5 Tips for Better Cold Calls

       I'm a sucker for cold calls. E-mail, phone, or letter, cold calls offer a window into the self-serving soul of most salespeople. 99% of them are God awful. But, your cold calls don't have to suck. All you have to do is change five little things.

    1)      Replace “I” with YOU: Cold calls should be all about the prospect’s needs and have very little to do with the salesperson’s. The word “YOU” should outnumber “I” by at least two to one. Tired lines like: “I would love to” “Please contact me” or “I look forward to hearing from you” should be dropped from your arsenal. Instead, YOU should say things like: “YOU can make your job easier by x” or “By setting a few minutes aside, YOU will (benefit)."  "How does (exact date and time) sound for YOU?"

    2)      Be honest: Why beat around the bush? If you think you can help a prospect, specifically tell them why. If you want to meet with them, tell them. If you think their current product is a total piece of junk and know the vendor gives horrible service, tell them. People aren’t mind readers. Be respectfully direct.

    3)      Be concise: You should limit emails to a few lines max. Letters, perhaps a few more. Cut the B.S. and get on with it. People are busy, and bombarded with thousands of messages. They hardly pay attention to their spouse let alone a “War and Peace” communication from a stranger. Tell them exactly how you can help. Tell them why. Offer them something to act upon.

     4)      Take a chance: The problem with most cold calls is that they are a vanilla blend of mediocrity. This has to do with rampant political correctness and people who don’t have the guts to step out. Be orginial. This could be from dropping the sales puke, showing a little attitude in your communication, or personally connecting with a prospect's product. But always be respectful. At the very least you will get their attention and they may actually respond.

    5)       Make it personal: People care about themselves first and the company they work for second. If you received two cold calls for similar products and one said a product would help the company while the other said the product would make you a hero, save you time, or remove a pain in your ass, which would you respond to?

    Check back on Thursday for a real example of a crappy cold call, why it's lame and how it can improve.

Comments

[www.aboutsalespeople.com]

Bravo. Cold contacts are indeed a great way of qualifying new prospects. You better make a quick impact and get to the point. I had a sales guy once who started off his cold calls with, "Hi, I'm the fifth joker making a cold call you to - are you ready?" Sold a lot of deals.

[You Sell Like a Second Grader]

That's a fantastic line!