Cold calling is the dreaded by most salespeople. I have spent most of my life cold calling and I don’t really mind it at all but I recently read a Reuters article That compared cold calling to a root canal, which I found quite humorous. Here are some quick tips on making cold calls.
1. Start with a good list. A good list has a weight of 7 on a scale of 10 in determining the outcome of a marketing campaign.
2. Have a plan. Know what you are going to say and know what message you are going to leave if you get voicemail. Write a mini script for yourself. You have about 7-10 seconds to tell your prospect who you are, what you want, and what’s in it for them. to the extent you succeed in the first few seconds, you earn the right to further qualify.
3. This is very much an activity with mathematical implications. It comes down to calls, connects, conversions. The higher the activity the better chance to connect with a decision maker and the more decision makers you talk to the better chance of converting the call into a lead, an appointment, or sale.
4. Tracking the number of calls, connects and conversions allows you to make improvements in your list script, or approach. Keep track of the numbers. It will help you get through it.
5. Start out with a goal of 25-40 calls in a day and build on it from there. Our sales team averages about 75 calls per day and 2.5 hours of actual talk time. Our telemarketing team averages about 180 calls per day and
3 hours of talk time.
Hope this helps