by Nancy Calabrese | Apr 28, 2020 | Advice, Cold Calling Tips, Pandemic, Sales Prospecting
Cold Callers use the phone, all day, every day, to meet prospects, create connections and nurture business relationships. As the coronavirus pandemic changes the way we live, interact and work, it has made us substitute live networking, trade shows and in–person appointments for voice and video calls. And it has, in a sense, made us all ‘Cold Callers’!
A recent statistic from Verizon said it was “now handling an average of 800 million wireless calls a day during the week which is more than DOUBLE the number of calls made on Mother’s Day which is historically one of the busiest call days of the year”! The LENGTH of calls was also up 33% from the average day before the pandemic.
AT&T had similar stats reporting an increase of 35% in number of calls.
Interestingly, internet traffic for these carriers was only up 20 – 25%.
Many people are not used to depending on the phone like this and you may be feeling anxious or uncomfortable having to do business in this way. But now, more than ever, staying connected means staying in business so sitting by and waiting for this to pass is NOT a viable business strategy.
Here are Seven Cold Calling tips that EVERYONE can use as we rely more and more on the phone to do business:
- The phone is your friend – use it to have longer, more meaningful conversations. These deeper conversations will help you connect more authentically with your clients and prospects.
- The pandemic is an icebreaker – this situation is truly unprecedented and everyone, worldwide, is being impacted. Asking how it is changing THEIR lives and routine is an easy way to break the ice and to get people talking.
- The phone is your lifeline – many industries are canceling the conferences and live events that once supplied you with new prospects. Yes, you should be using the phone to stay in touch with the people you know but consider using it as a tool to meet NEW prospects as well.
- Warm up a Cold Call – a quick way to warm up a ‘Cold Call’ to a new prospect is to ask for an introduction. This could be an introductory call from a friend or an email from a colleague or mutual acquaintance. As a bonus, when you are on the call, asking how they know the person who introduced you is an easy conversation starter!
- Have a plan – Cold Callers have SCRIPTS that they use to keep them on track and to ensure they hit the points they want to cover. Before using the phone for a business call, think about the goal of the interaction. Make a list of what you want to cover, notes on how you can help and anything else that is key. Yes, you want to sound natural, but you also want to make sure you are moving your business forward. And no, it is NOT cheating – think of it as PREPARATION.
- Stay safe – Social distancing can be socially isolating. You cannot catch the Covid virus over the phone! Stay safe by using the phone to build business and stay connected.
- These are life skills – any phone skills you learn now, out of necessity will serve you well whenever we do get back to a new normal!
Phone skills are like a muscle – the more you use it, the stronger you get! Check out our blog and follow us on Facebook (link to: https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832) , LinkedIn (link to https://www.linkedin.com/company/one-of-a-kind-sales) and Twitter (link to https://twitter.com/oneofakindsales) for more on how to beef up YOUR phone skills and give us a call at 908.879.2911 to set up one-on-one or team training on how to thrive in this new, phone based, environment!
by Nancy Calabrese | Apr 14, 2020 | Appointment setting services, Case Studies, Sales Prospecting
I am a life-long learner. For decades, I have followed and trained with numerous coaches and participated in sales programs of all types. I strive to continuously improve my own skills and to bring new ideas and techniques to our One of a Kind Sales team members and our appointment setting services.
Early on, in the 1990’s, I enrolled in a program with a prominent sales coach and trainer who specializes in teaching people how to Cold Call. I continued to follow her work and 3 years ago, I was honored to have an opportunity to strategically partner with her.
During our initial engagement, she learned about my business and the appointment setting services we offer (Lead Generation, One of a Kind Search and Call Center in a Box). She had never outsourced her Appointment Setting but within six months, she engaged US to launch an Appointment Setting Campaign on her behalf!
After two weeks on the campaign, she expanded the scope of the project and last year she invited our account rep, to assist in TRAINING others in HER workshops!
This was a HUGE compliment and a testament to the quality of our team members and our Appointment Setting techniques!
Do YOU need more qualified appointments set? We can do this for YOU! Give us a call TODAY at 908.879.2911 to see how WE can become YOUR INSIDE SALES team!
And click here for more Appointment Setting and Call Center in a Box Case Studies.
by Nancy Calabrese | Apr 2, 2020 | Advice, Cold Calling Tips, Pandemic, Sales Prospecting
These are challenging and unprecedented times but as Cold Callers, we can THRIVE! Here is some advice for Cold Calling during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
As more and more people are working from home and depending upon virtual interactions, Cold Callers will have an edge! Cold callers know the importance of HUMAN CONVERSATIONS and create meaningful connections via telephone.
