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Cold Calling Tips

Written by: Ron La Vine

Article Overview: TIPs (techniques, ideas and process) for successful cold calling.

Cold Calling Tips

Don’t try to sell the Operator: be polite yet respectfully persistent while finding who the right person to speak with is.

Get an internal transfer: the number will come through as an internal transfer and the person will pick up.

Offer to call back: ask when is convenient for them.

Random names: type in a couple of letters, wait for the system to come back; the system will supply other names and their extensions.

Department directories: listen for all menu choices as other departments provide additional points of entry -- perhaps they might need a solution from your company.

Best times to call: before or after their ‘gatekeeper’ arrives/leaves - execs will pick up their own phone after hours. Or try them on the hour in between meetings.

Make note of the time you were able to reach the person: typically you can reach them again at the same time.

Change the digits: people in the same department have similar extensions; change 1 or 2 of the digits and ask to be referred or for the correct extension.

Get the main number: use the Internet to find other numbers of points of entry.

Make an error in the extension: ‘I was trying to reach x, maybe you can help me, is Tina within eyesight?’ People like to help each other.

Listen to complete message for additional choices, names and numbers.

Build rapport more quickly by teaching yourself to regulate your voice to gently match theirs.

Practice: call yourself and leave a message. How do you sound? Practice until your voice sounds smooth and melodic. Remember people cannot see you they can only hear your voice.

Use your headset: open your mouth wide and carefully pronounce every word. Do not hold the phone on your shoulder as this tenses your throat and makes you talk from one side of your mouth.

Tip: buy a digital ‘logger’ for example at http://www.ast-incorp.com/store.htm (last item on the list). Record your conversation, replay for yourself and/or your manager. It can eliminate the need to take notes at the time of the call; you can focus on what is being said.

© 2005 by Accelerated Sales Training, Inc.

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Article Tags: ast, correct extension, department directories, digits, execs, eyesight, gatekeeper, incorp, leaves, menu choices, random names, replay, tenses, time change, tina



Related Forum Posts
Re: How to develop sales contacts? - Everyone has the right idea here. Depending on your business, there are different techniques that you could use. For consultants and sales heavy businesses, there are three tactics that I have found especially useful in my business: 1. Attend Networking Events 2. Cold Calling 3. Referral Program 4. Affiliate Program (most successful) The affiliate program was successful for me, as I hooked up with a franchise consultant, and he gave multiple unit businesses that needed my credit card processing services. I highly suggest you hook up with a sales partner, and give him a cut of the monthly revenue.
Re: Direct Mail Postcards - Post cards would be really expensive to send from Japan...but one way to advertise that is not expensive from overseas is by Cold Calling using cheap VoIP equipment. I know Japan has a really good internet connection, so as long as you are willing to stay up late, it might be an option. I cold call from Thailand far, far away from any city using a CDMA wireless internet connection and have had pretty good results. I find tho, that cold calling works best for business 2 business (b2b), rather than b2c products. --matt
Re: Cold Calling - As long as people are out of jobs, you'll probably have a lot of people who say they want to work for straight commission, but if they don't get paid fairly quickly, they usually move on. We've run into that and went through about 500 people (whose resumes looked really good) until we found about 3 good resellers. People just don't want to work for anything. Or they do a good job getting the business but don't do the follow up necessary to make the sale......so they move on thinking they need money NOW. Our business requires all cold calling as well. It's really tough for people to perfect that but there are a lot of good books out there. On is Cold Calling Techniques, by Stephan Schiffman
Business Tips - How about: Tips for managers to handle employees more effectively? Tips on how to deal with difficult customers? Tips on how to deal more effectively with suppliers? The only three I have in mind right now, but will try to come up with something else. Chris
Re: Cold Calling - Cold calling is an extremely difficult job to do and unless one learns that being told no by people is not a direct refusal aimed at the cold caller but at whatever is being sold, it can be very soul destroying work to do. One needs to have absolute confidence in themselves and a pretty thick skin. MichelleJ


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