Cold calling from A to Z. What does a good cold call look like?

It is very difficult to make cold calls if you do not know what and how to say. But if you have a script written in advance, then everything immediately becomes much easier. And in this article, we will write a cold call script - a step-by-step conversation scheme for your specific situation.

And yes, of course, we will look at different examples of working with objections. So that you don’t just repeat this scheme like a robot, but you can adapt it to the situation. Then your results will improve several times.

How do I make cold calls?

I remember, 6 years ago, I was engaged in attracting clients to our translation agency through cold calls. I put off starting work for two weeks and looked for excuses not to call anyone. It was just very scary.

But when the money began to run out completely, I still forced myself to pick up the phone and dial the first number from the list. To my great relief, they didn't pick up the phone on the other end of the line.

Then I dialed the second number, and they answered me quite politely that the head of the foreign economic activity department had just left, and asked me to call back in 15 minutes. I have already considered that for a start it is quite enough, and you can go to rest. But still I decided to clear my conscience to dial the third number.

It was a large industrial company in our city. And I knew for sure that they were already working with some kind of translation agency. Therefore, I assumed that the conversation with them would not last long.

What was my surprise when the person on the other end of the wire listened to me and offered to meet in an hour to show the current orders. On the same day we received our first order from them. And this company is still our regular customer. And it was all in one call.

Of course, I understand that I was lucky. Clients are not always so willing to agree to start working with you. But still, there are certain statistics - how many cold calls you need to make to get one order.

How many cold calls do you need to make to get one order?

If you think that there is some kind of magic scenario of a cold call, which, like a golden key, will open all doors for you, you are mistaken. There is no such script and cannot be.

And yet there is not and cannot be a seller who would make twenty calls and conclude twenty transactions. You can’t sell to everyone, no matter how hard you try, and no matter how wonderful the conversation scheme you prescribed.

Cold calling is a statistic. Statistics of refusals and consents to meet with you. You need to know your statistics, and just do it every day. For example, in most cases, you need to make about 20 calls to set up 2-3 meetings.

Further, out of 3 meetings (according to statistics), you will conclude one deal. That is, you need to make twenty calls and hear “no” nineteen times to close one deal. It is very important. Often, salespeople are trained to “press” everyone on the phone until they agree to meet with you. My experience is that this is bad practice.

Why being overly assertive is bad

If you are persistent enough, and you find your answer to any “no”, then in the end the person on the other end of the wire will still agree to meet with you. And as a result, you will only lose your time.

That is, your interlocutor after half an hour of playing "objection - answer" will say - "Well, you persuaded me, let's meet next Monday, at two o'clock in the afternoon." But he will say this only in order to get rid of you. Then you will not be able to get through to him (he will write down your phone under the name "Do not take in any case").

And when you arrive at the meeting, you will not find anyone at the specified address. That is, you will waste several hours, or even the whole day.

In fact, the purpose of a cold call is not to “persuade” everyone and everyone, but to correctly filter out those who you should spend time on and who you shouldn’t. The whole conversation scheme, which you will find below, is precisely aimed at making this filtering as fast and comfortable as possible.

It was very important for me to clarify this before starting to parse the circuit. Your task is not to get one “yes” at all. Your goal is to get nineteen valid nos. After that, you make a deal and calmly move on to the next round.

And yes, by the way, all of the above applies to a conversation with a decision maker (Decision Maker). But before talking with the decision maker, we will most often have to talk with the so-called "Gatekeeper". This is a secretary or assistant or someone else who does not want you to distract the boss with your calls.

With gatekeepers it is necessary to act a little differently. After all, there is no way they can give us a valid no. And that means they just need to be “pushed through”.

Scheme of a conversation with the "gatekeeper"

And so it happened. After much procrastination and looking for excuses, you've finally made up your mind to get on the phone and start calling the potential customers on your list. You sell antivirus for corporate computer networks. You pick up the phone, dial the number of the ACS department (Automation of Control Systems), and after a series of beeps you hear:

• OAO "Mashinstroyperestroy", I'm listening to you...

You answer:

• Hello, my name is Dmitry. I'm calling you from Peresvet about a new antivirus for your computer system. Can you tell me who I can talk to about this?

And in response you get:

• Thanks, we're not interested. Goodbye.

