Running a business isn’t a walk in the park as there are plenty of things you should look after. Apart from implementing the best marketing strategy, you must also ensure that your products and services are top-notch. But before you get busy handling those things, gathering enough clients is a must.
If you’re just starting a business, you might have to try cold calling to connect with as many potential buyers as possible. This way, you can speak with them directly and explain and show them your full potential as a business. However, cold calling can be challenging, especially since not everyone entertains unknown calls. To help you out, listed below are some techniques you could use to make cold calling more effective for your business.
- Use An Auto Dialer
Every cold caller’s best friend is an auto dialer. With this, you no longer have to punch each number manually because everything is one click away. Additionally, it can also display public details of the person you’re reaching out to, so you don’t have to search for them manually by yourself. This will help you save time and effort, allowing you to focus on your cold calls and generate the sale you’re aiming to have.
Getting a person to accept a phone call is already a win, so as you use auto dialer apps like Call Cowboy or other similar software to connect with your clients, ensure that you make the most out of it. You can expect the number of calls you have to complete in a day so that you can connect with people who might be interested in your products or services. To help you and prevent yourself from dialing plenty of numbers all the time, using an auto dialer would surely help to lighten up your load.
- Feel Free To Leave A Voicemail
Not everyone is available to answer your calls at any time of the day. Your potential customers may have other commitments they need to attend to. Moreover, they might not even be anticipating any cold calls, focusing their schedule on more important things such as doing work or household chores. To prevent wasted efforts, you can always leave a voicemail for your potential clients to listen to whenever they have the chance to be free.
As you leave a voicemail to your potential clients, try to make it as enticing and informative as possible. This is your only chance to connect with them and make the most out of it. However, if you prefer to leave a voicemail, an unlimited ringless voicemail would help you to reach your goals without interrupting your clients during their day.
- Know the Right Time To Call
While it might be tempting to call people at your most convenient time, you might want to hold back. Legally, you can only contact your clients for a cold call at a set time frame. The standard time you can call clients is around 8 AM to 9 PM during the weekdays. If you choose to call beyond those hours and on the weekends, you might face some legal repercussions. To keep you safe and worry-free, follow the legal cold calling hours.
With the large window for you to cold call, knowing the perfect time to give them a ring would help to provide better results. Ideally, you should call someone from 1 PM to 6 PM as it shows more favorable results. Along with this, calling in the middle of the week is helpful too, as it converts more sales. Preferably, you should work twice as hard on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to generate favorable results.
- Identify Your Prospects
For a higher chance of success with your cold call, do some research first. Do you know who you must be calling? Who are your prospects? Answering these questions helps you be at peace knowing that you’re calling the right person who has the authority to make purchasing decisions. It also saves you from the hassle of being passed from one person to another during the call.
Ideally, your prospects should be the ones who are responsible for making any purchase. It could be the head of the family or someone who makes all of the major decisions inside the household. Check when is the best time to call them by seeing when they usually check their phone. If you’re selling them something company-related, you should also consider their position in their company and see if they have the authority to pass the request to higher-ups.
- Prepare Your Script
Cold calling can be daunting, even for experienced cold callers. When you get nervous, there’s a high chance that you’ll stumble on your words and talk too fast. When you try to bring your point to them, they won’t understand what you’re trying to deliver and in turn reject your offer. A person wouldn’t purchase something if they can’t fully picture what you’re trying to offer them. To help you with your cold calls, using a script would surely come in handy.
A script helps you know what words you’re going to say to your potential customers. It acts as your cheat sheet where everything you need to say is laid out in front of you. However, even with a script, you shouldn’t use a monotone voice, but rather, try to sound enthusiastic. If a person feels you’re bored, it might not spark their interest as you don’t feel happy about what you’re selling to them.
- Use A Local Number
People are usually wary of answering calls from an unknown number, especially if they see that the number is not local. You can imagine the confusion they feel when receiving a phone call from a different country. There is a high chance they won’t answer the call and just let it go directly to voicemail. However, if you like to guarantee a sale and talk to the person directly, using a local number would help.
To make your potential client feel comfortable during your call, you should use a local number within their city. Don’t worry, as you don’t need to set up a new business in their town but rather set up a virtual phone system where you’ll use their city’s local number. With a virtual phone’s help, you can save on costs and make your potential clients feel at ease answering your call.
