Cold calling is a nightmare at the best of times and even much worse when we don’t know what we are doing. Today we will look at some real life examples of what we need to be saying.
Cold calling works much better when we are very clear about the outcome we can expect to achieve. There are products and services you can sell over the phone, however these are very, very, very few. The main aim should be securing a face-to-face appointment. That means you are only selling a date and time over the phone – nothing more.
Before you even get to that point, you need to be able to speak to the person who has the diary spot you want a piece of. This is where you need a blockbuster credibility statement that summarises who you are, why you are calling and why speaking to their boss will change the world.
This phone conversation might sound like this:
“Thank you for your time on the phone, I know you are super busy. We have just received the results of our global survey into the buying perspectives of your buyers. It was a global comparison that included Japan and the results are quite striking, especially for what are the key motivators for making purchasing decisions in Japan.
It also investigated where the buyers believe the industry is moving and this insight is very valuable to make sure we are always keeping in lockstep with the buyers, given business conditions constantly change. I can take you through the results, would this week suit or is next week better?”.
Or you might mention that you recently came across some ideas that seem to be working extremely well for others in their industry.
For example,
“Thank you for you time today, especially when you are so very busy. In our work, we are speaking with a wide variety of companies in many businesses. As a result we are constantly picking up industry insights and perspectives, which are not widely known or shared. I came across some information recently on key emerging trends, which have the potential to really make a difference in your industry.
The three companies I met have adopted some new approaches which have grown their collective market share by a factor of three times in the last six months. I can see why this is working so well for them and I thought this type of insight might also be of assistance for your business. The early movers are clearly going to take the lions share of the market as the industry changes. On the other hand, it looks like those late to the changes needed to be made will suffer. Is this week open or shall we meet next week?”
Only ever ask for 30 minutes – less sounds flakey and more sounds burdensome. Asking for “18 minutes” or “23 minutes” etc., sounds like you are a total conman, and warning lights and bells will go off in their head.
If we always have in our mind that “inside the client’s success is wrapped my own success” then we will be able to build trust and credibility.
What we say and how we say it will be congruent with putting the client’s success ahead of our own.