This is one of the standard gatekeeper objections. And if you bought into this “we are not interested”, then it is very in vain. Now I will tell you a secret. In fact, the secretary on the other end of the line has no idea whether they are interested or not.

It's just that your call is interfering with her work. If she lets you through to her beloved boss Arkady Petrovich, the head of the ACS department, and you offer some nonsense, she will get hit on the head.

And if you offer not nonsense, but a super-solution that will save the plant a million dollars a month, and her boss will be rewarded for this, then the secretary ... still will not receive any benefit.

All the laurels will go to Arkady Petrovich, because he "found", "offered", "implemented". That is, the secretary will either get hit on the head, or (at best) will not get anything. So why would she risk it? The easiest way is to immediately jump to the best option and get "nothing". That is, just do not miss your call to the boss.

But the secretary has his own problems and tasks, and you and I have our own. And the task number one is to break through the barrier of standard "objections-rejections".

Overcoming standard objections

Here are some of the standard objections a gatekeeper can usually make to you:

• We are not interested / do not need
• What exactly do you want to offer?
• Send us an email and we'll take a look and get back to you
• No (I won't connect you/he won't talk to you)

And here's how best to build a dialogue with such an interlocutor.

Secretary: And what did you want to offer (And on what specific issue are you?) (Are you on the issue of advertising?) (What kind of services do you have?), etc.

You: We are installing a new anti-virus program for computer networks. Who can I talk to about this?

Secretary: We're not interested (we don't need it)

You: Understand. You know, with about every fourth client, our cooperation began the same way. That is why I would like to ask a few clarifying questions to your specialist. Who can I talk to about this?

Secretary: Reset your proposal by e-mail. We will review and call you back.

You: We do not have a general commercial offer, there are a lot of options. I need to talk to your specialist, because we are committed to offering only what people need, not everything at once. Connect me please.

Secretary: We are doing well.

You: Wonderful. Among our clients, most of the companies are successfully developing. That is why our services were useful to them. All I would like is to talk about whether we can be of service to you. So who can I contact about this issue?

Secretary: No (I will not connect you, he will not talk to you).

You: If it's so difficult to talk to him, maybe I can talk to someone else about this issue?

Two main points in the scheme of conversation

You methodically work out all the “no” and push through the gatekeeper so that he still risks connecting you with the person you need.

Pay attention to two important moments in this conversation. At the end of each answer to an objection, ask to be connected to the decision maker. Usually people can't stand being asked for something several times and give up.

The second point is an explanation of the reason why you need to be connected with someone. In the famous book The Psychology of Influence, Robert Challdini describes an experiment where a person first simply asked to be skipped a line. And in the second case, he added “Let me skip the line, because I really need". And in the second case, it was missed 3 times more often.

Of course, in our example, we got a very "hard nut to crack". Usually secretaries give up after 1-2 objections. But there are even harder ones. They just tell you no.

What to do if you are still told "no"

If you can’t convince the gatekeeper to let you go further, then you can try to “make friends” with him.

And making friends with strangers isn't hard at all. Here's what the dialogue might look like after four or five nos.

You: Okay, I understand you. By the way, my name is Dmitry, I am a sales manager in our company. What is the best name for you?

Secretary: Maria.

You: Maria, what is your job title?

Secretary: Assistant manager (secretary/assistant).

You: Maria, please advise me. How can I best deal with this situation?

In such a simple way you have a person to yourself. You met him and asked him to help you. In this case, even the most stony heart will melt, and Maria herself will tell you how and with whom you need to contact.

And after that we move on to a conversation with Himself - the Decision Maker.

Scheme of a conversation with a decision maker

As mentioned above, the task of talking with decision makers is to filter out those who are not worth wasting time on now. To do this, we need to either get a reasonable "yes" or a reasonable "no". Both results will suit us perfectly.

Our conversation with the decision maker will consist of four stages:

1. Performance
2. Question-Engagement
3. Objection Handling
4. Making an appointment

After that, they either say “no” to us, and we calmly move on to the next contact. Or we are told “yes”, and we enter the time and place of the meeting in the diary. And let's look at the options for the conversation scheme with examples.

Stage #1 - Presentation

Here we just need to give our name, the name of our company, and explain why we are calling. The person on the other end of the wire is primarily interested in who we are and what we need from him.

