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Home » Marketing Articles » How To Make Your Cold Calling Effective

How to Make Your Cold Calling Effective

4 examples of effective dialogue in cold calling

How can we make cold calls "work" when we're talking to someone we haven't met, about something they may not need? Well, it's really simple. First we look at how to relate to them rather than hoping they'll relate to us and our solution.

When we approach cold calling with a question about what their needs are, potential clients respond much more readily to the idea of talking with us.

To help you with this, here are a few examples of dialogues within four very different industries.

Example: Staffing

In the staffing or recruiting industry, the goal is to call a company and identify whether they need help finding new staff.

The old cold calling approach is, "Hi. My name is... I'm with XYZ Staffing Company, and we offer these services. I'm just calling to..." And by that time, the person pretty much says, "We're not interested," right?

With this new cold calling approach, the idea is to think about the problem you're solving. The problem you're solving is helping them find good people.

So I would start the conversation with, "Maybe you can help me out for a second?" And they usually say, "How can I help you?"

I reply, "I'm just calling to see if your company is still looking at finding good, quality employees to hire?"

The response to that is likely to be, "Well sure. Who's this?" This is a normal response which we want to be ready for. I would simply say, "My name is Ari and I'm with XYZ Staffing Company and we help companies identify and find good people. I'm just calling to see if your company is in a situation now where you're looking to hire and find new people."

Example: Software

Let's say you're in the software industry, and that you sell software to improve the productivity of an organization. What you want to do is focus on the problem that you solve specifically.

What most software salespeople do in cold calling is say, "Hi, we sell software to help improve productivity." But that doesn't really identify the problem it solves. You have to focus specifically on an issue.

So, for instance, the software might solve a problem with lost paper-based documents. That's a very specific issue.

In this case, I might call and say, "I'm just calling to see if your company is having issues with lost paperwork because of manual paper-based filing systems."

See how specific that is? It's very directed to the problem in their world. This is in contrast to, "I want to see if your company is looking to buy some software or looking to improve productivity," or something similar.

Example: Advertising

Advertising is a very good example. Typically, what most advertising sales folks start with is an introduction. They talk about their advertising product or services that they offer.

But with our problem solving approach, the question becomes, "What does advertising solve for people?" The first thought usually is that it gets people leads. It gets more branding.

Let's go deeper than that. What do leads do for companies? Leads provide sales, right? So if I sell advertising, I might call and say, "Maybe you can help me out for a second. I'm just calling to see if your company is open to new ideas of generating leads for your business."

From this place, the discussion unfolds around their world, and not your advertising.

That's the real shift in making cold calling relevant to their world.

Example: Collections

Another example is the collections industry. Typically, collection agencies call companies to see if they can be hired to collect invoices that are unpaid. They usually talk about their services as opposed to making their cold calling focus on the problem.

The client is looking to bring in more revenue from invoices that aren't paid. So an approach might be, "Maybe you can help me out for a second?" The reply is once again, "Sure, how can I help you?"

"I'm just calling to see if your company is still having issues with unpaid invoices." And the response probably will be, "Well, yeah, we are. Who's this?"

You can then respond in a very relaxed tone, "This is John. I'm with XYZ Collection Agency. I'm just calling to see if you'd be open to some new ideas on how to better solve that problem."

These are some examples of how to make your cold calling relevant to the other person and his or her needs. Practice this, and you'll find that your cold calling conversations become more relaxed. You'll no longer have to shift into an artificial "salesperson" role.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Developing A Referral-Based Mindset

Converting your sales business to a referral-based model requires you to rethink and rework your mindset. You must become thoroughly immersed in the referral-selling model. Your clients and prospects must believe that your business is built on referrals, and for them to take your statements and proclamations of being referral-based seriously, you must project the professional attitude of a referral-based salesperson. In other words, you must "act the part" to "become the part."

This acting the part to become the part is more difficult than it may sound. It requires that you completely buy-in to the idea that your business is built on referralsâ€"even if at this point in time you receive few referrals. It requires you to retune your thinking so that everything you do and say conveys your referral-based business.

Why is it so important that you retrain your mind to think as a referral based salesperson? Simply because generating a large number of highly qualified referrals is a process that begins from the moment you first meet a prospect and continues throughout the relationshipâ€"hopefully for years. In addition, as mentioned previously, the prospect and client must take your assertions of a referral-based business seriously.

The process of referral generation requires that you constantly plant and water referral seeds in both your clients and prospects. That planting and watering must become part of your nature. You must be able to drop the seeds and then water them smoothly, without any hesitation or clumsiness. This requires a state of mind that is ever mindful of the opportunities that present themselves, as they present themselves.

