Breaking over the fear of cold contacting:
In today’s economic environment, decision makers are bombarded with cold calls from people selling them something. It’s no wonder which the rejection rate is so high knowning that sales people are having frustrated and demoralized. Here are some tricks for increasing your hit charge when appointment setting:
Expanding your list associated with prospects:
Good lists are readily available through list brokers, trade associations, or Chambers of the business sector. Building a good directory prospects is critical in order to any successful business development effort:
What are your targeted industries?
How large is the company that you typically assist (by revenue or perhaps, number of employees)?
Into what geographic area can you sell to?
Pre-qualifying your list and intelligence gathering:
You may be encountering a great deal of rejection when cold calling companies simply because your products or services is not a good fit for needs. If you do not contemplate the question “what may my ideal prospect resemble? ” you will waste valuable time become extremely frustrated. Here are some instances of how to develop a pre-qualification strategy:
What is the title of the person who typically buys your services or products?
What are the 2-3 questions that would allow you to eliminate those companies that would not be a great fit? Let’s say for example you’re an energy management organization selling controls solutions, you may want to recognize companies with office space in excess of 100, 000 square feet, that they own the building, That if they have a controls system in position, that it be at the very least 3 years old and they have a corporate mandate to reduce overhead / utility expenses.
Begin calling your prospective client list to pre-qualify: for this step, connect with people further down the corporate ladder to gather your details. You will find operators far easier to get than the decision creator.
When you identify that a company qualifies based on the answers to your inquiries, have a quick look at their website to get a better feel for the business and record any key facts which might be useful in future conversations.
Make sure to banner each prospect appropriately; those that require immediate follow up, those that need attention from the short or long term and people that did not meet the requirements.
Do not underestimate the benefit of pre-qualification, it is a very little time consuming but the pay back for your efforts would have been a higher close rate after you make your pitch to the decision maker.
One word of extreme care however, start with only a sampling of your list to pre-qualify. There is nothing worse than pre-qualifying a whole list to find that you should have asked one or perhaps two additional pre-qualification inquiries.
Develop a script although don’t sound scripted:
You know your service or product inside out so why are you looking to develop a script? Because in the organization of cold calling, you have 30 seconds or less to seize someone’s attention so your pitch need to be spot on.
Your script will be there as a reference only, I am by no means suggesting which you actually use it ‘verbatim’ when producing cold calls.
Never begin your dialogue with asking, “How are you? ” It comes over as disingenuous, so save your pleasantries for people with whom you have an established relationship.
If you are calling to book a meeting, briefly introduce your company and ask whether it is a good time in order to talk. If it is, you can now allow them to have the pitch (usually ask if there is a more convenient time for you to call back and create a note to follow upwards).
Start off by discussing their company based on your own intelligence gathering; “John, I was speaking using your Facilities Manager Bob Smith and I understand that your company includes a mandate to further lower your energy costs but I also know that your control system is four year old technology”
Next, refer if possible to a project you just accomplished at another company in which profiles similarly to theirs regarding size or industry market, for example; “We just completed some sort of project with Mount Sinai Medical center who initially had similar technology to yours. After installing our technique, they were able to be able to effectively reduce their utility bills by 20%, with a projected MOTOROLA ROI of 2. 5 years.
At this point, ask some questions: it is important which you involve the prospect inside the conversation and questions are the best way to allow for interaction. For example;
“John have you deemed upgrading your technology to make the most of further savings? Or,
“John, are you looking to realize something in the ball park of a 20% cost reduction on your utility bills? ”
The key purpose for possessing a script is to include multiple benefit statements and various industry examples accessible when talking to prospective buyers.
Anticipating and responding to be able to objections:
You have probably done enough cold calling to write a summary of objections that you routinely encounter from prospects. Rather than fearing arguments, you should embrace these; every objection creates a way to sell your product or service towards prospect.
