The past year has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride! You’re probably wondering what does this have to do with cold-calling? With the pandemic changing the landscape of many businesses and how they operate. It’s needless to say that it has consequently changed customer buying patterns towards certain goods and services. Either positively or negatively. It has made us all wonder if we’re ever going back to normal! If you’re in the latter end of this equation and work in the sales field, then you definitely resorted to cold calling your clients. Which is never an easy task and can sometimes be regarded as a bit of a nuisance or even be labeled as spam on their phones.

But First, What’s A Cold Call?

To answer this question let’s first identify what does a cold call mean? According to Merriam-Webster a cold call is “a telephone call soliciting business made directly to a potential customer without prior contact or without a lead”. Well, that doesn’t sound so bad, then why does cold calls have such a bad rap?

Three Reasons You Could Be Losing Potential Customers

There’s a number of reasons why cold calls can be off putting, here’s three:

Firstly, is that you catch your prospect off guard and unprepared! Which can be the beginning of the end to your call and a quick rejection. 

Secondly, is following the script. Don’t get me wrong I think scripts can be very useful if done right! However most scripts are pushed by salespeople rather robotically without establishing a proper connection or even listening to feedback from your potential customer. Not even asking the right questions in advance to identify if that prospect can turn into a successful one. Needless to say if you’ll follow the script make sure you don’t sound monotonous and trying to push your agenda at all costs.

Finally, they can sound desperate! Which is an impression you do not want to give as you take on this endeavor.

If you google the phrase “cold call” you’ll find many results that does not support the technique. Beginning from time consuming for both parties to discouraging statistics of a staggering 90.9% unsuccessful rate. According to Harvard Business Review down right to applications that you can install on your phone that detect and stop these calls. 

So How Can You Turn That Cold Call Into A Warm Call?

1. There’s a couple of ways that you can turn a cold call into a warm call; first of which is using the right tools that can help you and give you more insights about your prospect. The most powerful of which is LinkedIn for example; it can be used as a method to both identify the right prospect and also be used as an icebreaker between you and your potential customer. It helps set you up for a more friendly conversation that can result in a successful outcome. 

2. Don’t lose your prospect at hello. You need to be clear about your why and precise. Ask if it’s a suitable time to begin your call and make sure you get an e-mail or an alternative communication channel if it’s not a convenient time to speak. 

3. When the going gets tough, and your calls aren’t converting as you’d like, be sure to find your rhythm. Practice your opening line and smile, project confidence. People can sense your energy on the other end of the call even without seeing you! Most Importantly always remember to be genuine. 

4. Don’t underestimate the power of a referral! For Instance, studies show that if your call is made with a referral and you start with it, your success rate jumps 40%. Of course  you need to have this referral to begin with. 

Agree or disagree, reaching out to prospects via traditional calling, Zoom or Microsoft teams, have to be always in the salespersons back pocket! It’s an essential tool to drive more sales and discover new opportunities. You just have to do it the right way so you can turn every cold call into a warm call.