Have you ever received a call from a salesperson that\u2019s so bad you want to firebomb their office and then tickle the ears of their dog? We assume the answer is yes, so we bring you this blog. In short, the process of cold calling needs to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But first, let\u2019s address the elephant in the room. Does cold calling even work? Is it archaic? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The average cold calling success rate<\/a> is between 1 to 3%.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the data, cold calling is difficult. However, it isn\u2019t just your calling etiquette. Your cold call list also plays a significant role in success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nobody likes cold calling. It\u2019s a necessary evil when selling your product or service to other companies. Unfortunately, it\u2019s also an essential skill for salespeople and telemarketers. While cold calling is easy to learn, it is hard to master. But these cold calling strategies<\/a> can do the work for you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you ever wondered why cold calling works for some people? Let\u2019s see for ourselves. Here is a breakdown of the science and art behind a successful call. We have listed down a couple of things you should avoid to make your calls a great success.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cold calling for sales<\/a> is all about preparation. You cannot expect to pick up the phone and start pitching strangers on whatever you\u2019re trying to sell. Doing so will probably get you hung up on pretty quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You should know your prospects inside out.<\/strong> But if you are making over 50 calls a day, spending time researching individual prospects is not possible. In that case, put a 5-minute cap on research. During these 5 minutes, go through your sales engagement platform<\/a> or LinkedIn Sales Navigator<\/a> to collect relevant information about them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s what Nikita Solberg, top-performing SDR at Deel,<\/strong> has to say about this 5-minute research technique<\/a>: By putting that limitation of 5 minutes on it, it almost treats it like a game. Like, if you\u2019re in a game show, you have to get all the relevant information without wasting time.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cold calling is all about building that rapport and making prospects trust you<\/strong> enough to book a meeting with you. And if you sound robotic or too professional during a cold call, you are stopping yourself from achieving this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are you trying to achieve by the end of this cold call? Do you want to gauge their sales readiness? Are you trying to get them to book a meeting with you? If you don\u2019t have an idea about this, you are just throwing darts in the dark. Once you finalize the outcome you want, prepare a strategy<\/strong> to achieve it. Without a strategy in place, you\u2019ll waste most of your time meandering or asking unnecessary questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aamir Sohail, a top-performing SDR from Vevrotech,<\/strong> offers a 3-minute call plan <\/a>to avoid this and cold call efficiently. Here\u2019s the breakdown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you start your call and realize that the person on the other end doesn\u2019t seem interested in what you have to say, most people panic.<\/strong> In this case, the worst thing you can do is start talking faster, louder, and more urgently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This will only push your prospect further away. So instead, take a deep breath, slow down, and tell yourself that unsuccessful cold calls are part of the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The best way to prepare a salesperson for such complex situations is to impart cold calling training<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not using a cold calling script when you are starting out is like wanting to run before you can walk. One reason why cold calls are scary<\/a> is because of the uncertainty associated with them.<\/strong> You\u2019ll never know what the prospect is going to say or how the cold call is going to turn out. A cold calling script<\/a> helps you deal with this uncertainty. It saves you from clumsy delivery, awkward pauses, or going blank during a call. It also helps you handle common cold call objections<\/a><\/strong> and deliver your pitch effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest mistake you can make in the cold calling process is letting your leads slip through the cracks. This is often because of poor follow-up practices.<\/strong> You may have a great script and an extensive list, but if you don\u2019t stay on top of your leads, you\u2019re going to miss out on many opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key to successful cold calling is persistence. This may seem like an odd tip, but many people give up too quickly when they don\u2019t get the response they expect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They say, make more cold calls to get better. But is that enough? The answer is no. No matter the number of calls you make, you won\u2019t improve if you aren\u2019t analyzing your cold calls. Cold call analyzing is about revisiting the cold calls you made to identify why the calls were successful or unsuccessful.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Close questions like \u201cDid you get the email I sent you?\u201d or \u201cIs this a bad time to talk?\u201d affects the success rates of your cold calls. It gives prospects an easy way out of your cold call.