“We don’t have any budget for this” is among the most common objection. You could respond using “John, if budget were easy, would this be something you should explore in more aspect? ” If he says yes, you can say, “If I can demonstrate an instant return on investment to help you start profiting from our service/product in the first month, is that something using interested in talking about?
Alternatively, “We offer a financing solution which can be paid for out with the savings you will crank out through improved efficiencies and productivity, is that something selecting interested in learning with regards to? ” This example clearly illustrates how asking questions might help identify if an objection is real or just a smokescreen, as well as the best way to provide alternative solutions to cope with the problem.
Write down your report on potential objections combined with responses and keep it beside your script when cool calling. A final word on your own script Remember that a fantastic script is a work beginning and your first attempt may well not get you the results you will need. Ask yourself these issues:
In retrospect, were my pre-qualification questions the correct ones and or, do I need to provide or replace a qualifier?
Were my benefit assertions strong enough and early enough from the conversation?
Did I show adequate value?
Do I need to rework my responses to objections?
Did I effectively close on an appointment when an possibility arose?
Remember that gatekeepers usually are your allies not your current foes:
Making contact with the gatekeeper is obviously a daunting task but it really can save you a lot of time and increase your output significantly:
Ask the receptionist should your ‘contact’ has an associate, if he does, ask for their identify and enter it with your CRM system.
If reception puts you through to your prospect and you get his / her voice mail, hit “0” to converse with their assistant.
Sound very busy as well as professional; “Hi Joan this is usually Fred Smith, I just got Steve Doe’s voice mail, is he actually at the office today? ” If she replies with “Yes but he’s in a very meeting”, ask what time he might be free.
If she asked what exactly is this about, respond if possible that has a single word i. e., ‘controls’ and before she gets time to ask more, ask if he’ll be accessible later that morning and afternoon. Nine times out of ten she’ll tell you, if she asks to consider a message just say “Actually, I’m in and away from meetings all day myself in like manner avoid telephone tag I’m going to just try John a little later”.
This way you may prioritize your calls and steer clear of calling someone 12 situations in 2 days only to learn he has been on holiday since last Friday and won’t be back until a full week Monday.
Connecting with the decision maker:
Try connecting with your prospects early each day or at the end in the day. Senior executives are really busy so catching them before their meetings start of waking time or after they finish is the best best bet. In addition, you will likely get straight through which them rather than hitting voice mail or receiving their assistant. This also leaves all of those other day for managing your current existing clients and energetic prospects. Personally, I am not some sort of fan of leaving words mail for prospects i always haven’t spoken to for a few reasons:
If you leave a voice mail and in addition they don’t respond, how many more would you leave without it appearing to be like harassment?
If someone does telephone you back, you may be found unprepared (what did he say his last name was? What company does he be employed by? What was the information I left?), this can lead to you feeling flustered and lacking control above the conversation.
If you have tried getting hold of someone for several days without success then leave a voice message to be a last resort. Put a post it note on your hard drive screen with the names of individuals you have left messages for with their company names so that you will at least have some advantage and make certain that your script is available.
Follow up:
Develop a follow up system that may be foolproof so that you won’t have to think about it. If you make a new promise to send a person information or say you’ll call them in 2 weeks then you need a way of tracking that to guarantee you don’t forget. Staying in touch Staying in touch with your prospects is crucial to staying ‘top of mind’ and after a great deal hard work, you don’t want to risk losing a piece of business because you prospect didn’t think of you when they made their decision to get. Here are a handful of ideas:
Newsletters are an effective ways of staying in touch providing the information is relevant to the prospect and their particular industry
Special offers and promotions which can be time sensitive
Events and trade demonstrate invitations
Holiday cards
Cold calling is an excellent tool in any organization development strategy. With a little practice along with a bullet-proof strategy, you will see results and quite a few importantly, close deals
Breaking through the fear of cold contacting:
In today’s economic natural environment, decision makers are overloaded with cold calls from people trying to sell them something. It’s no wonder that the rejection rate is so high which sales people are obtaining frustrated and demoralized. Here are some strategies for increasing your hit price when appointment setting:
Expanding your list of prospects:
Good lists are readily accessible through list brokers, trade associations, or Chambers of commerce. Building a good report on prospects is critical to help any successful business progress effort:
What are your target industries?
