Secrets of Cold Calling

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Secrets of Effective Cold Calling
Craig James
Sales Solutions
July 31st
, 2007

Agenda
How to use this medium
Introductions
Content
Closing Q&A

What defines a cold call?
First contact
You are unknown to the prospect

How does the mere thought of
cold calling make us feel?

Why is making cold calls unappealing?

Because we expect the worst

“I’m not interested”
“I’m busy” (You’re interrupting me)

“We’re happy with our current
provider”

provider”
“I hate telemarketers!”

What makes them “cold”
No rapport has been built
No relationship has been
established
No trust has been earned

Why else?
We don’t know what to say
when we hear these objections
when we get voice mail
When we get the gatekeeper
when we actually get our target on
the phone!

How could we “warm
up” cold calls?
Expectations
You will get more nos than yesses
The best baseball players make
out twice as often as they get a hit!
Attitude
Apprehension - it’s normal!
“I am not a telemarketer!”
Don’t take nos personnally
Rejoice at the yesses!
Worse thing that could happen?

Elements of an Effective
Cold Call
Preparation
Delivery
Discussion
Commitment

Preparation
Get in a positive frame of mind
Identify the right prospect
companies
Determine and identify the right
individual(s) at the company
Conduct research on your prospects
Have a realistic expectation and
goal for your cold calling session

What is a realistic
expectation and goal?
It is not to close a sale
It is to
establish a relationship
by building rapport and trust
stimulate interest and desire
by conveying benefits
determine if prospect is qualified
by asking questions
schedule a meeting or next call

Preparation
Create and practice a 20-second
elevator pitch
Have a set of benefit statements
Have a set of questions to ask
Discovery
FUD
Consider making a pre-call contact
(letter, email)

Preparation
Expect resistance. Have responses
to the most common objections
Set aside large blocks of time to
make your calls.

Delivery
Be confident and self-assured
What you say
Choice of words
Connect with dissatisfaction
Benefit/value statements
How you present
Inflection, pacing
Convey uncertainty as to fit

Delivery
State who you are, the company
you represent, and what you do
Present your concise benefit
statement

Discussion
Ask your short series of discovery
and FUD questions
Open questions for discovery
Leading questions for qualification
Decide if you have a qualified
prospect

Commitment
If so, schedule a meeting or
second discussion

How to handle resistance
I’m not interested”
provider”
“I hate telemarketers”
“I don’t believe you”

Summary
Cold calling doesn’t have to be
either unpleasant or unproductive
it doesn’t even have to be cold!
The best way to effectively cold call is to
be prepared (benefits, resistance)
be practiced in your delivery
be skillful in the use of questioning

Closing Q & A

Sales Solutions
Service Offerings
Skill Enhancement/Sales Process
Improvement
One-on-One Sales Coaching
Customized Sales Consulting
Strategic and Tactical Advisory
for live deals

Secrets of Effective Cold Calling
Craig James
Sales Solutions
877-862-8631
info@sales-solutions.biz
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Secrets of Cold Calling

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