Therefore, do not try to cheat and deceive someone. As a result, deceive yourself. For example, I am very annoyed by salespeople who call me under the pretext of conducting some kind of “survey”. I don't have much time, just tell me what you need.

You (we learned the name from the secretary). My name is Dmitry, I'm from Peresvet, and I'm calling you about a new anti-virus program for corporate networks.

That's literally all. You said everything directly and honestly. In this case, the interlocutor may not answer you. And we need dialogue. not a monologue. Therefore, we immediately proceed to the second stage.

Stage #2 - Question-engagement-pause

At this stage, we need to get an initial reaction to our proposal (most often the reaction will be negative).

You

We ask a question and shut up. This is a very important and very difficult moment. Most people cannot physically bring themselves to pause. Because pause is pressure. With our silence, we literally force a person to answer something to us. This will be the beginning of the involvement in the conversation.

We specifically formulate the question in such a way that it is “impossible” to answer no. Of course, most of the time the answer is no. But at the same time, your interlocutor himself will feel the whole strangeness of the situation.

He is offered to increase the level of protection, but he says “no” - I don’t want to increase anything, let our computers be hacked, the data is stolen. We'll lose customers because of this, and I'll be kicked out of my position, and I'll end my life under the fence with a bottle of Triple Cologne in my hand. Everything is super, it suits me.

You: Please tell me if you would be interested in improving the level of protection for your computer network?

decision maker

Let him say “no” out loud (to give up everything is the first normal defensive reaction of a person). But subconsciously he says yes. And this is much more important for us. And having received this “no”, which is actually “yes”, we move on to the next stage.

Stage #3 - Closing the Objection

There is one simple phrase that gets around most objections. That is, it will encourage a person who, at least theoretically, may be interested in your proposal, to agree to meet with you.

And if a person does not want to agree to any, it means that this is not our client yet.

decision maker: No, thank you, we are not interested in this now.

You

That's all, this simple phrase firstly reassures Arkady Petrovich - they say, there are other people with whom I have already met, and they are all alive and well. Secondly, it explains the benefit - simplifying work and reducing costs.

After this phrase, we no longer need to pause. You need to immediately go to the final stage of the conversation.

Step #4 - Making an Appointment

It is very important to suggest a specific meeting time yourself. So the interlocutor is more likely to agree to meet with us. That is, either he will simply accept our conditions, or he will appoint his own. Here's what it all sounds like.

You: You know, Arkady Petrovich, other people working in your field told me the same thing before I came and showed them how our program can simplify their work and reduce costs.

Could we meet? Will Wednesday at two o'clock suit you?

decision maker

And if in this case the person repeats - “No! We don’t need anything,” you can congratulate yourself. You have already received one justified refusal. It looks like they really don't need to improve anything in this moment. Eighteen more such refusals and the deal is in your pocket.

To consolidate, let's write down the whole scheme of talking on the phone with the decision maker once again.

You: Hello, Arkady Petrovich (we learned the name from the secretary). My name is Dmitry, I'm from Peresvet, and I'm calling you about a new anti-virus program for corporate networks ( Stage #1)

You: Tell me, please, would you be interested in increasing the level of protection of your computer network? ( Stage #2 - Pause…)

decision maker: No, thank you, we are not interested in this now.

You: You know, Arkady Petrovich, other people working in your field told me the same thing before I came and showed them how our program can simplify their work and reduce costs ( Stage #3)

Could we meet? Will Wednesday at two o'clock suit you? ( Stage #4)

decision maker: Let's better on Thursday, at one o'clock in the afternoon. I will have half an hour.

Conclusion

We have discussed how best to build a conversation scheme for cold calls. I remind you that the gatekeeper must be pushed through, and the decision maker must receive a “reasonable refusal” or “reasonable consent”. The main thing is not to confuse.

Don't forget to download my book. There I show you the fastest way from zero to the first million on the Internet (squeezed from personal experience for 10 years =)

Happy hunting!

April 10, 2018

In this article, we will take a closer look at the technology of cold calls, tell you about original scripts and the rules for conducting successful telephone conversations, we will share the secrets of where it is better to start, we will explain what stages of interaction with a client exist, we will teach you how to determine efficiency and set goals correctly, we will provide a training video.