My advice for Cold Calling during the Covid-19 Pandemic is ‘don’t stop prospecting!’ Keep making those calls and take the time to really CONNECT with prospects.
Now is the time to stay focused. Remain calm during conversations and address the elephant in the room. Your phone skills are now more critical than ever! Be sure to EMPATHIZE and ACTIVELY LISTEN to the prospects’ struggles and concerns.
Many people are displaced and may have more time on their hands to talk. They want to speak, especially with a voice that is genuine, confident and calm.
Remember, you can’t get the Coronavirus over the phone! People ARE answering their phones – this is an opportunity to develop relationships and offer something of value!
There are companies out there that NEED your services – by prospecting during the Covid-19 Pandemic, you WILL find them. The phone is your best friend – use it in good health!
For more Advice for Cold Calling during the Covid-19 Pandemic:
Keep Dialing
For more Cold Calling Advice, check out:
Keep Digging!
Are You WASTING Your Time Cold Calling from OUTDATED Data?
Let the Human Touch be YOUR Sales Differentiator
by Nancy Calabrese | Mar 31, 2020 | Appointment setting services, Best Sales Practices, Cold Calling Tips, Sales Prospecting
How many more sales could you close if you had a steady stream of QUALIFIED leads?
Are you so busy servicing existing customers that you just don’t make the calls you need to fill your sales pipeline?
Do you hate cold calling?
Did you know that OUR highly trained, professional cold callers can do your Cold Calling for YOU?
At One of a Kind Sales, our professionally trained inside business development reps make calls and set qualified appointments to keep YOUR sales pipeline full. We can be YOUR Inside Sales Team with callers who are continuously trained and managed to maximize performance and set QUALIFIED appointments for YOU!
What We Do
We are a full-service appointment setting provider – we come in, determine your needs and set up an effective system to set appointments with qualified prospects. Our callers understand the psychology of cold calling and ENGAGE prospects in non-salesy conversations that uncover pain points and opportunities for you. Our time-proven system for monitoring and recycling leads sets us apart and delivers results.
Cold Calling is in our DNA
Doing cold calling for others is actually why I STARTED One of a Kind Sales back in 2011. At that time, I owned a recruiting firm. My team made cold calls all day, every day and was quite comfortable engaging with just about anyone.
One of my customers at the time had nine salespeople who did everything BUT pick up the phone. Because of this lack of cold calling, they had a weak pipeline and were always struggling to meet their sales goals.
They engaged us to build them an INSIDE SALES DEPARTMENT. First, we secured and set them up on a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool to facilitate cold calling. Then we developed scripting and defined the process we would follow from initial contact through multiple touches to qualification and conversion. We created and documented procedures to build, maintain and cycle through prospect lists and trained three inside sales reps to follow and implement the new system.
This resulted in over THREE HUNDRED qualified appointments set in the FIRST YEAR! This was huge improvement over their previously weak pipeline and significantly impacted (IMPROVED!) their bottom line.
After completing this project and seeing the need for this type of service, I decided to create One of a Kind Sales. Click here to see a short video about our time-proven process, keep an eye out for our next three Appointment Setting Case Studies and give us a CALL TODAY at 908.879.2911 to see how WE can become YOUR inside sales team!
by Nancy Calabrese | Mar 18, 2020 | Best Sales Practices, Cold Calling Tips, Sales Prospecting
This week’s cold calling advice is short and sweet – Keep Digging!
In 2007 it took 3.68 cold call attempts to reach a prospect. In 2013, it took 8 attempts. Now, it takes an average of 18 calls to actually connect with a buyer!
Your goal as a sales prospector is to contact a key decision maker and set a qualified appointment. But the main task of anyone doing sales prospecting is to ‘dig’. As the political economist Benjamin Friedman said, “Prospecting is finding the man with the problem”.
When you make a call but don’t get through to a decision maker, rather than hanging up, persist! Stay on the call and dig til you find the right person. Ask for names, phone numbers, anything that might help you move forward. See if they can transfer you. Try to build on the info you have to move you closer to your goal!
Keep dialing and if you need help with your messaging, delivery or would like us to do your calling for you, give us a call at 908.879.2911 – we LOVE cold calling!
