Getting a Foot in the Door: 7 Cold Calling Tips for Success

Most business owners dislike getting unsolicited phone calls. They can be disruptive and, at times, just plain annoying. But for many entrepreneurs, the only thing worse than getting cold calls is actually having to make them.

Cold calling can be a demoralizing, knuckle-biting activity, even for the most successful person on the sales team at a large corporation. For business owners, the process can be even tougher; after all, most people start a business because they’re passionate about their product or service, not because they envisioned themselves as a sales rep. Plus, repeated rejections after cold calls can lead to burnout and discouragement. But with the right cold calling techniques, business owners can make the cold calling process much easier and, hopefully, much more profitable.

What’s a cold caller?

While a traditional salesperson is probably well-versed in the concept of a cold call, the concept might be new to some small business owners. So here’s some clarification.

A “cold call” refers to a scenario when a salesperson or business owner makes a phone call to a prospective client that they’ve never spoken to before. The two parties have not had a prior interaction, so their relationship is “cold.” Compared to a warm call, where the business owner already knows the person they’re calling (sometimes called a “warm lead”), cold calls can feel awkward and stiff. Even some of the strongest salespeople dislike making cold calls.

But for many business owners, cold calls are a vital part of the sales process; they might even be essential to the brand’s early survival. That’s why it’s essential to learn how to make a successful cold call.

7 Cold Calling Techniques to Use for an Effective Cold Call

It’s probably not possible to list every cold calling strategy known to humanity in this list. But here are seven tips that can help make the cold calling process a little bit easier.

1. Create a targeted telephone list

A great starting point for a small business owner is a bit like a to-do list: assembling a list of the people they plan to contact. It’s a little pre-call research, including the people or businesses the owner plans to call, their phone number, and maybe even their business hours or the best time to call. Armed with such a list, the business owner can make several calls in a row, taking advantage of the momentum they gain as they work. After all, for many professionals, it’s the act of getting started that’s the hardest part. Having a list helps them tackle lots of calls at once.

Many entrepreneurs also find it helpful to set up a contact management system. These tools can help a professional keep track of the calls they’ve completed, how the call went, and when it’s time for a follow-up call.

2. Set a goal and use cold calling scripts to accomplish it.

What’s the purpose of the call? To get the other person to set up a meeting? To send some literature to them? To invite them to tour the business’s facilities? To make a purchase?

Different business owners will have different goals, and the same owner might even have different goals for different calls. But determining what they want to happen at the end of the call is essential to having a good conversation.

Once a business owner clarifies their goal for the conversation, they can write up a little script to help start their conversation. That’s not to say a person should just verbatim recite the same conversation over and over to hundreds of prospective clients; the best cold calling scripts are more like guidelines (and perhaps a few key statements at the beginning and end) that help the call stay on task. The script might include a hook to start the sales cold call, a succinct introduction, a great way to highlight the brand’s unique value proposition, and so on.

With practice, many sales representatives find that they can deviate from the script and use it as their list of talking points to have effective sales efforts. But for the inexperienced, there’s no shame in using a script as a cold calling guide.

3. Locating the decision-maker is one of the most crucial cold calling strategies.

No business owner wants to waste their time making a cold call and giving a sales pitch only to find they’ll have to repeat the same call with another person at the business. In many cases, especially at large organizations, the person who makes the decisions about buying products or services isn’t the person who actually executes the purchase. Some businesses have separate purchasing departments for that purpose.

Many cold callers find it helpful to determine who the decision-maker is during their pre-call research. Alternatively, they can ask the receptionist or switchboard operator to transfer them to the person responsible for making decisions about that purchase.

A note on voicemails: Many sales leaders recommend not leaving a voicemail message for the first two attempted calls if the decision-maker doesn’t pick up. Lots of key stakeholders don’t return unsolicited sales calls (understandably). A good rule of thumb is to wait until after the third attempted call to leave a voicemail. Then, a business owner can return to their cold call script to leave a message; any message needs to be powerful to avoid sales resistance and turn that call into a genuine lead. Remember, a live call is a more effective sales tool than a voicemail; live interaction is huge in sales.

4. Skip the small talk and get straight to the point.

Whenever a potential customer answers a cold call (and stays on the line), they realize that they’re just a player in a sales game. They don’t know the person they’re talking with, and odds are, they assume that the caller doesn’t truly care about them.

That makes the “Hello. How are you today?” greeting unnecessary. There’s no need for a sales professional to fake familiarity. Of course, any pro will behave kindly and courteously, but skipping small talk can make a big difference.

For example, if a cold caller wanted to set up an in person meeting with the person in charge of staff training for an organization, they might use this script:

“Hello, Mary. We haven’t met yet. My name is [John Smith], with John Smith Seminars. I’m calling because I understand from your company website that you’re the person in charge of staff training at [ABC Corporation]. Is that true? If so, I’d love to chat about…”

That conversation is direct but polite, and it doesn’t waste Mary’s time. She can either continue the conversation, redirect John to the person who makes the decisions about his services, or politely decline. Hopefully, she’s the right person, and John has a great opportunity to give a full sales pitch or set up a follow-up meeting for a later date.

5. Give a clear benefit statement.

A benefit statement is a clear, simple statement that tells a potential customer what the benefit of doing business with the caller would be. For example, a business owner who helps other companies with their customer retention rates might say something as simple as, “I’m calling to find out if my business might be able to enhance your staff’s ability to gain and keep customers.”

It’s simple, to the point, and acts a bit like an open-ended question. Ideally, the prospect responds positively, recognizing that’s a benefit they need; it might address one of their biggest pain points.

After a business owner presents their benefit statement, they can follow up and ask if the other person has a moment to talk. If so, they can proceed with the rest of their cold call script. If not, they can shift their goal to sending them a calendar invite for a meeting at a later date. At the next interaction, the business owner will be warm calling, which might feel easier, too.

6. Preempt sales objections with real-world success stories.

Potential customers are pretty good at coming up with excuses to not make a purchase, especially when money is tight. This reluctance can pop up even when the caller handles the cold call well.

That’s why it can be quite compelling for a sales rep to tell a real-world story about how their services helped a customer. For example, John Smith from the John Smith Seminars business example above might be able to explain the real-world benefits they brought to a previous client. Perhaps John could highlight that his front-line training seminar for ABC Corporation helped the brand to boost their customer retention by thirty percent. He could also highlight that they saved 60% on training and gained $300,000 in additional revenue thanks to the training he provided.

It can be hard for customers to argue with real-world success stories. Of course, some will still have to say no. But if a prospect is on the fence, seeing irrefutable evidence of the benefits might help seal the deal.

7. Accomplish the goal.

Before closing out a call, a business owner should check back in with their goals for the conversation: Did they accomplish their goal? If they haven’t yet, they’ll need to circle back. For example, if a business owner was hoping to send literature or sales materials, they could ask the prospect for the best contact information to send that to. If they’re hoping to set up an in-person meeting, they might close by asking what times work to meet soon. If the business owner is just hoping to establish rapport, they might close by asking if it’s okay to connect with the listener on social media platforms.

What matters most is that the cold call’s goal doesn’t get lost in the proverbial weeds of the rest of the conversation.

Training Is Key

Cold calling doesn’t have to be a demoralizing knuckle-biting activity. It can, in fact, be motivating and lucrative when it’s done right. These seven tips can help any business owner make their next cold call a little easier.

Disclaimer: The content on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. For specific questions about any of these topics, seek the counsel of a licensed professional.