Cold Calling is Work Not Luck

I am not going to tell you that b to b cold calling is easy. I am not going to tell you that cold calling is fun. I am going to tell you that effective b2b telemarketing is highly productive because it builds relationships. And give you a few ideas to be sure that your time is well spent with effective cold calling.

First of all, a disclaimer. Unless you are very lucky, cold calls do not generally lead to immediate sales. So what do they do? Many things, actually.

In a B2B setting, cold calls are a goldmine for market intelligence. People LOVE to talk about themselves or their companies. So try listening. You should be able to connect in that cold call and engage information sources that will help you to figure out who is making decisions and then qualify or disqualify those executive decision makers. Without wasting a lot of time and money, you can determine your chances of selling the decision maker your product or service in the immediate future or the long term. You can also capture the information of the key decision makers for use as you go through the sales cycle.

Now that I have your attention, let’s looks at the pieces and parts that will make your introductory cold call successful.

Come bearing gifts. First of all, know your prospect. At the beginning of your cold call, be ready to hand them something that you know they will value that does not require them to make a purchase to receive the benefit. It does not have to cost you anything but it does need to be about them, not you. Then listen carefully because how they respond to your offer will tell you volumes about their value to you as a potential client.

Know them before they know you. If you’re blasting through a phone list of unqualified prospects, you are wasting your time and theirs. Unless you know their role in the organization or what keeps them awake at night, you don’t know if you can fix it or even if you want to. Just five minutes of online research will give you enough information to build a rapport with the person you need to be talking to.

Please leave a message. Do you leave a voicemail or just hang up? Because most of the time, you’re probably getting voice mail. If you just press forward without leaving a voicemail, its a lost opportunity. What do you have to lose by leaving a quick voicemail that makes an offer, promises immediate value, delivers urgency, and requests a call back by a specific time. Have you ever thought about leaving well placed and professional messages as building an inbound marketing campaign?