- Build Rapport
Building relationships with your customers would increase your chances of generating a sale. If a person feels they’re just talking to someone whose pure intention is to make a sale and not care about what happens next afterward, they might not be interested in whatever you’re offering them. To make your potential client feel pleased with you, you should build rapport first.
As you start to cold call, you might be tempted to lay down the information right in front of them as soon as they pick up their phone. While it might sound quicker, it might not convert to a good sale. Ideally, as soon as they pick up, you should first try to build a rapport by asking them how they’re doing. From there, you can begin by slowly introducing your product or services and discuss how it could help to improve their way of life.
- Give Them Time To Talk
Sometimes, a person would be thrown off if their sales representative is talking too much, not giving them a chance to speak their thoughts and share their opinions about what you’re offering them. As soon as they pick up the phone, you might be tempted to provide them with everything they need to know so they can have an idea of what you’re trying to offer them. But if you speak continually, non-stop, it might give a wrong impression, forcing them to hang up on the call instead.
Ideally, you shouldn’t talk too fast and allow a pause for every sentence that you give. This way, you can enable your potential customers to peep in and discuss their thoughts and opinions. As they share their views, you must acknowledge them and try to match your next sentences with their inquiry.
- Ask Relevant Questions
Building a rapport with your potential clients might require you to ask a few basic questions about themselves. However, if you ask too many questions, your business phone call may turn into a friendly call, which wouldn’t help you generate sales. To keep you in the loop, you should only ask relevant questions to your potential clients.
As you ask questions, ensure that it matches well with the product or services that you’re offering. For example, if you’re selling house cleaning products, you should ask questions about how often they clean their house, their most common dirt problems, and what tools they use to clean their house. After answering your questions, slowly introduce your product and boast about how it could help their home and make their house cleaning much lighter and faster.
- Be Approachable
Having the perfect tone and opening line when cold calling potential clients are two things that you shouldn’t forget. These two factors can dictate and control the flow of your conversation since these may affect what your potential clients think of you and the call in general. If you’re giving off a dull and boring tone, they can easily pick up on that and will not feel interested in your call at all.
As you start with your call, your potential client will immediately take notice of your attitude. Make sure to sound approachable and lively at the same time. This will help give up a happy mood, which could help catch your potential client’s interest. Additionally, always be patient as this is needed when making cold calls, especially when a person might sound rude or uninviting.
- Prepare For “No”
When a person answers your call, don’t expect that it’ll convert to a sale immediately, especially since you need to craft your marketing skills to make a sale. While it might really be challenging to get that sweet “yes” from your client, you need to work hard to make it happen. However, there could still be chances that the person you’re calling will reject your offer, and you need to prepare for that.
As the person you’re calling rejects your products or services, you should responsibly accept and respect their response. Don’t try to push your offer, especially if they have a firm “No” answer. It’ll only leave off a bad impression, blocking your calls in the future. To leave the call with a good relationship, you should accept their rejection and end the conversation with a respectful tone.
- Practice Makes Perfect
In everything that a person does, practice makes perfect. This applies to cold calling too. To achieve a successful script, tone, and opening line, you should practice every line to perfect your calls and generate as many sales as possible. This way, you can eliminate your errors and focus on perfecting your craft, benefiting your business intensely.
Ideally, you should practice and practice your cold call with family and friends and try to make a sale with them. This way, they can give you pinpoints about your strengths and weaknesses and how you can improve your approach and script. With the right practice, you should be able to deliver outstanding results, resulting in great sales.
Takeaway
Cold calling is one of the oldest tricks in the book to create a sale. While it might really be challenging, especially with the number of options you can advertise, cold calling can provide more immediate results and would hook into the person’s interest immediately. Remember to treat your prospects with respect for the time they give you during your calls. Be friendly, informative, and conversational without derailing your goal of making a sale. With the right techniques and tips, you should be able to hook real clients in and allow your business to be truly successful.
Author: Gary Walker is a sales and marketing specialist who has been in the industry for more than 10 years. He conducts webinars and writes guest posts about business marketing. Gary loves traveling and hiking in his free time.
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