Most people who argue that cold calling is dead use inbound marketing as their primary support. In today’s world, people can easily research what they want, thus inbound marketing should be the foundation of your overall marketing plan. If you want to sell to your customers, you need to give them the best information possible, then guide them through the process of contacting you, according to them.
Too many salespeople avoid cold calling because they are afraid of the rejection that comes with it. This is because of the enormous volume of calls that are turned down. Here are five tips to help you conduct more successful cold calls to help ease your anxiety:
- Have a plan
- You need to get your mindset right
- Approach gatekeepers with respect
- Find out about your potential customers
- Seek out for a personal connection
Have a plan
In order to alleviate these concerns, it is important to plan ahead and have a strategy or a brief synopsis of the conversation to hand. It has already been stated that a script has no function. From the very beginning to the very end of the conversation, we’ll be going over the entire script. As the conversation goes on, you should be prepared with bits of the script that you may pull from as needed.
You need to get your mindset right
When confronted with a cold-calling scenario, many salespeople reflexively turn to a script. A cold call is not the time or place to use this tactic. For a cold call to feel like an old friend’s discussion, there’s no secret formula. The temperament of the person making the cold call is critical to its success. The call will always be a tedious and arduous process if you treat it like a numbers game that you must blast through.
Approach gatekeepers with respect
In the eyes of many salespeople, evading the gatekeeper is the holy grail of selling. Do the people in charge of the checkpoints really want you to suffer? Gatekeepers are sometimes viewed as persons who make it difficult for us to meet our ideal prospects, but it is their role to protect their bosses from unwanted callers. Your business will not benefit from your irritation, disdain, or frustration with another employee’s performance of their job duties. Gatekeepers can be approached as persons just like you and me.
Find out about your potential customers
Conversations become easier when you know your audience. At the very least, you have some resources to work with. Imagine having a conversation with a stranger (even in a social environment). Neither of you know what to say to the other, nor are you both at a loss for words. There is an unsettling pause. Because you don’t want this to happen on your cold call, doing some research will provide you some ideas for things to ask. As a result, the conversation will flow more easily.
Seek out for a personal connection
Finding the right people to contact has never been easier than it is now, thanks to social media. Cold calling used to be quite tough. This shared relationship can function as a referral, allowing you to skip the gatekeeper and have an easier dialogue. They know that their cold calls will not be viewed as intrusive because the salespeople have been endorsed. Using a connection’s name as a referral when approaching a potential customer is a must.