Although companies seem to maintain their marketing activities with digital marketing, a great deal of them still work with cold call techniques. As a marketer, you may wonder how you can handle this challenging job, or you may want to improve yourself. As experienced marketers, we would like to share our cold calling tips with you.
1. Learn about your product.
Yes, the first step of cold calling tips is to learn about the product you sell. Unfortunately, many marketers or salespersons do not know exactly what they sell. Learn all the specifications and try to list the questions that your customers may ask.
2. Company Research
If you do not have a list of potential customers, try to create one. But if you have a list already, check all the companies on the list. And see if these companies are really target companies. Most of the time, researchers place inconvenient information on the potential customers’ list.
In addition, before calling the companies, you should have learned all the information you can supply online. You should act like you already know the company. Company research is one of the most important tips for cold calling.
3. Write a script.
You may be talkative or a great marketer, but it is always better to have a marketing script. Try to memorize the outline of your script. The outline should consist of:
- list of steps you should take during the call,
- Answers to FAQs,
- hallmarks of working together.
Try not to make your script too long. Because our cold-calling tips say that you should let the potential customer talk!
4. Schedule a time for cold calling.
Time schedule is one of the most missed tips for cold calling. We are sure that you also hate marketers calling at inappropriate times. Don’t be one of them. According to the marketing reports, you should start calling companies after 10 a.m. and before 5 p.m. As you are a human being, so are your potential customers. But of course, you will find your own cold call techniques and schedule your own time. But for now, try to follow our advice.
5. Get ready for rejections.
It is the 21st century. Everybody is aware of every product. The buyers know exactly where to find the perfect product for their company exactly where to find the perfect product for their company! Getting ready for rejection is one of the most important tips for cold calling. Because your managers will not get you ready for rejections. But you are not in the dream world. Most of your calls will result in rejections. So, here is what you will do: if the company is really the target, call them another time. Just take your notes, including the buyer’s course of action. Call the company a few weeks later and try to find another possible person in charge.
Possible rejection sentences will be as below:
- Too expensive,
- Not interested,
- We already have an annual agreement with another supplier.
- We do not need the product right now.
6. Do not start your sales speech in the first place.
We are here to teach you cold calling tips and manners! When the buyer picks up the phone, introduce yourself with one or two sentences. Later, start asking questions to the buyer. Let them speak. After you finish your questions, you can start your sales speech. Try to tell a story that draws attention. So, you need to create your own story.
7. Follow-up.
Every buyer will tell you that they will respond via email. And, not surprisingly, most of the time they do not either return your calls or respond to your emails. Here is one of the most effective cold calling tips for you: do not give up! According to the research, after four or five calls, the buyers tend to know you. If you follow up regularly and try to build a business friendship with them, the buyers will ask for your prices from time to time. Even if they do not approve your offer at first, they will send you a purchase order sooner or later. But you should never give up!
8. Send e-mails.
You were here for cold-calling tips, right? Here is an example of the perfect way to keep your customers up to date. You can create a newsletter for your potential customers. Create an account on the free CRM tools for email marketing. Prepare an email displaying both your product and offer. Try to send these newsletters at least once a month. You will not believe how engaging email marketing is.
