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 inperson 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: 

  1. 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. 
  2. 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. 
  3. 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.  
  4. 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! 
  5. 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. 
  6. 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. 
  7. 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/oneofakindsalesfor 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!