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Cold calling, a technique often considered an outdated and increasingly ineffective method of customer acquisition, has a bad reputation for being annoying and intrusive. However, is this really true? Does cold calling still work, and what can be done to bring satisfactory results?
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Cold calling, or making contact with a potential customer “in the cold,” is an extremely debated topic in the field of customer acquisition. It involves making unscheduled telephone contact with people who have had no previous experience with our company. Unlike warm calling, where we contact people who are prepared and aware of our intentions, cold calling may surprise the recipient and does not always guarantee a longer conversation.
Despite some controversy, cold calling has its advantages in the customer acquisition process. First of all, it allows you to quickly establish direct contact with a potential customer, which is crucial in highly competitive industries where speed matters.
However, effective cold calling requires solid preparation. It requires the development of a strategy, the establishment of a sequence of contact with a potential customer, appropriate follow-ups and the creation of a suitable script. A well-prepared call script is a key element that helps the salesman find his way through the call situation and effectively acquire customers. It is important that the cold calling script arouses interest and addresses the potential customer's needs, and includes ready answers to the most common questions and techniques for dealing with objections.
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Why does cold calling still make sense?
There are many reasons and evidence as to why cold calling continues to be an effective method:
These four reasons clearly indicate why cold calling continues to be a valuable sales strategy.
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Cold calling can be an effective tool for attracting new customers, but like any marketing strategy, it requires careful planning and consideration of customers' needs and concerns. The key to success is to tailor your offer, product or service to the specific needs and challenges of your customers.
It is important that your sales team is well prepared and has developed communication skills and sales experience. Calling should not just be about routinely making calls. Each consultant should have a clear purpose for the call in order to achieve an effective dialogue with the customer.
During sales training, it is important to develop a call script that will help salespeople prepare for different scenarios. It is a good idea to prepare several variants of conversations, taking into account different customer profiles, such as company size, industry or specific business needs.
Keep in mind that the first cold calling call is usually successful only a small percentage of the time. It is important to avoid burning through the budget by taking a purely quantitative approach to the calls made. Qualitative communication with the customer, effective definition of call objectives and systematic follow-ups play a key role. Therefore, it is worth developing an effective sequence of communication with the customer, using tools such as prospecting.
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Yes and no. We can develop a script or plan for a conversation, specifying the topics we want to talk about, but we can't read everything verbatim. It's worth striving to have a unique conversation that is specific and doesn't lead to pointless digressions, because no one likes that kind of talk. It is important to be clear about what we want to talk about.
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Absolutely. Even if we're focusing on one main topic, it's a good idea to have all the relevant information written down so that we can refer to it when we need to talk to a client. With notes, we can have all these details at our fingertips, avoiding the situation where we have to recall who our client is or the name of his company. It is the notes that constitute our external memory, available at any time.
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Of course! Let's forget about the tricks. Really! We'd better approach it differently. When you call a potential client, first prepare some relevant information about the caller's industry (without over-collecting information to avoid awkward situations) and the main problems he or she faces. Then, start the conversation by addressing these issues, for example:
— Good morning.
— Good morning.
— My name is Karol Bartkowski and I specialize in cold calling and social selling training on LinkedIn. I'm calling because I recently made about 60 phone calls to companies in your industry and discovered an interesting trend. It turned out that 70% of these companies do not provide training for their sales departments, despite the fact that they are expected to use state-of-the-art sales standards. Does your company provide this kind of training?
Such a question allows us to get on the side of the interviewee, because if there is no training, we can continue the conversation in an appropriate manner. If the company has training, we can respond positively, and if not, we can move on to the next step, such as setting up a meeting.
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Key performance indicators (KPIs) are an important management tool that helps set both long-term and short-term goals. These can be a variety of metrics, such as the number of calls made, the number of calls answered, contact approvals obtained, or conversion rates over a specific period, such as a month.
Systematic monitoring and measurement of KPIs are key to successful management of sales activities. It's important to provide your salespeople with regular feedback and inspire them to try different call strategies that can help improve the process of acquiring leads. Don't be afraid to experiment and adjust approaches based on KPI results.
Obviously, the script is a key element that prepares your salespeople for dealing with potential customers. Make sure the script includes simulated answers to questions the customer may ask so your team is well prepared for different scenarios. It's also important that script-based conversations are natural and don't sound like they're coming from an automated machine.
