The key reason that most people use when they say that cold call is dead is based on inbound marketing. They say that these days, people can easily research what they are looking for, and so you need to design all your marketing towards inbound marketing.

They say you need to focus on providing excellent content for your prospects, and then how to funnel them towards making contact, and then from there, you have a shot at selling to them.

Even knowing that they need to make cold calls, too many salespeople fear the rejection they associate with a cold calling – and rightly so. This is because of the massively high proportion of calls that end in rejections. To make this process easier for you and dissipate this fear, here are 5 tips to help you make more successful cold calls:

1. Get your mindset right

When faced with a cold calling scenario, many salespeople immediately turn to a script. While there is a time and place for using this, that time is not on a cold call. Unfortunately, there is no magic script that will make a cold call as smooth as if you were chatting with an old friend.

Successful cold call relies on the attitude towards making the call. If you approach the call as being a numbers game, something you just have to plow through, making those calls will always be a slow and painful grind.

2. Have a plan

Most salespeople’s biggest fear when it comes to cold calling is being rejected. Preparing in advance and having a plan or a brief outline of the call will help you mitigate these fears and increase your effectiveness.

As mentioned that a script doesn’t work. Here we talking about a full script from beginning to end of the call. Your plan should mean that you have little blocks of the script, that you can pick and choose from, as the call proceeds.

If the call goes one way, you mention the block of script A. If the prospect says something else, you use block B, and so on.

3. Get to know your prospect

Before you even pick up the phone, always prepare yourself to spend time to get a feel for your contacts. Through Google searches, LinkedIn profiles, company websites, or even social media accounts, you can piece together relevant information about your prospect.

Use this opportunity to learn as much as you can about the company, their industry, and the person you’ll be contacting. The information you gather this way can then be used to craft call messages that are tailored to (and resonate with) the potential buyer.

Getting to know your prospect makes talking a lot easier. You at least have something to work with. Imagine a conversation with a person that you meet (even in a social environment).

You both have nothing to say and are struggling about what to ask the person next. An uncomfortable silence occurs. You don’t want that on this cold call, so having done some research will provide you with possible questions to ask. Then the conversation will flow more naturally.

4. Approach gatekeepers with respect

For many salespeople, leapfrogging the gatekeeper is seen as the Holy Grail of sales. But are gatekeepers really out to get you?

We tend to see gatekeepers as the people who make it tough to meet our ideal prospects, but remember that it is their job to protect their bosses from unsolicited callers.

Getting irritated, rude, or frustrated with someone for doing their job won’t win you any favors and will only hurt your business. Gatekeepers are people like you and me, approach them as such:

• From your initial research, are there any current news about the company or industry? Use this insight as a conversation starter and try to build a rapport with the gatekeeper.
• Be respectful, pleasant, and always act like a professional. It’s in your best interest to make the gatekeeper an ally rather than an adversary.
• If these tips fail, remember that most high-level prospects are often very busy and work long hours. They can get to the office at 7 a.m. and stay till 7 p.m., but their receptionist or executive assistant probably doesn’t start until 9 a.m, but their receptionist or executive assistant probably doesn’t start until 9 a.m

5. Seek out a personal connection

Cold calling used to be so hard, but thanks to social media, it has become easier to seek out the prospects you need to talk to.

This mutual connection can act as a referral, helping you to pave the way for an easy first conversation and getting past the gatekeeper.

And because salespeople were referred, they already know, their cold calling attempt will not be automatically viewed as an intrusion. But always remember to ask your connection’s permission to use their name as a referral when contacting a prospect.

So that’s it. Use these 5 tips, and your cold calling will improve in terms of its productivity.

Reach your ideal future customers.

The top sales teams use Peakslead to locate accurate B2B contact and company details.

Written By: J.James