7 Ways To Make Cold Calling Easy
Most sales professionals hate cold-calling. So let's make it easier. Here are eight steps that you can take -- this week -- to turn cold calling from a dreary hassle into an engine of sales success:
- Get a better list. Tell your marketing group ...to winnow out your list of leads to those who are most likely to buy. If they won't do it, do it yourself. (See How to Qualify Leads for more information.)
- Get some referrals. The absolute best lists of suspects are ALWAYS referrals from existing customers, because they've already vouched for you. (See How to Earn Referrals for more information.)
- Get some feedback. If you're not sure what you're doing wrong, get a colleague or your sales manager to listen in on a few calls. They will be able to hear, better than you, what you're doing wrong.
- Improve your attitude. Your sales effectiveness is dependent upon whether you sound like somebody who can add value. (See Ten Ways to Get Insanely Motivated to help charge yourself up.)
- Don't call on Mondays. Mondays are awful days to cold call because suspects are catching up on what happened over the weekend. Find the time of the week that works best for you and your leads.
- Experiment with scripts. Different approaches will get different results, so don't be afraid to play around a bit. Do a mental debriefing after each call to decide what you could do better next call.
- Track your close rate. It seems obvious but unless you're measuring your performance, you won't know whether cold calling is getting easier. Keep a record of what works best for you.