In this day with sales and business development folks
working sites like LinkedIn, Facebook & personal email to break business,
picking up the phone is still a great way to make deals happen. Cold calling still works, now more than
ever. Here are some tips and
observations on how to cold call and make big things happen from scratch.
Tip #1 - 9AM - 5PM:
Your future clients are most likely at their desks and able
to take a call from 8:30AM to 6:30PM.
This means that any task you are doing outside of trying to get in touch
with your prospects can be classified as a distraction during these valuable
hours. So this means planning
tasks like reporting, administration, and research outside of this valuable
time period. If you are not trying
to get in touch with a valuable prospect, then you can be sure someone else
is. If it’s one of your
competitors, you could be out. Since we are all buried in email most of the
day, our phone rings less, much less in fact. I would bet the frequency of phone calls has dropped several
factors over the last 5 years. So
for some this is an opportunity to catch someone by voice.
Tip #2 - Pre-Call Preparation:
Before you call here are a few simple
steps to prepare for when a warm body (prospect or gatekeeper) answers your
call. The ultimate goal on a cold call is to establish a positive rapport with
whoever answers and in most cases you have ~6 seconds to succeed or fail. Therefore before you call visit the
prospect’s web site. Make sure you
have an idea of what they do, their structure, their needs etc. Also look at the “News” section on the
site to see any recent breaking news or announcements. Often you will discover possible
synergies here that can add to your pitch. Know where you are calling. Look at the “Contact” page or the area code of the number
you are calling. Once you have the
location check the weather report and the local news site. These can be great little weapons in
establishing a quick rapport with whoever picks up the phone. Example – I was looking to get a
meeting with a large media organization in California. Before I called I
checked the local news sites and saw that some fires had been burning near the
client. So when I called, I mentioned
this and in an instant had a robust conversation going. Rapport
established.
Step #3 - Love thy
Gatekeeper:
Most high-level
executives still have someone answering their phone, even in the interactive
space. However executive assistants now handle multiple executives so overall
they are busier then they used to be.
However, since most BD/Sales folks use email as their primary method for prospecting, the
number of incoming phone calls that gatekeepers answer on aggregate has
dropped. This is an
opportunity. These gatekeepers
want to talk with someone and often times welcome a nice voice. The trick here is to not treat them
like a gatekeeper but like the prospect you are trying to reach. If you ask for “Mr. Smith” and the
gatekeeper has you on hold ask the gatekeeper how their day is going, or about
the weather that you know is happening.
9 out of 10 times they are happy to respond and you can start building a
rapport with the gatekeeper. Many
times after you establish a positive rapport with a gatekeeper they will say
something like; “Hold on, let me grab Mr. Smith for you….”
Step #4 - Thanking the Gatekeeper:
Most sales people drop the gatekeeper
like a rock when finally getting to the prospect. This is a huge mistake. The best thing you can do is send a thank you email or voice
mail to the gatekeeper for helping you.
This small amount of outward appreciation will set you apart from the
many others who call and never circle back. In general gatekeepers don’t get that much praise, so a
little love from you is most welcome.
So next time, when the prospect you worked hard to contact and meet goes
cold, and you need to get re-connected, you call on the gatekeeper for
help. If you said “thank you” the
gatekeeper has the power to get you back on the calendar and on track to closing the
deal.
Step #5 - Getting On The
Calendar:
The Gatekeeper often
runs the calendar. So for all the
reasons just explained, if you have a good rapport with the gatekeeper you can
use this to schedule a call or meeting on a calendar. This is especially effective when your deal might stall or
get sidelined and the prospect has gone cold. Instead of becoming a pest with a steady stream of emails
pick up the phone, talk to the gatekeeper and ask for help getting on the
calendar.
Step #6 - Prospects Who
Answer:
If you are lucky and get
the prospect to answer their phone or get connected by the gatekeeper, you have
~4 seconds to start down a positive path.
For me, what works best is to introduce myself and ask if the prospect
has a minute to chat with me. This
immediately gets the prospect into answering your question and if yes, into a
loose agreement that you have a few seconds to speak. The next few words should be your best elevator pitch custom
fit for the prospect’s company. In
this short sentence you need to give the prospect one good reason why you
deserve another minute on the phone or better yet a meeting. Then *stop*. Listen and hear the reaction. A cold caller that does not know when to stop talking is in
the wrong business. If you cross
that imaginary line of rambling, you are immediately thrown into the “used car
salesman” bin and you are done.
Should this happen you have 2 seconds to dig yourself out. The best solution is to say “I’m sorry,
I just rambled, essentially I can deliver you “x,y and z” and would like the
chance to explain in more detail how I can help.” Then see what happens.
Often times the apology will get you back on track.
Step #7 - Time Zones:
If you have prospects in different time zones, plan your
calls accordingly. If you are
based in New York, cold calling Eastern Standard Time prospects from 8:30AM to
11:30AM is best. Then move to your
Pacific Standard Time prospects who are just getting in or your
Central/Mountain Time zones. Stay
away from 12Noon to 2PM. This will
give your prospects time to eat,
digest a bit and have a coffee.
The worst time to try and break in on the phone is when someone is
hungry or tired. Lunch takes the
hunger away, and if you call after 2PM your prospect will likely have just had
a coffee and is ready for the afternoon – which includes a call from you! Good luck, deals are out there for
those who call and ask.
The next
post we will look at how to prepare for a meeting once you broke through by
cold calling.
