What are cold calls and how to ace them?

Cold Calls can be really overwhelming, but if you prepare well they can turn out to be long-lasting leads. It is extremely necessary for a Sales person to do a good amount of research before they pick up an upcoming call. They can divulge in the values and interests of their prospects through various social media sites like LinkedIn, Instagram, and more.

For more additional information, he can use a marketing automation platform so that it becomes easy to decipher about the sentiments of your prospect about your organisation. This may help you shape the conversation better. Consult your CRM platform to review the interaction with this person to understand how you can carry the conversations forward.

When on call, ask questions. Make the person feel you are interested in knowing his interests. Do not follow a set script and be focused on what you are trying to sell. Make sure that you follow up with the client more than once. It is observed that most sales happen after 5th or 6th follow up so do that to make your client feel relevant. You can use a call reminder app to make sure you timely follow up with your client.  With a few tips you can also ace a cold call and make a permanent client for your organisation.

How to Ace a Cold Call?

Research Your Client

When you make a cold call, make sure to follow these things to ensure that you do not loose a prospect.

1. Research a Lead: Research about a person on the social media. When you go through a person’s social media you find a wide variety of data at one single place. On twitter, you can find the people your prospect follows and the groups he is a part of, this indirectly gives you information about his interests and values. While on twitter, by keeping a close watch on the person’s likes, mentions, and shares you can decode his interests. Also make sure to use a marketing tool to research about the person’s sentiments about your organisation to understand the person better. Also while browsing social media sites make sure to find common connections and use those to build trust.
2. Internal Research: Do an internal research on your Client. See if you have had any prior interaction with him. If there have been any calls or e-mails to the clients so that you can decode about his interests. Also cross-check with your team members if anyone have had any interaction with your client and if yes, what is their feedback of him. Make notes through your CRM software to make sure you don’t find yourself stuck in a conversation.
3. Look for Conducting Events: Trigger events means that the prospect is looking out and is in need for your solution. Dig for information of your prospects through job listings, Company blogs, twitter, and other social media sites. What can be probable trigger events? Well some of them are- Hiring sprees, investment announcements, new openings in your office at various positions.
4. Research the Current customers who are similar to your prospect: Prospect is likely to ask about your past work experience and if you have worked in a setting similar to theirs. Research for what has worked for them and be prepared for whatever they might ask.

Conducting a Call 

1. Ask Questions: Instead of directly pitching into selling your services, ask lots of questions. Asking questions will help you understand the business needs of your clients and help you set your pitch.
2. Skip a prepared script: If you read a script you won’t be able to establish any trust with your lead. You need to be specific of what they need to make them a long term client. Instead, what you can do is refer to some of the best cold call opening lines so that your conversation goes smoothly.
3. Focus on doing more than just making a sale: When you make a cold call your first instinct should not be just making a sale. You should rather focus on engaging the prospect in a conversation and determining his needs. By doing so you develop trust and might later on convert the person into a supposed lead.
4. Follow-up: After you have won the person’s trust, follow up with him to see if he is looking for a solution of his problems that lies with you. That’s when you make a sure shot sale.
5. Keep track: Always keep a record of whom you called, what you sold, and what was the solution that adhered to the client’s needs.  This will help you keep a track of your accomplishments and keep you organised and thus help you improve your performance.

Making a cold call might land you up in a tight spot but a little bit of research is all it takes. It helps you go a long way and make a potential client for your organisation.