So, how do you develop this mental attitude? First, and foremost, you must decide that becoming a referral-based salesperson is what you want to do. Many salespeople try to develop a referral-based business in a half-in, half-out manner. They want to be able to pick and choose whom they will present themselves as referral based to and whom they don't. It doesn't work that way. They fear that if they project themselves as strictly referral based they will lose the opportunity to take on non-referred clients. This is far from true.

As a matter of fact, presenting yourself as exclusively referral-based will enhance your ability to attract non-referred customers. People want to work with the best. They want to purchase from the leaders in the industry. The more exclusive you become, the more people want to work with you.

Think about the times you've passed a jewelry or furniture store whose sign reads "By Appointment Only." What is your reaction? You want in the store. You want to know what is so exclusive that you have to make an appointment just to see it. Moreover, you wonder if you can afford it. And if you get in and find something you can afford, you buy it. Why? Because it came from that store. Then you tell all your friends about what you bought from such-n-such store and how exclusive the store is, and how special your purchase is.

The same psychology works with selling. The more exclusive you become, the more people want to work with you. Just because you promote yourself as referral only doesn't mean that you cannot take on non-referred clients. You simply explain to the prospect that even though you work from client referrals, you will be happy to take them on as a client. Even new salespeople with virtually no client base can use this format. A simple greeting such as, "(prospect's name), I normally work only with (people or companies) that have been referred to me by one of my clients, but I have room to take on an additional client at this time and I would be happy to work with you." You've established with the prospect that you are a referral-based salesperson, but have given them a reason that you would be willing to make an exception and take on a non-referred client.

However, this approach will not work for long if you then convey through your words and deeds that your statement was nothing but a lie. Once you establish yourself as referral-based, even when taking on a non-referred customer, you must maintain the referral-based attitude. If you don't, you come across as a fraud and you immediately lose credibility.

If you cannot or will not commit yourself wholeheartedly to becoming a referral-based salesperson, you are better off simply learning some of the referral generating techniques and using them within your selling system. Don't try to mix a referral-based system with a non-referral based system. It doesn't work.

Secondly, after determining that you want to become a referral-based salesperson, you must change all of your marketing material to reflect your new sales methodology. Change everything. Your business cards, stationary, email signature, marketing fliers, website, everything must reflect your referral-based business. This becomes the point where many salespeople begin to reconsider their choice. They worry that by advertising to the world that they work from referrals, non-referred prospects will pass them by. Again, the psychology of the sale is that the more exclusive you are the more people want to work with you.

When constructing your marketing materials, make sure your statements are bold and straightforward. Referral taglines such as, "I (heart) referrals," or "I Love Referrals," simply communicate that you like to get the occasional referral. That isn't the message you want to communicate. Something more bold such as, "Appointments by Referral Only," or "Referral Based, Client Centered," work well.

Not only does your referral statement communicate to your prospects and clients that you are a referral-based salesperson, it also communicates to YOU that you are referral-based. It is a constant reminder to you that your mindset must be that of a referral-based salesperson.

Once you have changed your marketing materials, you must change your discussion with both clients and prospects. Think in terms of referral seeds and watering those seeds. Look for opportunities to remind your clients and prospects that you are referral-based and that you expect referrals. If you follow the techniques and strategies in Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals to insure your client knows that your expect referrals, that they know exactly what a referral for you is, and that you know exactly what the client's expectations and priorities are in the sale, you can freely plant, water and weed your referrals throughout the sales process without fear of being overbearing or alienating your clients and prospects. However, in order to do this successfully, you must have developed a referral mindset. If you haven't you'll sound unsure of yourself, or, worse, insincere.

Develop your referral-based infomercial and then repeat it to yourself so often that it is second nature. Not only does your infomercial communicate your referral-based status to your prospects and clients, it helps to develop your mind. As you think through and develop your infomercial, repeating it over and over to yourself to the point that it truly is a natural part of your thinking, you are convincing yourself of your referral-based business model. You are in the process of selling yourself as you are in the process of preparing to sell your prospects and clients.

A referral-based selling model can be naturally integrated into any selling system. It makes no difference what the product or service, whether you are an outside or inside salesperson, or whether you're new to sales or highly experienced. All it requires is learning and perfecting the techniques and strategies of referral selling. But these tools won't work if you are not first convinced that you are a referral-based salesperson. Convince yourself and you'll convince your clients. Convince your clients and use the techniques and strategies in Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sale Success through Client Referrals, and the referrals will come.