Cold calling is something that many people don’t enjoy doing. It can be scary and intimidating, but it’s also a great way to earn business! In this guide, we will discuss the do’s and don’ts of cold calling, as well as some secrets for making your calls more successful.
The Ultimate Cold Call Guide:
It all starts with the list. First and foremost make sure you’re calling a list you can bring value and solutions to. Don’t just start dialing without a strategy. For more on list building you can checkout my blog post here.
Arm yourself with knowledge. Personally, I set a timer for 5 mins to research each prospect. This gives me insight into what problems they might be having I can help solve, things we might have in common, and the type of work I’m interrupting if they answer.
Dial the phone. When that timer goes off, you better dial immediately. Don’t lose your courage!
SMILE! The tone in your voice is noticeably different when you are smiling and positive. You want to seem happy and confident. You never know, the person you’re talking with might be having a bad day – your positive energy could really help!
If they answer, great! Talk to them like they’re your friend. Don’t sound like a cold-caller. I like a permission-based method “Hey Joe, this is Megan over at MK Consulting. We’ve been connected on LinkedIn a while now and I wanted to give you a call to discuss a few things I noticed about your company website. Do you have 30 seconds to chat? I promise it will be worth it.”
Deliver on that promise. Give them 30 seconds of highly valuable feedback or information. “Thanks Joe. I was scrolling corporatebrodude.com and I noticed that while the site is very visually appealing, the web copy isn’t particularly compelling. If I’m completely honest I wasn’t even entirely sure what you did until I got to my 3rd page of scrolling. Kevin over at WeKnowStuff was having a similar problem, and after a quick 30-minute consult I was able to increase conversions 600% by updating the copy, front-loading valuable info, and inserting compelling CTAs. I think we’re at that 30-second mark. Should I go on?”
Book the call, on the call. “Awesome. So as I was saying after about 30 minutes of consultation with you I could dive right into your copy. Make the necessary edits. And improve your conversions and leads. If you don’t mind me asking, how many leads is Corporatebrodude.com generating for you guys right now? …. Oh wow. Yeah I’m definitely confident I can improve that for you. Would 6X as many leads make a difference to your sales team?”
If you get a yes, book it.
If you get a no, overcome it. Don’t let the first no be the end of the story.
Let’s pretend Joe tells me his sales team doesn’t care. They’re outbound guys.
“Wow. Lucky you to have scored the jackpot with guys who can both prospect and close. If you don’t mind let me just share with you some stats on splitting time and brain function. Salespeople who have to do their own prospecting close as much as 70% less of their deals than those who can focus on closing. If 6X inbound leads meant 70% more closed deals for your team would that be impactful to your org? What’s your average deal size? Let’s do some quick math.”
Be prepped with numbers. Decision-makers love numbers. It’s a language most of them understand.
Talk about the bottom line. Be prepared to really map your solution to their unique needs. Solve their problems. Let them be the hero.
So we covered what happens if they answer the phone. But what happens if they don’t? Your approach should vary based on where in your sequence or cadence the call falls.
Let’s say you already sent them an email. “Hey, Joe. This is Megan over at MK Consulting. I shot you an email earlier this week but didn’t get a response. I know how hectic things can get so I wanted to make sure you saw it. I just caught some things on the corporatebrodude website I wanted to bring to your attention. The email will have come from megan@megankillion.com. I’ll send a follow-up now to bump to the top of your inbox. You can call me back at 407-706-4700 if you’d rather discuss this on the phone, and I’ll give you a call back next Tuesday at 3 EST to check-in. Again my direct line is 407-706-4700. Have a great day!”
Then, send the follow-up, and in it make sure you add actionable tips. Give it away for free. Send them the first paragraph of copy “on the house” or give him a specific actionable SEO tip.
Maybe you didn’t already send him an email. You can leave a similar voicemail: “Hey Joe. It’s Megan over at MK Consulting. I was scrolling corporate bro dude’s website today and I noticed a couple of things I wanted to run by you real quick. I’ll shoot you an email with the details. It’s going to come from megan@megankillion.com. I’ll give you a call back next Tuesday at 3 EST and we can discuss, or just hit reply on that email and let me know your thoughts. My direct line is 407-706-4700 if you wanna just give me a ring back. Enjoy the rest of your day!”
Last but not least, don’t get discouraged. Keep dialing. Even if you get hung up on. Even if somebody tells you off. Keep dialing, keep smiling. When you keep getting up and doing the right thing the results will come.