This time of year, when I tell people I’m a cold calling expert, they often comment, ‘well this must be a tough season for you and your team because it’s summer.’ This belief that everyone is on vacation and decisions are not being made is a common misperception.
In fact, our experience is quite the opposite. Here are some tips to make sure that you can use to jumpstart your summer cold calling activity and increase the likelihood of success.
- Know your target: Understanding your target means that you’ll know what motivates them to be interested in your offering.
- Know who the decision makers are: The decision maker is the one person you need for the appointment when you are cold calling.
- Develop and use a good script. Having a script allows you to think about and internalize your approach to the call in advance and anticipate different paths of discussion that might occur.
- Understand how your solution solves their problem. You’ll need to be able to recognize when a prospect is telling you something that indicates they are a qualified lead.
- Use Active listening. Make sure you’re not doing most of the talking. Allow the prospect to tell you about themselves and their business. This is when we learn what the opportunity really is.
- Pivot for the appointment. Once you’ve confirmed that there is a need, go for the appointment. Remember that a typical cold call is generally no more than 4 to 9 minutes. Making the appointment with a qualified lead is your objective. Leave deeper probes will be made during the first 30-minute appointment
Yes, these steps look like the basics…. and in fact, they are the tried-and-true core of cold calling best practices. There’s a reason why they are best practices – it’s because they work no matter the time of year.
If you need help implementing best practices as an individual salesperson or with an inside sales team you manage, reach out to us. We LOVE cold calling. Contact us at 908-879-2911.