Getting Better at Making Cold Calls
When most in the sales profession think about a sales cycle, the one step in the cycle that most agree to the most important is prospecting. The unfortunate thing is that most would also point at prospecting as the least enjoyable, the biggest time-consumer, the most stressful and the most difficult step to get good at.
But here's the thing; if you're not effective at cold calling, you'll either suffer with a small pipeline of opportunities or will be forced to do a whole lot more calls to make up for your ineffectiveness.
Instead of giving up on your prospecting endeavors, improving your skills while learning some tips and tricks will make your time prospecting more effective. Getting good at cold calling may not may the task enjoyable, however, but if you get more results from doing it, your bank account will thank you.
Starting at the beginning, did you know that there are good times and bad times of each day to make your cold calls? If you didn't, you may have been spending a lot of your prospecting time during hours that have proven to be the least effective.
The caveat is that your sales job and, more importantly, your customers may be unique in their schedule and your best cold calling time is different than industry standards.
Keeping track of your calls and how successful they go is important when determining your best practices. More »
If you are making the calls during the best prospecting hours but still not realizing much improvement, you may be making your calls on the wrong day.
That's right, there are some days that are much better than others to prospect and if you don't know the good days from the bad days, you may be wasting a lot of your time and energy. Even worse, you may be alienating some potential future customers.
Again, just like knowing the right time of day to prospect, keeping track of your results on specific days will also provide you a good baseline of your best days to cold call. More »
There is no doubt that one of the main stressors of cold calling is that your prospects don't like to be called on. Most view cold calls as interruptions and will get downright rude sometimes to let a sales pro know how they feel about the interruption.
Some even go so far as to hang a sign up that says "We Shoot Every Third Sales Person and the Second One Just Left."
Listen, I've done thousands of cold calls. I have seen that sign plenty of times but I've never been shot. In fact, while I've been treated rudely and have been yelled at, no customer ever got physical with me over me making a cold call.
Don't worry about signs like this one. Laugh at them and make a joke about them with your prospect. But if they don't laugh and start reaching under the desk, hightail it out of there! More »
When you realize that success in sales is a simple matter of doing the right things, doing them right and doing them often enough, you'll understand that sales is a numbers game.
Figure out your numbers and you will be well on your way to a successful career in sales.
Of course, if you're not doing the right things and not doing things the right way, all the activity in the world won't help.
Get good at every facet of your sales job, then repeat often.More »
But here's the thing; if you're not effective at cold calling, you'll either suffer with a small pipeline of opportunities or will be forced to do a whole lot more calls to make up for your ineffectiveness.
Instead of giving up on your prospecting endeavors, improving your skills while learning some tips and tricks will make your time prospecting more effective. Getting good at cold calling may not may the task enjoyable, however, but if you get more results from doing it, your bank account will thank you.
1. Best Time to Prospect
Starting at the beginning, did you know that there are good times and bad times of each day to make your cold calls? If you didn't, you may have been spending a lot of your prospecting time during hours that have proven to be the least effective.
The caveat is that your sales job and, more importantly, your customers may be unique in their schedule and your best cold calling time is different than industry standards.
Keeping track of your calls and how successful they go is important when determining your best practices. More »
2. Best Day to Prospect
If you are making the calls during the best prospecting hours but still not realizing much improvement, you may be making your calls on the wrong day.
That's right, there are some days that are much better than others to prospect and if you don't know the good days from the bad days, you may be wasting a lot of your time and energy. Even worse, you may be alienating some potential future customers.
Again, just like knowing the right time of day to prospect, keeping track of your results on specific days will also provide you a good baseline of your best days to cold call. More »
3. How Customers View Cold Calling Reps
There is no doubt that one of the main stressors of cold calling is that your prospects don't like to be called on. Most view cold calls as interruptions and will get downright rude sometimes to let a sales pro know how they feel about the interruption.
Some even go so far as to hang a sign up that says "We Shoot Every Third Sales Person and the Second One Just Left."
Listen, I've done thousands of cold calls. I have seen that sign plenty of times but I've never been shot. In fact, while I've been treated rudely and have been yelled at, no customer ever got physical with me over me making a cold call.
Don't worry about signs like this one. Laugh at them and make a joke about them with your prospect. But if they don't laugh and start reaching under the desk, hightail it out of there! More »
4. Sales is a Numbers Game
When you realize that success in sales is a simple matter of doing the right things, doing them right and doing them often enough, you'll understand that sales is a numbers game.
Figure out your numbers and you will be well on your way to a successful career in sales.
Of course, if you're not doing the right things and not doing things the right way, all the activity in the world won't help.
Get good at every facet of your sales job, then repeat often.More »