<\/strong> A quick no from their end, and you are back to square one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Open-ended cold calling questions<\/a>, on the other hand, cannot be easily dispensed off with a no. And since they are more specific and focused on the prospect, they are more open to discussing their business problems with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nobody likes being told that they are wrong. And you are doing exactly that when you badmouth your competitors in an attempt to talk your prospect out of considering them. Also, criticism of your competitors can backfire, <\/strong>especially when you make baseless accusations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, start by asking, \u201cJust a quick question, how would you rate \u2018competitor\u2019 on a scale of 10? Once they give you a number, you can ask follow-up questions to uncover any pain points you can solve better for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face the fact, the success rate of cold calling is less than 3%<\/strong>. That means, for every 100 cold calls you make, only 3 get converted. Does that mean cold calling is dead?<\/a> No, it only means one thing – traditional cold calling is dead, and now is the time for cold calling 2.0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cold calling 2.0<\/strong> is a concept introduced by Aaron Ross<\/a> in the book Predictable Revenue<\/em><\/a>. It means warming up your prospects through other channels like emails before calling them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you adopt a multi-channel outreach<\/a> strategy,<\/strong> you stay on top of your prospects\u2019 minds, and so when you finally call them, they\u2019ll know you well enough (hence not a cold call anymore!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cold calling is a numbers game, and if you\u2019re not willing to dial thousands of numbers, you\u2019ll never be successful. But more importantly, it is a tools game too. The key to getting the most out of your calls is leveraging the right cold calling tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is crucial to have reliable tools at your disposal to be effective with cold calling. In addition to having a solid business phone system with built-in recording capabilities<\/a> and intelligent features, it is vital to have something that allows you to track who you called and how they responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, remember, your goal is a conversation, not a presentation.<\/strong> This is important because it will change the way you approach your call. You\u2019re not there to sell anything or even give a sales pitch. Instead, you want to get in touch with someone and talk about what they do and how your business could help them. So go out of your way to make it clear that this is about starting a conversation, not finishing one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cold calling fails because of various reasons. Here are some of them: Have you ever received a call from a salesperson that\u2019s so bad you want to firebomb their office and then tickle the ears of their dog? We assume the answer is yes, so we bring you this blog. In short, the process of cold calling needs to change. But first, let\u2019s address the elephant in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"rank_math_title":"10 Common Cold Calling Mistakes and How To Avoid Them?","rank_math_description":"New to cold calling? Be wary of these 10 common cold calling mistakes your prospects absolutely hate.","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cold-calling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18676"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25462,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18676\/revisions\/25462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. Skipping the Research<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Prospect Info You Should Collect During the 5-Minute Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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2. Being Too Professional in a Cold Call<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tips You Can Follow To Perfect Your Tone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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3. Not Having a Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Plan for a 3-Minute Call<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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4. Getting Overwhelmed During Cold Calls<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Things You Can Do To Deal With a Bad Cold Call<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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5. Not Using a Cold Calling Script<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Steps to Structure Your Cold Call Script<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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6. Having a Poor Follow-up Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4 Tips to Amp up Your Follow-up Strategy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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7. Not Analyzing Your Cold Calls<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Questions to Ask While Analyzing a Cold Call<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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8. Not Asking Open-Ended Questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Open-Ended Questions To Ask Your Prospects From Nikita Solberg, <\/em>Deel.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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9. Slinging Mud on Your Competitors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ways to Influence Your Prospects Without Bad-Mouthing Your Competitors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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10. Not Adopting a Multi-Channel Outreach Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Multi-Channel Sales Sequence To Convert Your Prospects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Resources You’ll Love<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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FAQs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
Why does cold calling fail?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
1. Not targeting the right prospects
2. Not asking open-ended questions
3. Not adopting a multi-channel outreach approach<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"