The 6 Secrets of Cold Calling

Let’s be honest here, cold calls are a source of angst for the small business owners. They take a lot of time and you end up with one quality lead, if you are very lucky. It’s like 100 to 1 – one lead for every hundred calls you make. See, angst. And you sit there and think  ”It shouldn’t be like this…” and you are right. But the problem is – you are not doing it right.

Here are the six secrets to cold calling so you can get those leads going:

1. Plan ahead – what is your target? Who are you going to call? When are you going to call? These are some questions you need answered the day before the cold calls session. Take your time to make a plan – figure out what is your target and which people form the target you are going to contact. Then figure out the perfect time to call them, because the timing is vital. Then, take an hour of your time every day for cold calling;
2.  Investigate – you need to do your homework on every single call you are about to do. It is as easy as googling the company you are about to contact or checking the person’s LinkedIn  profile for some additional information. Even if you don’t end up using all the information you find about the target – you will come out more confident about the call;
3. Find out a personal connection – now that you’ve made a research you can call the person and seek out a personal connection with him/her. You might have the same alma mater or both worked with someone. Just try to find something in common. Once the conversation gets a bit more personal, the whole dynamics of the call is going to change and you will be one step closer to the success;
4. Ask for information – cold calling doesn’t mean you should start selling your product the moment the contact picks up the phone. It’s about finding if the person needs your product/service. That’s why you should first get some information, before giving some. Ask questions about the person’s business needs and how you can fulfil them. Get the needed information so you can tailor the perfect pitch. It might sound harsh but contacts don’t care about you, they care about what you can do for them;
5. Keep records – always keep records tracking who you called, when you called and how many of those calls converted to meetings. This way you can measure your progress, you will get more organized and have a sense of accomplishment. Not all calls are going to convert to appointments, but this doesn’t mean you can’t get positives from it. At least you will get some more information, which you need to write down and use if there is a chance for a follow-up call;
6. Use referrals – more often than not you will end up speaking to the voice mail instead of a real person. If this happens, don’t forget to mention a referral that both you and the person you’re trying to contact know. You can visit their LinkedIn profile and see if you have common connections which you can use as referrals. Then call the soon-to-be-referral and ask for a permission to use their name as a referral. You are almost always going to ge a call back when you use a referral.

If you still don’t think that you get the best out of the cold calls – give us a call, we are just the professionals you need to get more leads.