Warm Up to Sales Prospecting and the Cold Call

Who loves prospecting? Searching for potential customers isn’t top on most salespeople’s list. But it is the first step in strong sales results, so it’s important to set aside time for it every day.

Many organizations have ways of developing inbound leads for sales. Someone downloads a free white paper, reads a blog, subscribes to a newsletter or takes a quiz … and they end up on your list of leads. Other times, it’s up to you to search for leads and reach out to people who fit your customer profile or a particular promotion you’re focusing on.

 

Sales prospecting and your first contact

There are many different ways to make contact with a sales lead. Cold calling is one option. You can also email, work conferences or trade shows, use social networks, or ask for referrals from existing clients or customers. Regardless of your method, your first words to the prospect are important and thinking them through is key to moving forward.

Let’s talk about cold calls.

When you’re calling someone for the first time, what should you say?

 

Sales scripts help you plan those first words

Many salespeople tune out at the mention of a script. But hear me out …. What you say when prospecting matters. And you only have a moment to capture someone’s interest, so it’s important to plan your words exactly.

And that’s all scripts are. They are not something you read. They are something you memorize. And, like a fine actor, each time you say your script, it should sound like the very first time you’re saying it. That might mean clearing your throat in the middle, hesitating like you’re trying to think of what you want to say next, or even adding an authentic sounding “um” right in the middle. Trust me. This works.

A few years back, I was making cold calls for a marketing company … calling local businesses to sell them a service designed to improve their online customer reviews. Their appointment-setting plan was for me to introduce the company and then go into the explanation of how their service worked. It immediately became clear that the approach was too long, too technical and my phone number from outside the city was triggering a negative reaction.

I needed to adapt my script. I needed to get right to the point in words the prospect could quickly comprehend (without thinking too much) and let them know I was local. So I made some quick adjustments.

In my new approach, I gave my first name only, said I was with a marketing firm there in the city, and then in one sentence explained how we were trying to get their happy customers to share on social media and boost their positive reviews. It worked! People started asking questions and setting up appointments.

In less than a minute, I gave them a reason to listen and trust me (I’m local), explained a problem almost everyone in their industry was experiencing (not enough good online reviews), and told them how I’d solve it in an easy-to-understand (non-technical) way.

 

These elements are key to your first words with a new prospect

Giving someone a reason to listen or trust could be accomplished by referring to a mutual friend, a mutual interest, a tradeshow you both attended, or by mentioning your nearby location.

Then you’ve got to zero in on a pain point quickly. Do this carefully. It can’t be a scare tactic, because that can immediately turn people off. (I once had a young man show up at my house to sell me pest control services and he started talking about spiders in my walls … and I was done.)

And finally, you’ve got to offer an easy-to-understand solution. (You’ll want to consider your prospect’s technical knowledge here.) It might help to consider how you would complete this phrase: “At the heart of what I do is a simple idea ….” What is the value you bring?

Cold calling is a powerful way to prospect. By carefully considering exactly what you’re going to say and making slight adjustments if you need to, you can set appointments and move those leads and prospects into your sales funnel.

 

Brenda Smyth is a content creator at SkillPath. Drawing from 20+ years of business and management experience, her writings have appeared on Forbes.com and Entrepreneur.com.

At SkillPath we work with healthcare organizations every day ... building teamwork and communication skills among frontline workers, helping develop managers into the leaders they need to be, and providing research-based training that supports diversity and inclusion.

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