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Cold calling is the act of calling someone or some group of people with whom you have had no previous contact, in regards to your service, product, or company. Cold calling can be a scary and daunting process, but with a little preparation and planning, it doesn’t have to be! Before you get on to cold calling, you would want to set up an outline so that you are well-versed in what you’ll say when someone answers the call, which means knowing all about your company, product or service beforehand.

‘What exactly is cold calling and how to go about it?’, is one of the most commonly asked questions I get. So, today we will be understanding what exactly cold calling is and what we need to keep in mind while doing a cold call because it’s not just picking up the phone and making calls. Before I tell you more about the three phases of cold calling, most importantly, you need to understand ‘what are the common mistakes people make while doing cold calls’ because of which they are unsuccessful in cold calling.

Now the ‘Three Mistakes’ that people usually do are:

1. Reading off the script: The first mistake people do, is they tend to read off the script, just read and read and read, without adding any emotions and just reading it out as it is on the paper. People don’t want to hear textbook reading; they will just hang up before you can even complete your sentence, thinking that this is just another sales call.
2. Being too energetic: Another common mistake would be, being too energetic when you speak, as soon as they pick your call. For example, saying things like ‘Heyyy Man, How’s it going with you? How have you been?’, just imagine how they might feel hearing such a tone and such words from a complete stranger whom they have never met, seen or spoken to, until today.
3. Selling on the first call: One of the biggest mistakes is, if you are going to try selling on the first call itself. They will just say, “I don’t even know you, why should I buy from you?” and it’s not really their fault, that’s just human tendency! You cannot expect someone to trust you and buy from you when you are a total stranger to them and they don’t know anything about you.

You need to STOP making these mistakes; if you want the call to be a success. Now, let’s see how to make an effective cold call. There are three phases of cold calling

1. What to do before the call?
2. What to do during the call?
3. What to do after the call?

Cold calling is a skill that many people are either too afraid to do or simply don’t know how to do. In this blog, I’m going to break down each phase for you, so that you know exactly what to do, so as to make it a successful cold call!

Phase 1: What To Do Before The Call?

First of all you need to understand that a cold call is an interruption in the person’s life. You have no idea what the other person is doing at that moment when you have tried to call them. They might be doing something important, you won’t even know! So, when you are interrupting someone you might get responses like ‘Hang up; I’m not interested’, they might even say stuff that you don’t want to hear!

1. Play with resistance: Firstly, before you call someone, you must prepare your mind to play with ‘resistance’. If the other person hangs up on you, just have a ‘No Problem’ attitude and ‘Move On’ because it’s part of the game; it’s part of the stretch; it’s part of the experience and that is exactly why you want to prepare yourself beforehand.
2. Research: Secondly, especially when you’re doing a ‘high ticket cold call’ you must research about the person you’re calling. You just don’t want to randomly call that person and then figure out what their name is! So, before you get on call, always try to find out the name of the person you’re calling, find out the problems they’re facing, find out if they are the right fit for your company, product or service. Hence, doing your research before getting on the call is very important.
3. Make an outline: Thirdly, make an outline of what you’re going to speak during the entire call. With the help of the research you made on them, write down everything about that person. Make pointers on what you want to speak to them and how you want to speak to them. Writing it all down will give you the perfect outline for your cold call, so all you need to do now is refer to it during the call, but make sure you are not reading it as a script.

Phase 2: What To Do During The Call?

Remember the mistake I pointed out earlier that people usually do, where they tend to be very energetic as soon as they call? So, this is where you need to make that change. There are a few important things to keep in mind during the call.

1. Keep your tonality low: Keep your tonality low. During the call, speak with a downward pitch when you introduce yourself and say our name. Don’t get too excited, maintain the tonality, so the person understands that this is very different from how a typical sales person would start the call, so in this case, they will be ready to listen to you.
2. Get to the point on why you are calling: Once you call them and introduce yourself, get to the point right away on why you are calling them, what is the main reason and don’t beat around the bush. Remember, you are the one interrupting them, so the faster you get to the point; the better it is to grab their attention and make sure they don’t hang up on you. Do not ask them things like, how are you doing today, how’s the weather, etc., get straight to the point, say, “Hi Mr.(prospect‘s name), this is (self name), the reason I’m calling you today is to help you with the problem you are facing, so you can get the benefit.” This is why researching on them before the call is important, so you can figure out what problem you’re solving for them and what benefit they can get from you.
3. Get a commitment from them: During the call make sure to get a commitment from them to speak to you once again. You can go ahead and talk to them if they have the time to talk to you at that moment but the chances of this happening is very low. If they don’t have the time to talk to you at the time you have called them, then take a commitment from them, so that they can speak to you the coming week or the week after that, in which case they can give you their full attention. Without their complete attention, you cannot close the deal. So, the goal is to get a commitment, get their attention and then move to the third phase.

Phase 3: What To Do After The Call?

Remember, people make this mistake of selling on the first call itself? Here we will be avoiding that by doing it after the first call. Now, there are three things to do after the call which is very important.

1. Follow Up: Now if the person during the call says “I’m not interested” and they hang up on you, the first and foremost thing you must do is follow up. You see most of the sale is made in the follow-up and there’s a phrase “Fortunes are in the Follow-ups” so if you’re not following up with the prospect you’ve just spoken to then you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
2. Put it in your diary: If they have actually given you a commitment and a date, enter it in your diary, make a note of it. Set a reminder on your notes or calendar. And before you reach the confirmed date it is very important to follow up with them and get a confirmation that they are ready for your call. If you don’t do this, then when you call them next, they might be busy and they might reschedule the call or they might not even turn up for your call. You’ll end up having ‘no shows’
3. Research more: After the call, research more on the solutions that you want to provide to them for the questions you had asked during the call. This way, when you speak to them next, you will be ready to give them what they were looking for and hence you can add more value to them.

Conclusion

Now that you know the three phases to mastering a successful cold call, it’s time to put these tips into action. By preparing yourself beforehand, doing your research, keeping your tonality low and getting straight to the point, you’ll be well on your way to landing more sales opportunities. Remember to get a commitment from them and always follow up after each call. Don’t forget to note it down in your diary and do more research post the call to add value to your prospect. So, are you ready to start making more cold calls and increase your sales? Let us know how we can help! We’ll create a personalized strategy for your business.

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About the author

Dev Sethi is the Founder & CEO of ‘Wealth On Command’. Dev is a Global Sales Award Winner and “Closer of the Year 2019” in High Ticket Sales across 150 countries. He is the 1st person across Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and South America to ever win this award.

He empowers business owners and entrepreneurs to monetize their skills and maximize their sales by assisting them in building a high performance sales team. In the last 12 months alone his business has grown by over 560% and his clients have made over USD 5.2 Million in Sales. Dev is a Sales Champion and is now creating more Champions.

He speaks 4 languages fluently and is a loving father and a caring husband; born in Thailand, grew up in India and now living in Sydney, Australia.