Cold Calling is NOT Dead !!!
Have you seen the recent ads and articles claiming “cold calling is DEAD?” The reason given is the plethora of alternate, Internet-based methods for finding and initiating contact.
In fact, we’re big fans of social media and Internet selling. But we also know that most outbound sales occur only when two-way, interactive conversation occurs. So, does the new social media and Internet selling techniques make cold calling an old dinosaur?
Many argue that voicemail and newer screening systems make it more difficult to cold call via phone. Others observe that many companies train their people in techniques to thwart “cold callers.” But just because cold calling has become more challenging, doesn’t mean those obstacles can’t be overcome and great results achieved!
As many of our clients will attest, a well-orchestrated cold calling campaign can produce significant sales increases. In fact, salespeople we’ve trained often exceed a 50% success rate on each cold call! Why? They are using techniques that don’t scream “SALES.” Indeed, the common (and over-used) sales openings like “following up on…,” “will be in your area” and “want to introduce self/reach out”) often cause immediate screening and rejection. In contrast, using uncommon, unpublished approaches helps avoid getting quickly pegged as a “salesperson” and “pest.” Combine an effective call approach with a strategy to avoid call backs and you have a winning formula for cold calling success!
J. Conrad Levinson, in his Guerilla Marketing and Selling books, proclaims that an effective sales/marketing outreach involves 4-7 different methods of prospect contact. For instance, a prospect may see your firm’s ad, visit your trade show booth, read an article about your products, receive LinkedIn connection requests and receive a phone call from your company. Using a variety of methods (e.g. 4 methods, 2+ contacts) gets superior results than using one method (e.g. 1 method, 8+ contacts). In short, using multiple contact methods was found to have a synergistic effect. For example, the success rate with each method may result in a 2% hit rate, whereas using 4 methods together may produce a 20-30% hit rate. The takeaway here is that cold calling, when combined with other prospecting methods, can produce significant sales wins!
While cold calling is an important element of a comprehensive sales strategy, it should not be either the only element or something that is totally excluded. So, invest the time to beef up your cold calling campaigns and reap the rewards!
But, the ugly truth is that many salespeople and managers detest cold calling! Why? It is usually because their calls don’t produce a good sales volume. Rather than seek best-in-class cold call methods, they are quick to rely on the new alternatives available and pronounce cold calls as an outdated method.
So planning a cold calling campaign? Some tips:
1). Do research. What is the prospect firm’s growth potential and industry stature? What critical problems are they facing? How well qualified are they to make a purchase?
2). Have a unique call approach that doesn’t scream “SALESPERSON.” The most common and widely published techniques are the ones people hear all the time. Do something DIFFERENT !
3). Develop a strategy to avoid call backs. So many outbound calls result in voicemails that the level of call backs increases over time. Managing a huge volume of “call backs” diminishes sales productivity and results. So, adopt the strategy “One call does it all.”
4). Know exactly what you’re going to ask and say. Not being prepared or using peoples’ time effectively will jeopardize your cold calling success.
5). Be prepared for resistance and objections. We coach our salespeople to pre-prepare a list of their most common objections and have a quick and effective response for each.
6). Commit to a series of “Power Hours” where you set aside uninterrupted time for outbound calls.
With an enlightened, non “salesy” approach, cold calling can be a path to new riches!
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Getting Prospects to Call Back
How is your telephone sales prospecting working? What is your ratio of outbound prospecting calls to actual decision maker conversations? And when you fail to reach a decision maker and instead leave a voicemail, how many callbacks do you get?
Indeed, salespeople need phone skills training and a sales prospecting approach that immediately gets decision makers on the phone. While effective cold call approaches are rare, our unpublished sales prospecting techniques typically have a first-call success rate of 50-80%. Regardless of the initial sales prospecting approach, it is often necessary to leave voicemails and generate decision-maker call backs.
Sales Prospecting Call Back Tips
1 – Persistence can help, but don’t become pushy. A method we teach in our phone skills training involves “polite persistence” and building relationships with support people. The bottom line: You’re more likely to get a call back if the decision maker sees that you’re respectful and committed to getting a hold of her.