All the secrets of "cold" sales: definition of the concept, main goals of a phone call, principles of negotiation

They are called so because customers are rather cold about your attempts to establish contact with them. Remember how you yourself perceive calls from strangers? Usually they do nothing but annoy the person who picks up the phone.

From here we get first tip: so that there is less "cold" in the conversation, try Call people you know first! Of course, the degree of acquaintance with the people around us is different - someone is a close friend or relative in general, and with someone you just have a superficial acquaintance, you crossed paths once at some business event and simply exchanged business cards. But in any case, a conversation with such a person will be easier, with less chance of irritation, reciprocal rudeness and blocking the number.

At the time of such a call, you must be absolutely confident in the quality of your product or service, in the reliability of your company as a manufacturer / supplier of goods or a service provider. Otherwise, the deal, if it is concluded, will lead to the disappointment of your friend, and there it is possible complete break your personal good relations! Our main goal is satisfied customers!

Of course, your call and the topic of conversation should be of at least a little interest to your familiar interlocutor! You should not ask a sedentary disabled person about how he chooses vouchers for ski resorts. At best, he will be surprised, at worst, you run the risk of being blocked and being blacklisted by your friend.

By the way, talking about blocking phone numbers and spam filters: as the number of incorrectly made cold phone calls, spam in sms and instant messengers began to develop actively, various applications automatically cut off unwanted calls and messages!

And since there is a request from irritated subscribers, then they have created an appropriate proposal to solve the problem! In particular, now the free #numbuster application already knows 500 million (!!!) phone numbers from all over the world, its database is constantly updated and successfully cuts off unwanted calls and messages. So, if you really don't want to be blocked and get spam flags that 500 million people on the planet will see - do not call incorrectly and do not send spam! Never!

Tip #3: before making a call, try to spend at least a minimum reconnaissance about the person, organization and industry you are going to call. And about the current situation in the client's company. Your acquaintances and persons recommended to you - this also applies, pay attention!

Different companies in the course of their existence constantly move along the curve life cycle: someone in growth, someone in recession. If you do not know the current situation in the company, then you can easily get into the wrong phase with your proposal and again run into refusals, objections, delays, and perhaps even outright rudeness! No need to create problems for yourself or your customers.

Example: you call a stable company, but offer the services of a quick, “half-legal bankruptcy”. What is the most likely answer on the phone?

Similarly, according to specific person. Perhaps you were advised to call Vasya P., category purchasing manager for retail chain X. You call, ask him, start discussing the deal, and he replies with irritation that he has been working as director of development for the entire chain for a long time and does not discuss ordinary deals anymore. Consider this!

Quite a lot of fresh and useful information about the client's company and its first person can be gleaned in advance and from completely open sources. We also have a case with a cold contact conversion of 36%. If you want to receive this information right now and for free, write to Vladimir Khmelev about it.

Tip number 4: you don’t need to try to sell a complex product with a long sales cycle in the B2B, B2G segment on the first call to a stranger. Especially if several people of different positions are responsible for such transactions in the buyer's organization. It is necessary to organize the client along the entire long chain of the transaction, which has recently been called CJM (English: Customer Journey Map).

Tip #5: Don't sell products and services over the phone based on their face value. We've heard some managers trying to phone wrapping cartons because it's 5-ply and because it's so cheap. The contact ended traditionally with no result - a proposal to dump all the information in email. As you know, the table in the letter itself does not sell anything. And the cardboard, in itself, is not needed by the client. And you need the benefit that it brings when used.

Do not sell drills. Sell ​​holes created with their help!
To make it clearer, let's give another example: everyone knows the OSAGO (auto civil liability) policy. Insurance companies sell it as a piece of paper or simply an entry in the electronic register of all policies (PCA) worth 5-10-20 thousand rubles, taking advantage of the fact that this document is required by law for every driver along with a driver's license and car documents.

But the driver in itself does not need a “paper” for such money, he needs guarantees (!) that his insurance company, in the event of an accident, will cover his expenses. Q: Which insurance agent is selling these policies as "guarantees"? Nobody! Let's say more: some unscrupulous insurance companies sell these "papers" with imposition additional services which is a direct violation of consumer protection law.

Don't make the same mistakes over the phone! Do not sell cardboard only as cardboard, and the OSAGO policy as an obligatory "piece of paper"!