How large is the organization that you typically use (by revenue or, number of employees)?
Into what geographic area does one sell to?
Pre-qualifying your list and intelligence gathering:
You may be encountering a great deal of rejection when cold contacting companies simply because your product or service is not a good fit for their needs. If you do not consider the question “what does my ideal prospect look like? ” you will waste valuable time become extremely frustrated. Here are some instances of how to develop a pre-qualification strategy:
What is the title of the person who typically buys your product or service?
What are the a couple of questions that would assist you to eliminate those companies that might not be a very good fit? Let’s say for example you’re an energy management corporation selling controls solutions, you may want to recognize companies with office space much more than 100, 000 square feet, that they own their building, That if they use a controls system in place, that it be a minimum of 3 years old and that they have a corporate mandate to cut back overhead / utility charges.
Begin calling your probability list to pre-qualify: for this step, connect with people further down the corporate ladder to gather the information you have. You will find professionals far easier to obtain than the decision manufacturer.
When you identify that a company qualifies good answers to your issues, have a quick examine their website to secure a better feel for the organization and record any key facts that may be useful in future chats.
Make sure to the flag each prospect appropriately; those that require immediate follow-up, those that need attention inside short or long term and the that did not are eligible.
Do not underestimate the benefit of pre-qualification, it is a very little time consuming but the prize for your efforts is a higher close rate once you make your pitch on the decision maker.
One word of caution however, start with only a sampling of the list to pre-qualify. There is nothing worse than pre-qualifying an entire list to find that you can have asked one or maybe two additional pre-qualification issues.
Develop a script however don’t sound scripted:
You know your service or product inside out so why must you develop a script? Because in the business of cold calling, you have 30 seconds or less to seize someone’s attention so your pitch need to be spot on.
Your script will be there to be a reference only, I am by no means suggesting which you actually use it ‘verbatim’ when making cold calls.
Never begin your discussion with asking, “How are you? ” It comes over as disingenuous, so save your pleasantries for people with whom you have a recognised relationship.
If you are calling to book a consultation, briefly introduce your company and ask when it is a good time to talk. If it is, you can now provide them with the pitch (usually ask if there is a more convenient time in order to call back and produce a note to follow way up).
Start off by referring to their company based on the intelligence gathering; “John, I was speaking together with your Facilities Manager Bob Smith and I recognize that your company has a mandate to further decrease your energy costs but I also understand that your control system is actually four year old technology”
Next, refer if possible to some project you just accomplished at another company which profiles similarly to theirs regarding size or industry field, for example; “We just completed any project with Mount Sinai Infirmary who initially had equivalent technology to yours. After installing our process, they were able to effectively reduce their utility bills by 20%, with a projected RETURN of 2. 5 years.
At this point, ask some questions: it is important that you just involve the prospect from the conversation and questions are a terrific way to allow for interaction. For example;
“John have you considered upgrading your technology to reap the benefits of further savings? Or,
“John, are you looking to realize something in the ball park of the 20% cost reduction on your own utility bills? ”
The key purpose for making a script is to have multiple benefit statements in addition to various industry examples accessible when talking to potential customers.
Anticipating and responding in order to objections:
You have probably carried out enough cold calling to write a listing of objections that you regularly encounter from prospects. Rather than fearing objections, you should embrace these; every objection creates to be able to sell your product or service towards the prospect.
“We don’t have the budget for this” is just about the most common objection. You could respond along with “John, if budget were no problem, would this be something you’d explore in more details? ” If he states yes, you can say, “If I can demonstrate an immediate return on investment so as to start profiting from our service/product inside first month, is that something you’d be interested in talking with regards to?