2 – Find sales prospecting techniques that work well for you. For instance, good voicemail techniques include: showing you’ve done some homework and understanding critical business issues, dropping names of appropriate companies you’ve worked with and making it easy to reach you at a later time (e.g. via a direct cell phone number)
3 – Do something different! We’ve seen salespeople send express mailers, email innovative e-cards and use outside champions to gain decision maker attention. The key is to stand out from the crowd and to attract positive attention.
4 – Get marketing support. For instance, adding prospects you contact to your firm’s e-newsletter or product announcement list can help create name recognition and improve the chances you will get through on the next call. And a consistent, long-term strategy of reaching decision makers via marketing methods is a proven method for boosting sales results.
5 – Gain focus. Set up a specific time block from sales prospecting, and get rid of all distractions. Salespeople do their best work when they are focused, thinking and motivated.
6 – Enhance your prospect database. For instance, adding decision maker names and email addresses to your CRM system helps ensure you reach more decision makers and get more call backs.
7 – Get coached. Ask your sales manager or a colleague who is successful at cold calling and generating decision maker calls to help you. Learning from someone who has succeeded is much quicker than inventing sales methods and sales prospecting techniques yourself. A solid phone skills training or sales prospecting course could quickly accelerate your results.
All Rights Reserved. The Sales Alliance Inc. San Diego, CA
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First Impressions and Etiquette Count
Buyers, who have a plethora of options as to whom they buy from, are cutting potential vendors very little slack. And phone etiquette counts! In fact, many screen out potential vendors within the first minute of telephone contact based on their initial impressions and ”gut feel.” Negative impressions that “turn off” buyers often include: being put on hold for more than a minute, not being able to easily reach someone knowledgeable about the firm’s offerings, “talky” or pushy salespeople, a perceived lack of professionalism and poor phone etiquette.
Clearly, first impressions are critical to sales success and the use of successful sales techniques is critical. So, make it a resolution to start out your New Year by improving your phone etiquette and approach. Let’s start by looking at your customers’ perspectives and asking some important questions.
Sales and Phone Etiquette
1). CONTACT EASE: How easy is it for prospective buyers to get a hold of your or someone else who is knowledgeable? How well do receptionists take care of people who call in? Do callers become frustrated by confusing voicemail systems, “voicemail jails” and auto-attendants? Do prospects reach voicemail more often than live people?
2). ATTITUDE: How is the phone answered and what is the demeanor of the salesperson? Are callers treated in a consistent manner on each and every call? One client of ours has a standard of first mentioning their company name, then introducing the call handler by name, and then making the statement in a very positive tone, “I can help you.” Indeed, well-designed call handling strategies and proper phone etiquette often pay off with more business and higher levels of customer satisfaction. .
3). DICTION: We’ve observed many sales and service people use informal language with words such as “dude,” “radical,” “cool” and “let’s boogie.” While some customers may be entertained by or even like this, others see it as overly casual or unprofessional. Indeed, sticking to more mainstream words and diction is the safest phone etiquette and runs little risk of offending people.
4). VOICEMAIL GREETINGS: Many individual voice mailbox greetings (e.g. “I am on the phone now…leave me a message after the beep”) are simply unimpressive and/or non-productive. Likewise, we often hear greetings that are out of date (e.g. on Wednesday we hear a greeting that states “it is Monday and I’m out of the office today”). Good voicemails, on the other hand, often convey useful information (e.g. “I will be returning calls between 3-5pm today”) and provide the caller with useful options (e.g. “If this matter is time sensitive, call me on my cell phone at 858-945-8888 or contact my assistant James at 858-452-9211″). Good phone etiquette and effectove voicemail greetings are critical to presenting a positive image.
5). HIGH-QUALITY EMAILS: While an advantage of emails is that they are expected to be somewhat informal, many are simply unprofessional. Email glitches include: spelling errors, grammatical errors and long, rambling sentences. Moreover, salespeople and companies often don’t use a standard signature line on emails. A good signature line can serve as a promotional message (e.g. use your firm’s slogan/tagline) and should also contain name, title, phone numbers and website address.
6), APPEARANCE: If you are meeting with customers or prospects in person, how do they perceive you based on your appearance? Is the salesperson well groomed and appropriately dressed?
When companies use a customer-oriented, respectful sales and phone etiquette, people notice! And unfortunately, when a highly-consistent, high-quality manner of treating customers is lacking, prospective buyers notice even more and tend to take their business elsewhere.
All Rights Reserved. The Sales Alliance Inc. San Diego, CA
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