to fill the silence. "Offer to research the question and to get back to the customer," Hackney says. "You will be seen as honest, professional and interested in your customer's success."

Dig Deeper: How to Respond to an Objection over Price

Improving Your Cold-Calling Skills: Think Research

If all you're only goal in making cold calls is to close deals, it's easy to get frustrated when someone hangs up on you. That's why you should change your focus and think of the calls as research time, Burdett says. "Don't just call and hard pitch, because everyone hates to have their day interrupted by a sales call," he says. "Instead try think beforehand what challenges the prospect is dealing with and then use the call to collect insight, validate your assumptions, share insight about what solutions exist and what might work for them."

 1 | 2  NEXT 

Read more:

Sign-up for our Sales and Marketing Newsletter

Email Address: