This clearly shows cold calling is effective. But is it easy? Not quite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, the process requires you to research your prospect, prepare a personalized pitch, dodge gatekeepers, and tackle sales objections<\/a>. And all of these hinges on the prospect actually picking up your call, which doesn\u2019t happen all that often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, to navigate this treacherous terrain of cold calling well, what you need is a handbook that guides you through each step of your cold call<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, you don\u2019t have to look far for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, we give you 20 actionable cold calling tips<\/strong> that you can integrate into your call scripts to not just meet but smash your sales quotas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those thinking cold calling is dead<\/a>, sure, it is dead to the extent that its focus is not to make a sale anymore but to understand the needs of every prospect <\/strong>and highlight the value of your offering in relation to those needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research finds that 57% <\/strong>of C-level and VP prospects, 51%<\/strong> of directors, and 47%<\/strong> of managers prefer being contacted by phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Couple this with the fact that the average cold calling conversion rate is 6.3%<\/strong><\/a>, and you\u2019ll agree that cold calling today is a no brainer. It is a mile ahead of cold emails (which has a conversion rate of 0.5%<\/strong>) and is the preferred mode for your buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So yes, cold calling still works. These cold calling statistics<\/a> speak for themselves. There really isn\u2019t a better way to know if your pitch is working in real time and add a human touch to your sales outreach than cold calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Benjamin Franklin once said, \u201cBy failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.\u201d<\/em> His words ring true even in the sales outreach space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to make high-impact cold calls, you need to plan your strategy and know your prospect well enough for the strategy to yield results. To help you with this, here are 6 tips to keep in mind before jumping on a cold call:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We get it, cold calling can be an overwhelming process to begin with. And so, the best thing to do is to create a cold calling checklist<\/a>. Here\u2019s what to include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Researching your prospect is key to having a fruitful cold call.<\/strong> But considering you might have 100 cold calls to make in a day, you need to economize your time well while knowing where to look for crucial details about your prospect. Otherwise, you’ll fall into a research abyss where the concept of time doesn’t exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stay on track with these 3 tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikita Solberg<\/a>, a top-performing SDR, swears by this rule as it helps them find \u201call the relevant information without wasting time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Scan your sales engagement platform and study their company details such as market share, recent announcements, collaborations, etc.<\/strong> And as the buzzer sounds, dial the call!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t fall down the rabbit hole and stick to what\u2019s important. Sam Holeman, a seasoned SDR,<\/strong> subscribes to an interesting trick-<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs I’m going through my tasks, I hit \u2018call\u2019, and go to their website. I’ve become fast enough that I can get all the information I need by the time they pick it up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Further, he focuses on two key elements:<\/a> <\/strong>the prospect\u2019s current software and who the decision maker is. This helps him avoid getting too deep while ensuring a productive cold call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10-K reports are a treasure trove when it comes to understanding your prospect\u2019s company. Alastair Chamberlin, an experienced SDR manager,<\/strong> leverages this crucial resource<\/a> to gain the following information on the prospect\u2019s company:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – The company\u2019s goals Enriching your prospect list<\/a> means adding additional information to the data to gain a comprehensive view of your prospect. This process helps you fill gaps in your data and make it up-to-date<\/strong> and more reliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering that your prospect list serves as the foundation of your prospect call, ignoring it is not an option. You risk jeopardizing your entire sales pitch if you have inaccurate data on your prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s best to leverage data enrichment tools<\/a> for the job. These solutions help keep your data accurate, and updated by enriching your prospect lists periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You might have a stellar cold calling script<\/a>, but if you fail to deliver it well, it\u2019s as good as useless. For this reason, be sure to practice the script adequately before getting on the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your call script should ideally follow the following framework:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019re satisfied that the cold calling script ticks the above boxes, practice the call with your sales team supervisor or colleague to understand how best to leverage it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PRO TIP:<\/strong> While practicing your cold calling scripts, aim for a downward inflection in your tone of voice.<\/strong> Josh Braun<\/a>, a sales expert, says a downward inflection in your voice helps make you sound confident and sure of yourself while increasing the chances of a prospect opening up to you and feeling comfortable in the conversation. Conversely, an upward inflection makes you sound unsure and even judgemental at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one likes to be caught unaware, least of all your prospects. And so, it’s best to thaw the encounter a little with warm calling<\/a>. By adding a few alternative touchpoints before cold calling, you can familiarize your prospect with your offering<\/strong> and make the call more productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having already heard from you before, your prospect is naturally less defensive about the intrusion and more receptive to what you have to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can reduce the chill of your cold call by leveraging the following touchpoints:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The time of your cold call has a bearing on its success as well. Here are some points to note when looking for the best time to cold call your prospect<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have the groundwork done and dusted, it’s time to dial the prospect and put all your preparation to good use. Here are tips to help you during your cold call:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cold call opening lines<\/a> set the tone of your entire conversation. Make sure to put some solid thought into what your first impression should be like. Here is what works for top performing SDRs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ashley Dees, an SDR manager, relies on permission-based openers. She says that her prospects \u201ctake it more as a sign of respect, that you’re making sure it’s okay to continue your pitch when you call them out of the blue.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of her permission-based openers include:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure you deliver your opener with confidence. \u201cPeople will stay on the phone with someone who’s very confident,\u201d<\/em> asserts Sam Holeman, a top-performing SDR.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some cold calling opening lines that he uses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Open-ended questions<\/a> elicit more than a simple \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no\u2019 from the prospect. They force them to think and give you more insight into their perspective. Opt for questions that force the prospect to focus on themselves<\/strong> while helping take the conversation forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are some open-ended cold calling questions that Nikita Solberg<\/strong>, a quota-crushing SDR, asks prospects in cold calls:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Active listening involves focusing on what your prospect is saying, understanding it, and responding to it. The aim is to understand the prospect more intimately.<\/strong> Inflections in their voice, the underlying message in their words, tone, etc., can help you find easy segues into topics that can improve the quality of the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, if you find your prospect pausing before answering whether they\u2019re happy with their current solution, you could leverage that to ask them more targeted questions on the topic. To help you polish your active listening in cold calls<\/a>, here are some quick tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 71% of consumers expect personalization<\/a><\/strong> today, according to McKinsey. That means you need to know your prospect and deliver customized pitches that talk directly to them. Or else, you don\u2019t stand a chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To help you win at these, here are 5 strategies to personalize cold calls<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mention professional and personal details such as their job responsibilities, accomplishments, location, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Details regarding the industry, recent announcements, product launches, news, etc., should make it to your sales pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doing this allows you to establish a sense of familiarity with the prospect while providing a common ground to help start the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your prospect\u2019s tech stack can give you valuable insight into their current needs. Also, you can tell them how your solution integrates with their existing tech stack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intent data is data gathered from the prospect\u2019s online activity that lets you know how ready they are to make a purchase. Use this to make your sales conversations<\/a> more relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asking a series of qualifying questions will help you understand where your prospect stands<\/strong> when it comes to buying a solution. And based on this, you can deliver a personalized and relevant pitch. By the end of the call, you should know 3 things:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaining answers to this will help you understand how sales ready the prospect is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your prospect usually gives you the first 30 seconds. After this, if you\u2019ve piqued their interest, you can go ahead. Otherwise, it\u2019s a hard rejection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To avoid the second scenario, you need to create a quick elevator pitch with the following 3 ingredients baked into it:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Local presence dialing<\/a> means reaching out to prospects using their local code. Considering people are 4x more likely to answer a local number<\/strong>, this is a great way to get your foot in the door. Here are a couple more benefits of local presence dialing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a local presence dial, prospects have a reliable and dedicated person they can get back to, as opposed to a toll-free number or a number with an unknown region code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leveraging local presence dialing means prospects can call you on a local number, which can come in handy if you’re leaving sales voicemails requesting callbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leading cold calling tools<\/a> like Klenty<\/strong> offer local presence dialing to help SDRs book more meetings with prospects across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Handling cold call objections is an essential part of prospecting over the phone. While there are several objections your prospects might pose, you need to cultivate the right mindset to overcome them <\/strong>with skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s how some of the top-performing SDRs approach objection handling in cold calls<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gatekeepers are individuals who control the access to prospects.<\/strong> These most often include administrative staff and receptionists who are tasked with screening calls based on their relevance, urgency, and importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since sales calls have a bad reputation, they\u2019re hard-wired to say no to you. So it’s vital you know how to dodge them effectively. Here\u2019s how top SDRs get past a gatekeeper<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ashley Dees believes being honest, vulnerable, and kind can help you<\/strong> get past a gatekeeper. She opts for explaining her need to connect with the prospect and asks the gatekeeper to suggest what to do next. She tries to appeal to the gatekeeper with responses like,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wouldn’t ask you to do that because I don\u2019t want you to get in trouble. But, my boss is asking me to reach out to somebody from this account. What do you think I should do?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Alastair Chamberlin<\/strong> says building a rapport with gatekeepers means discussing his offering with them<\/strong>. Once they realized how well the solution addressed their pain points, they let him connect with the prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If that doesn\u2019t work, Joel Thomas<\/strong>, another top-performing SDR, requests the gatekeeper to inform the prospect about the email he sent. Here\u2019s what he tells gatekeepers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going to send them an email with this subject line to the relevant person, and it will help me a lot if you could drop a message saying that they\u2019re getting this email.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, you might need to avoid gatekeepers altogether to get a hold of the prospect directly. For this, try:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Have Accurate Contact Information:<\/strong> Nanditha Menon, a BDR, says gatekeepers often can\u2019t understand the value of the solution as a decision-maker would. So, she opts to find the prospect\u2019s direct contact details to eliminate an encounter with a gatekeeper. Only 2 out of 100 cold calls you make could have a positive outcome. So, to soldier on and keep dialing, you need to handle rejections in cold calling<\/a> the right way. Here’s a 3-step formula<\/strong> you can use to deal with cold calling rejections:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ashley Dees recommends<\/strong> spending time with your pets or taking a walk during a 10-15 break to help clear your mind before moving on to the next call. Take some time and rejuvenate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, view these rejections as learning opportunities and examine where things went wrong. Did you call them at the wrong time? Do they have budgetary constraints?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Getting to the root of the rejection helps you understand how you can tackle a similar one<\/strong> in the future and what can be tweaked in your script to get better results next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a prospect says \u201cI don\u2019t have time\u201d, or \u201cJust send me an email\u201d, counter these with cold call follow-ups such as \u201cAll right, what\u2019s a good time?\u201d and \u201cSure, what would you like me to include in the email?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your cold calling efforts don\u2019t end once your call ends. In fact, this crucial leg of your cold calling routine decides whether the deal will eventually close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are 4 important tips<\/strong> to polish your post-call routine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Based on your cold call, you need to decide what the next steps should be. To do this, segment your prospects into 2 groups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prospects who aren\u2019t ready to make a purchase or ones who are aware of the problem, but don\u2019t aim to solve it any time soon fall into this category. The next step here is to share the necessary resources and stay in contact<\/strong> so that they choose you when they\u2019re ready to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This segment includes prospects who are ready to make a purchase or who are aware of the problem and want to solve it as a priority. The next step here is to set up a meeting.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Once your cold call is over, you need to note down the call details while they\u2019re fresh in your mind. For this, maintain and update a cold calling tracking sheet<\/a>. Doing this allows you to chronicle your progress and keep your entire team in the loop as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some ways to get the maximum out of your tracking sheet:<\/p>\n\n\n\nDoes Cold Calling Still Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
20 Effective Tips for Cold Calling to Book More Meetings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Pre-Call Preparation Tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
1. Prepare a Cold Calling Checklist<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n2. Research Your Prospect Well<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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– Their priorities
– Their focus for the year ahead<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Enrich Your Prospect List<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
4. Practice Your Cold Calling Script<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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5. Warm up Your Prospect<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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6. Find a Good Time To Call<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Tips To Make a High-Impact Cold Call<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. Have a Strong Cold Calling Opener<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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8. Ask Open-Ended Questions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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9. Build Rapport With Active Listening<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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10. Personalize Your Cold Call<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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11. Qualify Before Pitching<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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12. Craft an Elevator Pitch<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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13. Use Local Dialing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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14. Handle Objections With the Right Mindset<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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15. Get Past the Gatekeeper<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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– Call at a Later Time: <\/strong>Asatta Leggett<\/a>, another BDR, lets the gatekeeper know she\u2019ll call back in a week while ensuring she gets back within the next 2 days so as to catch the prospect directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n16. Deal with Cold Calling Rejections<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Tips To Have a Strong Post-Call Routine<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
17. Lay Out the Next Steps<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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18. Update Your Tracking Sheet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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