Anatomy of a cold call: What are the first things I should say on a cold call?

I have found after some research that using a mix of multiple strategies is best. Everyone has their own tactics, however, I thought that through my research Wendy Weiss aka the Queen of Cold Calling has some valuable information.

This information has been provided by www.wendyweiss.com
Top Ten Tips for Terminating Telephone Terror

1. Make telephone calls.
Few things are more terrifying than the unknown. The fear you create for yourself is far worse than the reality of cold calling. Once you start making telephone calls and continue making telephone calls it gets easier. You overcome fear by doing.

2. Make a lot of telephone calls.
If you have only one prospect to pursue, that prospect becomes overwhelmingly important. If you have hundreds of leads, no one prospect can make or break you. The more calls you make, the more success you will have.

3. Prepare.
Prepare for cold calling the way you would for any major presentation. Know what you want to say, how you want to say it and how you want to represent yourself, your company, your product or service. And know the goal of your telephone call.

4. Practice.
If you are new to cold calling or uncomfortable with cold calling practice your pitch out loud. Role-play with friends or colleagues. Practice various sales scenarios. This way you will not have to worry about what you are going to say, you will be prepared and you can focus in on your prospect.

5. Start with less important leads.
It will be good practice and less stressful. Once you feel more comfortable, start working on the more important leads.

6. Stay calm.
You will for the most part be talking to people who will appreciate your call. If a prospect is rude, remember: This is not personal. They may just be having a bad day. Move on.

7. Realize your priorities and your prospect's priorities are different.
You want an immediate "yes," your prospect may want to finish a report, finish a conversation, start their vacation.… Be very careful not to read negative or extra meaning into early conversations with your prospect or prospect's secretary. If, for example, your prospect's secretary says that your prospect is "on the phone," "in a meeting," or "out of the office," that does not translate to "My prospect knows that I am calling and is avoiding me."

8. Accept some things are out of your control.
If a prospect does say "no" ultimately that is out of your control—but what is within your control is continuing to prospect and continuing to make calls. It is also within your control to improve your cold calling skills, take seminars, read books or hire a coach-then fewer prospects will say "no."

9. Play Arlene's game.
The object of Arlene's game is to focus on rejection. The goal is to reach 100 points. You get 1 point for every rejection. Give yourself 1 point for every "no" answer. If your prospect says "yes," that's a bonus! Focus on acquiring points. The more calls you make, the more points you acquire. When you reach 100—You Win! Give yourself a prize!

10. Have fun!
This is not life or death—it's only a cold call. The fate of the world does not rest on you and your telephone. You will not destroy your company or ruin your life if a prospect says "no." Loosen up, be creative, have some fun!

It's safe to assume that your call has completely caught them off-guard, so being polite and easygoing is key. Let them know your primary purpose is to schedule a call to dive deeper into their needs, and to see if a fit exists between what they need and what you've got. Do not just tear into your pitch without regard to the fact that you've completely disrupted their task at hand.

Begin with the end in mind is a great Covey principle that I use in my calling approach. What do you want to accomplish and work towards that end! More than likely you want to understand very quickly is this a good prospect or not. So write out a few key points that will help you rule in and out with an open ended question quickly. Some more basics of making a call successful are outlined quickly below and don’t fret about making mistakes everyone starts out green and learns as they go:

• What is your value prop and how do you get that across quickly? Remember it’s usually about saving or making money for your clients so focus on that data point and build a few quick good sentences with some bite. Make sure you identify who you are the purpose and most importantly what’s in it for them.
• How do you differentiate yourself from the crowd? Imagine the person has been called twice that day. Do you sound like some of the terrible cold calls you have received or do you sound like a professional with something of value to offer that is confident that you are not wasting their time but instead opening them up to an exciting new solution, service or conversation that can help them?
• Open up with what differentiates you and quickly get to the point. You will always hit and miss so constantly refine and reflect on each call to learn where you are either falling down or improving. If people are shutting you down quickly than you either have the wrong decision maker or the wrong message for that decision maker.
• Call shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. Most people are over inundated with communications these days via email, IM, Social Media and phone. Remember what is your goal, it’s to qualify and get to a next step and you’re not trying to close the sale on the first call. Again I wouldn’t spend more than 3-5 minutes unless the prospect is driving the conversation at that point. Respect their time ask more questions that help you understand if they are a fit and confirm your next step.
• Practice, Persistence and fortitude will carry you pretty far with the other basic approaches and techniques. People sense weakness on the call so be confident and remember it’s a business call not personal so treat it accordingly.
• Set daily goals. Don’t give up but don’t overdo it until you get comfortable. I’ve seen plenty of sales professionals who become exhausted and deflated by trying to do too much without slowly but surely making adjustments and I’ve seen plenty of people that don’t do enough.

Orlin Camerlo
Extended Presence

All of the above is great, but let me add a few tips that have worked for me over the years.

1. Always introduce yourself and company first, slowly and with confidence. This gives them time to lose the initial instinct to hang up on you and listen. For all you know your company is on their radar and they want to talk, but new sales reps never get into a conversation because they try to rush through their whole spiel before the opportunity for rejection arises. The person isn't listening until they've given you permission to talk.

2. Be funny. This may mean walling the fine line between cheezy and obnoxious, but boring will never cut it.
- Gatekeppers: "Are you the person in charge of blowing off sales call?" Yes. "Great, then I'm talking to the right person." Huh. "Well, if your job is to keep me from helping your company with (your value prop), then hang up now." Why don't you tell me why you're calling...
- Decision Maker: "Hi (name). How pumped are you to take a call from a company that does (what your company does). (a) not pumped - "What would it take to change that?" (b) pumped - (b) "Awesome. Then maybe you'll be jumping through the roof by the time we get off the phone".

3. Being embarrassed only lasts as long as it takes for your coworkers to copy you. The first time they hear you taking risks, they'll snear. The second time, they'll listen, because you're havuing real conversations while they're taking no's and dialing. The third time, they'll be imitating you.

Check out Gitomer on YouTube and his site. He's the kinf og likability as the #1 sales asset.

- Brian Koles
www.TrainMySalesTeam.com
www.GreentechBuyer.org

Wendy Weiss is a true Expert on Cold Calling. Great recommendation by Jonathon. A couple things that I would recommend.

1. Don't say, Is this a good time to talk?

This will give them an immediate out. You can follow up with an email, but the purpose of your call was to close them. Stay strong with your pitch and get straight to the point.

2. Don't meet and greet in the beginning. I would say your name and immediately get into the reason of your call. The meet and greet gives them a way out. They start to question your call before you can get them on the hook.

3. Be polite to the gatekeeper. She holds the key to the safe. If you have to make a return call...you'll most likely go through her again.