It is worth using tools that automate the process of creating a database, conducting communications and making calls. They will save you time and money, while avoiding the need to perform these activities manually. Lengthy phone calls can put additional strain on salespeople's work, so automation can be a big help here.
It's an approach tested by decades of salespeople. Focus on benefits that will interest the potential customer and convince him that your product is worth looking into. It's also a good idea to base your arguments on data that the customer can easily verify, such as “conversion rate of 15%.”
When dealing with customers, doubts and objections are inevitable, so it is important to be prepared for them. It is crucial to understand the potential sources of these objections and address them appropriately. Preparing a conversation script with ready answers to the most common questions can be very helpful. Also, don't forget to update this material regularly to stay abreast of customer needs.
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To achieve your business goals through cold calling, you need more than just desire. Calling techniques, a properly selected database and a well thought-out script are just some of the key elements that contribute to success. Unfortunately, there are still many companies that focus on the quantity of calls, neglecting quality, which leads to the opposite effect. Telemarketers get frustrated, calls become pushy, and the lack of understanding of customer needs results in negative associations with cold calling. However, properly planned campaigns, tailored to specific target groups, can change this perspective.
Also, the role of the database in achieving business goals through cold calling cannot be underestimated. It must be well matched to the profile of your customers. For example, calling the elderly when your target audience is young people will not yield the desired results.
Acquiring contacts in cold calling can be a difficult task. One of the most interesting examples is the “Blue Parcel” strategy, where specially prepared baby goodies, such as diapers or cosmetics samples, are distributed to mothers in maternity hospitals. Salespeople then contact them with dedicated offers after obtaining their consent.
Naturally, this is important, but the question is - what exact idea are we testing? If we're conducting a test that involves long-term customer interactions, we won't be able to predict the final results right now. However, it could be testing whether the potential customers I contact with a certain idea are interested in it and whether they want further discussions about it. They may also suggest that they don't see the need to discuss it because a similar idea was already introduced by a competitor 15 years ago, in which case, it's useful to put it into perspective.
Cold calling allows us to verify whether our idea has potential or the opposite.
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Rather, I would focus on how the team works. It's very subtle and dynamic. If you're working alone, try making 50 phone calls. The first, you'll solidify your skills. The second, you'll gain confidence. The third, you'll notice a difference between the first and the 50th call, I guarantee it. Your voice will sound more confident, your actions will be more efficient, and your effectiveness will be greater because you are constantly improving. If you work with a team, have everyone make 30-40 calls. This way you can share experiences, improve your skills together, so that the final result is clear - either we are interested or we are not. There is no room for uncertainty. “Yes” and ‘no’ answers are equally good, it's worse if you hesitate.
If you're a trader, it's worth doing about 5 cold calli every day. However, a systematic approach is key. It's worth setting aside time to prepare a list for the week and make consistent calls. Simple math: 5 calls per day equals 25 per week, which equals 100 per month, which in turn equals 1,000 per year. Of course, taking into account days off and other commitments, we don't have to be so strict. Still, 100 calls per month translates into 1,000 cold calls per year. That's a lot of potential new customers acquired through regular work. Five calls a day is a solid strategy.
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We propose to approach this from two directions:
First, find a strong “why” that will convince first you and then the interviewer. Even if you offer the best quality, innovative solutions or have 30 years of experience in the market, this may not be enough. Doing cold calling gives you instant answers to your most important questions at no cost. By training with me, you can instantly verify whether the price is right, whether the lead time is satisfactory, whether communicating the most important benefits is effective, etc. You simply call 50 potential customers and have almost everything clear. Surveys or paid campaigns would take 3 months and cost much more. With a “why” like that, there is no resistance to calling.
Second, take care of your online image, at least on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook. If you add a website, a blog, a YouTube channel and a podcast, you will definitely feel the difference. Nowadays, people are Googling everything, including us. That's why it's a good idea to help our clients go through this step with us, while taking care of your own image.
The world of B2B business is a maze where decisions are lengthy and challenging. This is where simple advertising slogans won't work. You need to build your reputation as a solid business partner who understands your customers' needs and can deliver real benefits to them. Avoid aggressive sales methods and instead focus on listening and understanding your customer's needs. Only then offer solutions that actually address those needs.
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