The main reason why deals fail is the incompetence of specialists. They do not know the elementary rules for constructing a telephone dialogue. Many do not understand the purpose of the work being done. They forget that they need to attract as many customers as possible to the company, and not just ring the base and breathe a sigh of relief, completing the call to the last number on the list.

Tip #6: No matter how well the seller is trained, there will still be refusals, including in a tough form (according to experience - in about 5% of cases). How to reduce psychological discomfort and emotional burnout? Conduct a phone call session in a "pipeline" fashion: make dozens of phone calls one after another without being distracted by anything else, do not discuss “this psycho” with colleagues, do not run to smoke and drink coffee, do not be distracted by social networks and instant messengers. Even if there is one unpleasant call, according to your general impressions of the work performed, it will “smear” in the rest of the mass of normal calls!

This point includes advice: do not take failures personally. The client is not yelling at you personally, but at an offer that is not relevant to him yet. May be time will pass and he himself will regret that he refused to talk to you to the end, to learn something valuable and useful for himself.

More about the psychological preparation for phone calls (any: outgoing, incoming, cold, warm) is well described in the book by E. Zhigiliya "Call Master". Buy it, download it, study it, you won't regret it!

Cold Calling: Customer Acquisition Techniques and Telephone Sales Schemes

Often, making unpleasant phone calls provoked by their own erroneous words, managers cannot overcome themselves and dial another number. Many refuse financially profitable positions only because management requires them to periodically contact potential customers from a common base and offer them goods or services of the company.

Fear of rejection from customers prevents you from working comfortably and making a decent profit. If your company has a similar situation, order a long-term turnkey sales development project from Vladimir Khmelev. Or at least the development of a system of successful cold sales by phone, incl. using the well-established SPIN technology (Author - Neil Rackham, USA).

He has experience in 40 different industries. It does not matter what kind of organization you represent: a large corporation or a small firm. Your employees will be taught in practice how to use modern Western technologies, taking into account the national mentality of our country. Vladimir Khmelev personally conducts the initial audit, conducts trainings, controls the training process, and gives a final assessment of the results achieved. He will not only talk about effective marketing tools, but also teach you how to use them. A signed contract for system training guarantees you an increase in sales profits.

Your managers will be able to work equally productively with both B2B, B2G and B2C segments, learn how to interact with retail clients in trading floors and wholesale buyers business meetings stop being afraid telephone conversations and learn how to turn their calls into closed deals.

Specialist high level communication by telephone owns such techniques that reduce the percentage of failures in "cold" sales to a minimum. Business owners who are poorly versed in this area believe that the conversion from such phone calls is very low. There is some truth in this. If the staff is not trained, it can really reach 1% or less. In other words, out of 100 calls, only 1 will hit the target.

And such performance will really contribute to the rapid morale of your salespeople, their low wages, high staff turnover and your high costs to recruit new employees. You will lose more money on endless recruiting of new salespeople than on one investment in the development of one quality “Phone Calling Algorithm” and training of your existing employees.

There are many ways to multiply conversions. First, develop and test a robust algorithm that will guide your managers later. By yourself or with the help of experts in this matter.

Read articles on this site about the sales funnel, about finding and attracting leads, about the features of business in B2B, B2G, B2C, about “squeezing deals”, maybe you will find some hints there…

Stages of cold calling sales

Step-by-step instructions are compiled for each business separately. If you contact the consultant Vladimir Khmelev, you will receive long text, taking into account the specifics of your activity, especially the sales of your particular product. An example script looks like this.

• Greetings. Establishing contact with the gatekeeper/secretary.
• Some magic phrase. Important news. Intrigue. Paradox. "Incomprehensible." Urgency. Idea….
• Switching to the LPR / LDPR.
• Establishing contact. "Hook" of a strategic question.
• Block of questions and generalizations Ideally - with the prevention of objections.
• Presentation / proposal.
• Work with objections.
• Closing of this stage of the transaction. Ideally, a deal.

Cold calls - telephone sales technique: examples of dialogues and conversation patterns for a sales manager

goal setting

Imagine that each stage is the links of the chain. Moving from one link to another, you will achieve a result - you will sell a product or service. But the goal of the first call need not be implementation.

