Warming Up Sales Cold Calling

Do you dread picking up the phone to make a cold call? Many people hate business cold calling, but sales calls are great for lead generation.

Sales cold calling is essential to b2b relationships. Business to business sales (also known as b2b sales) is when a company sells their products or services to governments, institutions and other businesses. This type of relationship can be very cold and impersonal, but a good b2b strategy is to make your sales call more personal. Follow these tips to make sure you never cold call again.

Tip 1: Research the website of the company you’re calling

Take a few minutes to do some research. See what products or services they offer and find out what industry they’re in. How can your product or service can help them? You will impress your contact when they see that your call is researched and well thought out. Make them feel special. Your contact doesn't want to feel like you just picked them out of a phone book (even if that’s exactly what you did!)

Tip 2: Look for the person in charge

While doing your research, look for the name of a key decision-maker. Is your company selling new accounting software? Find the name of the controller or the VP of Finance. Addressing someone by their name, instead of sir or madam, makes you seem more professional and separates you from the hoards of telemarketers.

Tip 3: Throw away the script

Is there anything worse than when a caller jumps right into a monologue, rushing to get out what they want to say? They’re probably reading from a script. It's now become a knee jerk reaction to hang up on people like that: so keep it simple. Say hi and introduce yourself, explain in one or two sentences what your company does, and don’t forget – breathe. This calms you and gives the other person a chance to speak. Ask questions and genuinely listen to the answer instead of thinking about what you’re going to say next. Relax and have a conversation.

Tip 4: Why are you calling?

It could be immediately or later in the conversation, but your contact will ask you what you want. Are you signing people up for a seminar? Asking them to switch to your bank? Selling a new printer? If you can get them to buy what you’re selling, then great! But some people are really reluctant to agree to anything on a first call – one reason is because they’re worried that they will be locked into something that they can’t get out of. So offer to send them a link to the seminar web page so they can check it out themselves. Set up a telephone meeting with the manager of the bank. Give the contact some breathing room, but always get an agreement for a follow-up call.

Tip 5: Get their contact information

Make sure you have the correct name of the person you were speaking with and get their direct office line and email address (especially if you were transferred by the receptionist). Not only does the contact number and contact email help you skip the gatekeepers, but this information is invaluable for increasing your marketing pipeline.

Tip 6: Take notes

Though it sounds geeky, take notes throughout your conversation. You don’t need a written play by play, but write down the important stuff. Did they throw out some numbers during the call? Mention who their current suppliers are? If you need to call them back, you can just scan your notes and pick up where you left off. Notes are also a great tool for figuring out what is holding them back. They don’t want to buy from you right now? What are the reasons they gave? If you write them down, you can make an action plan to overcome these obstacles and provide them with new solutions during your next call. You might be able to convert their “maybe” to a “yes” because you took action and can show them how your product or service will fill a void or solve a problem.

It can sometimes be harder to market to a business instead of an individual consumer because of the hierarchy of power. That is why it is essential to speak to the decision-maker. Even if your contact calls the shots, they usually have to get approval from other departments or the higher-ups. That is why b2b lead generation can be a longer process, and a more personal relationship will put the odds in your favor.