Alternatively, “We offer a financing solution which can be paid for out from the savings you will create through improved efficiencies along with productivity, is that something choosing interested in learning concerning? ” This example clearly illustrates how asking questions can help identify if an objection is real or maybe a smokescreen, as well as how one can provide alternative solutions to address the problem.
Write down your report on potential objections along with the responses and keep it beside your script when cold calling. A final word on your own script Remember that a fantastic script is a work happening and your first attempt might not get you the results you’ll need. Ask yourself these concerns:
In retrospect, were my pre-qualification questions the proper ones and or, do I need to add or replace a qualifier?
Were my benefit phrases strong enough and early enough from the conversation?
Did I show enough value?
Do I need to help rework my responses to objections?
Did I effectively close with an appointment when an possibility arose?
Remember that gatekeepers usually are your allies not ones foes:
Making contact with the gatekeeper is always a daunting task nonetheless it can save you considerable time and increase your output significantly:
Ask the receptionist if your ‘contact’ has an asst, if he does, ask for their label and enter it inside your CRM system.
If reception puts you to your prospect and you get his or her voice mail, hit “0” to meet with their assistant.
Sound very busy along with professional; “Hi Joan this can be Fred Smith, I just got Bob Doe’s voice mail, is he actually on the job today? ” If she does respond with “Yes but he’s inside a meeting”, ask what time he may very well be free.
If she asked what is this about, respond if possible using a single word i. e., ‘controls’ and before she gets an opportunity to ask more, ask if he’ll be around later that morning or afternoon. Nine times out of ten she’ll show you, if she asks to adopt a message just say “Actually, I’m in and away from meetings all day myself so to avoid telephone tag We’ll just try John a bit later”.
This way you can easily prioritize your calls avoiding calling someone 12 periods in 2 days only to determine he has been on christmas since last Friday and will not be back until a 1 week Monday.
Connecting with the determination maker:
Try connecting with your prospects early each day or at the end from the day. Senior executives are incredibly busy so catching them before their meetings start during the day or after they finish will be your best bet. In addition, you will likely get straight to them rather than smacking voice mail or acquiring their assistant. This also leaves all of those other day for managing ones existing clients and productive prospects. Personally, I am not a new fan of leaving words mail for prospects i always haven’t spoken to for a few reasons:
If you leave a voice mail plus they don’t respond, how many more could you leave without it appearing to be like harassment?
If someone does phone you back, you may be captured unprepared (what would he say his previous name was? What company does he be employed by? What was the information I left?), this can lead for you feeling flustered and lacking control on the conversation.
If you have tried finding someone for several months without success then leave a voice message being a last resort. Put a post it note on your hard drive screen with the names of people you have left messages for making use of their company names so that you will at least have some advantage and ensure that your script is available.
Follow up:
Develop a follow up system that is certainly foolproof so that you don’t have to think about it. If you make some sort of promise to send someone information or say you can call them in fourteen days then you need a way of tracking that to make sure you don’t forget. Staying in touch Staying touching your prospects is important to staying ‘top of mind’ and after a whole lot hard work, you don’t want to risk losing a sheet of business because you prospect didn’t think about you when they made their decision to obtain. Here are a couple of ideas:
Newsletters are an effective ways of staying in touch provided that the information is relevant to the prospect and the industry
Special offers and promotions which might be time sensitive
Events and trade display invitations
Holiday cards
Cold calling is an excellent tool in any small business development strategy. With a little practice and a bullet-proof strategy, you will see results and many importantly, close deals
Ari Galper, the World’s #1 Sales Trainer and expert on trust-based cold calling, is the creator of Unlock The Game?, the leading sales approach being adopted by companies across Australia, in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. You can take a Free Test Drive of Ari’s cold calling approach at https://www.unlockthegame.com.au/.