Imagine that you are going to sell a batch of furs to a chain of luxury outerwear stores, you call the right person at the client and start telling him what wonderful fur things you are ready to give him with a 10% discount. You paint the advantages of silver fox vests for as long as 45 minutes, and the sale fails. Why?

The answer is simple: you didn't have the right goal for this particular conversation! What did you expect by listing the benefits for a long time? After all, a client cannot buy fur coats over the phone: he needs to get acquainted with the information on the terms of delivery, see and touch samples, meet with a manager in the client's network, find out their current conditions with other suppliers, compare your prices and the quality of products, and the cost of the same products from competing firms. Yes, he will not listen to you for so long! Maximum - offer to send your price list by e-mail, and most likely - rudely cut off the conversation.

The call will be effective and will not leave an unpleasant impression on both parties if you think in advance what you want to achieve. Your goal may be to prepare the person for a commercial offer: ensure that he reads it exactly, and does not send it to the spam folder. Tactics and strategies are chosen, depending on what you want to achieve by completing the next stage.

Forget phrases like “We offer”, “Best offer”, “I want to offer you”, “Mutually beneficial cooperation”. They pass you off as a salesperson. And untrained! At potential buyer there is a strong feeling that you will now “push”, “push”, impose something ... Or even you are scammers and just want to deceive him.

He will try to interrupt any communication with you immediately and harshly. To "hook" a client, say something about their organization. Before that, we recommend that you study the site, groups in in social networks. When will you receive necessary information, call and say: “As far as we know, you are engaged in cargo transportation, mainly by road, and are now expanding your staff. Jobs on the site say that you do not have enough drivers of the CE category. This is true?".

You will interest the person on the other end of the wire, he will want to continue communication and find out where the conversation will lead. Go ahead, fix the impression. State that your firm's expertise is closely related to what the potential buyer's company does. Your main activity is recruiting, and you can short time find right amount people with extensive experience and good recommendations for work in trucking.

Or: one of my clients from Voronezh provides services for SEO-promotion of corporate sites. So they pronounce the following intriguing words in the first phrase:

Who in your company is responsible for normal the work of your site? We have just noticed that if something is not corrected there now, then your organization will lose / receive less a noticeable part of clients / contracts / money / market share ... Do you think it is worth putting him (the decision maker) in the know?

A rare client will begin to freak out and hang up in response to this phrase ... The rest will be surprised and want to chat!

Identification of needs

Usually sales managers ask only technical questions. How many double glazing do you need? What is the area of ​​the loggia? What wall material? The information you receive will help you set a price and determine the scope of work, but will not cause the buyer to desire to purchase your product and it is from you. If you want to best effect in sales, you need to learn how to confidently pronounce all other types of questions from the SPIN-selling technology!

Listening to only general and situational questions, a person may be frightened (as in an interrogation), because he does not know how long it will take to answer questions: 5, 10, 30 minutes or an hour and start pushing back the “questionnaire”, saying that you call him back later.

This can happen for several reasons:

• you did not "hook" him with your "magic phrase" at the beginning of the conversation;
• he didn't like you, by your voice;
  you have not created even a minimum of confidence in yourself;
• you did not divert his attention to your conversation, did not secure his consent to talk;
• you have not reported the planned duration of your conversation;
• you talk a lot yourself;
• you ask a lot of closed questions and unsubstantiated statements;
• you did not show him the benefit of both the conversation itself and your future interaction;
• you chose not best time for cold calls - he really has no time (for example, he is driving now).

Your possible reaction:

• “I see, how much time do you have now? Maybe we can talk briefly? Saving time and money is always fun, right? Or: who in our difficult time will refuse an inexpensive but reliable way to attract new customers?
• “I understand you are a very busy person! Me too. Let's just have lunch together then, and at the same time discuss our cooperation, okay? Today or tomorrow? Name your favorite business lunch place and time - I'll be there!”
• “Now I will tell you a few words about our promotion so that you have an idea about the opportunity to receive gifts, I will ask a couple of clarifying questions, I will select several options that suit you, and you will see for yourself whether you are interested or not. This will take 2-3 minutes. Good?" With the phrase "then look" you leave the decision to the buyer, show that you are not going to "sell" anything. When a customer is “allowed” to refuse a purchase, paradoxically, he quickly agrees with it!
• “Okay, agreed, and when is it better for you to call back? I'll write it down."

