How to make the perfect cold call

Making cold calls is often viewed as the ‘bottom of the food chain’ kind of work. The kind of work that takes too much hard work but very little to show in terms of results. However, if done right, it really isn’t. Making cold calls effectively and bringing in business can make you quite a star in your organization. It is something that most entrepreneurs have done at some point in their careers.

A cold call essentially requires you to convince someone to meet you, or try your product, or even buy it—all this, over the phone. Those who have been cold calling for a while probably have met with the never-interested person, the always-hangs-up person and also the rabid one-cuss-per-second person.

Most of us have also been on the receiving end of a cold call, if not from anyone else, then at least from a credit card company or from someone offering a better data plan for internet usage.

A good place to start learning how to make a cold call is by knowing what you don’t want to sound like.

Think of yourself as a potential customer for any company. What if they called you while you’re in a business meeting? What if they called with nothing much to say? What if they called and when you asked, didn’t have enough knowledge of their own product? This gives you an idea instantly of what not to do while you are cold calling.

To understand better what you should do instead, read on.

- Ask why

Identify first why you are making the call. Do you want to make a sale, get a chance to meet the person, gather some information, or offer a free trial? What really is the aim of making the call? Are you making the calls yourself or are you going to designate this job to a team of people? Make sure whoever is making the call really understands its aim.

- Who is the target?

Once you know what your aim of calling is, make your list of prospective customers. This will save a lot of time and energy once you start making calls. Understand who would be interested in what you are offering. Also make sure you do your research well. Once you narrow down on a company you want to contact, find out who the decision maker is. Does he take a call on purchases himself? Or will you have to get in touch with multiple people in the company? Also‚ research why the company would be interested in what you are offering. Your research will help you to have a quality interaction if the customer responds.

If a company has recently suffered losses for example, because of some kind of inefficiency, it will be good for you to know about it when you pitch a product that improves the efficiency of say, its machines.

- What to say

You should be able to find a cold call script easily off the Internet. But make sure to never read from it. Take time to prepare yourself to make the call. You should sound confident and aware. The one receiving the call respects a caller who knows what he is talking about. Most cold calling scripts will cover a good way to introduce yourself and how to not seem too pushy, yet be able to make your point effectively.

- When to make calls

Now, start making the cold calls. You must remain persistent, yet not pushy. When someone picks up the phone and says they are busy, say “Will 6 PM this evening be a good time?” It’s a decent thing to do, to ask someone if it’s a good time to talk. Sometimes people will say ‘no’. Don’t let that stop you.

Instead, say that you respect their time and that you would like to put forward your pitch in less than a minute, or the least time possible. Try to get their attention by telling them why they need to hear you out.

- What next?

Being persistent is a good way to convert a cold call. Sometimes you may not reach the decision maker directly, but their assistants. Try to build a rapport with the assistant and  remember his or her name. They could be doing some of your job for you, if you work your relationship building skills.

During the interaction with a customer, if someone tells you to send them an email with details, make sure you do that. After giving them some time to go through the email, call again.  There will still be those who turn you down sometimes, but these steps should help to bring down the number of customers that say ‘no.’