The key, she says, is to succinctly communicate the differences between yours and your competition's offerings without resorting to bashing which will help you look more professional, and most importantly, will make the customer feel that you have their best interest at heart.
If the customer can't see any difference between what you're selling and what the competition is offering, you have not done a good job of communicating what makes you unique and the best solution, Hackney says. Or, your offering might not be the best fit, in which case you could choose to recommend a competing product or service that's a better fit to your customer's individual needs. The point is to try and address these kinds of questions and distinctions before you place the call.
Dig Deeper: Tools on Researching the Competition
Improving Your Cold-Calling Skills: Follow Through
One of the most important lessons in business is to follow through on commitments, Hackney says. "Be true to your word and deliver what you promise," she says. "Just knowing that you will do so makes it easy to communicate a caring attitude and professionalism to customers. After all, that's all most customers want: someone to make their life easier."
It also makes sense to employ a sales tracking system such as SalesForce.com as a way to stay on top of your discussions, emails and campaigns.
Dig Deeper: Mastering the Follow-Through
Improving Your Cold-Calling Skills: Warm Up Those Calls
Of course, there are many ways to set up your calls so that if they're not hot leads, they're at least warm. To get there, one tip is to get referrals.
"The only way for business owners to get hot leads, close more than 50 percent of their prospects, reduce their sales time, ace out the competition, and incur no hard costs, is to receive a referral introduction to their ideal client," Black says. Referrals work as an instant connection and address the two biggest issues that all salespeople face:
1. Getting the meeting at the level that counts.
2. Converting prospects to prime customers.
So how do you go about getting referrals? Black says there are two key ways. First, ask your current clients to introduce you to people they know. Second, create referral metrics for your company. That can include: How many people you ask each week, the number of referrals you receive, the number of referral meetings you conduct. Also measure the increase in revenue and profits and the reduction in your cost of sales.
It could also be wise to invest in lead-generation programs so that some of the outbound calls are more warm than cold, Burdett says. There are also countless online social media tools available to help warm up your calls and generate leads. You and your colleagues should see social networking as an opportunity to meet clients and open up entire social pockets of exposure. Check out:
• Jigsaw
• LinkedIn
• Google Profiles
• Facebook
• Twitter
• InsideView
• ZoomInfo
• ConnectAndSell
Dig Deeper: Using Social Networking Sites to Drive Business
Improving Your Cold-Calling Skills: Additional Resources
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cold Calling, by Keith Rosen. Alpha, 2004.
Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling, by Sam Richter. Beaver's Bond Press, 2009.
Cold Calling Techniques That Really Work, by Stephan Schiffman. Adams Media, 2007.
Lessons from 100,000 Cold Calls, by Stewart L. Rogers. Sourcebooks, 2008.
More Quick Tips on Cold Calling from Inc.com