Why cold calls still don't work

Let's take an example from personal experience. We heard this story from a teacher at the university last fall. Let's call her Olga Vasilievna. A respectable lady of the age with indignation told the following:

She received a call from a representative of a private clinic and said that their organization was holding a campaign, participating in which you could get a full medical examination at a good discount. The manager interviewed the teacher in detail, asked about all the diseases and complaints. The survey took about half an hour. The last question was: "How old are you?" Olga Vasilievna honestly answered: "Seventy-five." To which she was told: “Oh, sorry, we don’t treat such people.” Can you imagine the woman's reaction? It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

We will send the material to you:

From this article you will learn:

• What are cold calls
• Which companies will benefit from them?
• How to organize them
• How to script a cold call
• How to bypass the secretary and answer the objections of the decision maker
• What are the most common mistakes managers make in cold calls?
• How to evaluate the result, and then increase it

Cold calls are rightly considered the most difficult sales channel. Here, the manager needs the ability to interest the client, keep his attention and fend off objections, leading the interlocutor to the idea of ​​the need to make a purchase. We will figure out what mistakes are made when calling customers and how to conduct a dialogue so that your proposal finds a response.

What is cold calling in sales

The difficulty of cold calls is that the interlocutor does not expect your appeal and is not ready for it. It is possible that a product or service will be of interest to him, however, before you can talk about it, you need to get the attention of a potential buyer.

Such calls were called “cold” because the client needs to be “warmed up”, arouse his interest, arouse the desire to listen to you and, as a result, buy the offered product.

As a rule, such calls cause nothing but irritation, because you can be busy and answered only because you are waiting for important news from a partner or employees. Instead, you hear memorized phrases on the phone about the benefits of service in a particular beauty salon.

Most approaches to cold calling come from books by American marketers from the 1960s and 1980s:

1. The conversation is conducted according to a pre-written script (script).
2. At the beginning of the conversation, you need to introduce the company.
3. The call is preceded by serious preparatory work.

The first interlocutors of managers who make cold calls are secretaries. Over time, they begin to calculate such sentences for the first phrase and instantly turn off the conversation. This is where the difficulty lies: with cold calls, the person on the other side of the phone does not want to listen to a description of the merits of your offer.

To solve the first task - to interest the client - it takes time, but most often (more than 90% of cases) the conversation between the person making cold calls and the secretary of the organization does not exceed a minute, most which the manager does not speak himself, but listens to the refusal and receives a request to send offer.

Needless to say, as a result of several dozen such conversations a day, his motivation tends to zero? To once again pick up the phone and start a presentation, the employee requires a lot of courage.

Those who are just starting their career in cold sales usually rejoice when they hear the phrase "send a sales proposal." However, do not flatter yourself and try to send out as many emails as possible. Often this is just a polite refusal to continue communication, and the received offer will immediately be in the basket.

Also, newcomers often believe that the main purpose of cold calls is sales, but in fact they help to filter and expand the base of potential customers.

An instant sale is not at all a task that can be solved with a cold call. You should try to use the little time that the interlocutor gives you to present your company, find out if your product may be of interest to him, and achieve a personal meeting to get to know your offer in more detail.

Cold calling is only the first attempt to establish contact with a potential client. That is why, before dialing a number, it is worth making inquiries about the business of your future interlocutor, understanding for yourself how your product will be beneficial for him, and showing awareness in a conversation that can do a good job.

A good example of a cold call by Vin Diesel

Cold calling technique: pros and cons

There are several advantages inherent in cold calls:

• the first acquaintance takes place by phone, which means that time and money are saved on trips;
• compared to correspondence, even by e-mail, communication is carried out more quickly;
• the direct reaction of the interlocutor to the proposal voiced to him;
• overcoming mutual misunderstanding by clarifying questions;
• the use of prompts, scripts and other materials during the conversation on a computer monitor or on paper.

Cold calling involves overcoming some limitations:

• for the interlocutor, your call is an annoying hindrance that interferes with work;
• on the phone it is much easier to refuse or end the conversation, having come up with a convincing excuse;
• one can judge the opponent's reaction only by intonation;
• you can not use visual means of confirmation - drawings, photos, graphs;
• the danger that your words will be misunderstood.

Submit your application

Which companies are suitable for cold calling?

Cold calls can be used by anyone whose average profit from each sale exceeds 250 rubles. But there are sellers for whom this method is recommended in the first place:

• B2B sales with 2000 potential customers.

If there are much fewer of them, the call will be completed within two weeks. Cold calling for B2B is recognized as the most effective way.

• B2C sales for a very wide range of customers.

Getting a database of individuals with the desired segmentation is almost impossible. This means that your product should be of interest to the majority of callers. For example, cold calls are successfully used by dentists, beauty salons, gas meter sellers, and plastic window maintenance firms.

In general, telephone conversations with individuals is easier and more efficient than with companies.

• Increasing the cost of context and other ways to find customers.

In such cases, cold calls are a real lifesaver for the business. Otherwise, you can spend more on marketing and lead generation than you earn in the end.

• High average check and expensive leads.

Let's say you have no problem paying for expensive advertising. However, a lead that cost 500 rubles pleases more than a lead that cost 10,000 rubles.

No one but you can tell for sure if cold calling is right for your business. But, if you need to increase sales, and other methods are not suitable because of their high cost, if you are ready to learn new techniques and you are not afraid of the unknown, try it. Perhaps this method will be the most successful for your niche.

How to calculate how much a cold call will cost

Let's consider a simple example.

You pay 20 thousand rubles to each of the three managers. The remote form of work allows you to save on office rent and computer equipment, with the exception of paying for telephone communications, say, 4,000 rubles per month for each employee (the amounts may vary depending on the region and the duration of the calls).

Therefore, your monthly expenses are 3 x 20 + 3 x 4 = 72 thousand rubles.

Cold calling tracking gives you accurate information: each employee makes 150 calls daily, 150 x 22 (workdays) x 3 = 9,900. Your average conversion rate is 5%, which means you have 495 leads per month.

We calculate the cost of one call: 72,000 / 9,900 = 7.27 rubles.

One potential client costs you 72,000 / 495 = 145 rubles.

This is where the conversion statistics of cold calls to leads are important. A high conversion automatically reduces the cost of a lead, and vice versa.

Let's calculate the cost of the transaction. Let's say the conversion from the lead is 15%, that is, each client will cost 966 rubles (145 / 15% = 966). The average profit per trade must exceed this amount.

How to organize cold calls

So, you've decided to introduce cold calling to increase sales without major marketing investments. There are two options: create a department in your company and entrust him with the function of finding new customers or entrust this work to a specialized firm - a call center.

The choice depends on the tasks before you. If a one-time customer survey is planned to update the database, it makes no sense to open separate division, it is more logical to entrust calling customers to a call center. But we want to warn about the risks that accompany cooperation with such an organization.

Of course, if the company plans to regularly search for new customers, it is necessary to create a telemarketing department that, using cold calls, will offer your product to a wide range of potential buyers.

The costs of outsourcing and maintaining the activities of your own unit are about the same level. However, having your own department gives you some advantages:

1. Employees of the structural division of the company are much better acquainted with the specifics of the product that they offer to customers. Education own employees easier to organize, moreover, it will require less cost. At the same time, they will act much more efficiently than the involved specialists.
2. In-house telemarketers can offer all of the company's products. At the same time, the cost of staff training will be minimal, and besides, you will not need to pay for the lease of the database.
3. If products or services are more complex, it will be much more difficult for outside workers understand the nuances of their application and Communicating the right information to potential customers in the right way.
4. Own staff is much easier to control. You can make adjustments to the work as soon as necessary, but in cooperation with the agency, this will require much more effort.
5. It also saves time and money when starting a new project., because you do not have to negotiate, pay for services, set up equipment and software under new script. Calling customers about a new product can start at least two weeks early.
6. When working with a call center, you have to make sure that its operators and your sales managers do not attack the same subscribers at the same time. In addition, by transferring the database to unauthorized hands, you risk quite a lot.
7. Your own division can act as a base for the training of sales managers. People who go through cold calls become specialists who can sell anything to anyone.

What a cold call manager should be able to do

cold call manager- this is an employee who is tasked with finding leads, getting new customers for the company's product.

In the process of work, he makes cold calls, gets access to the decision maker (decision maker) through the secretary, makes sure that the client is in need of the proposed product or service, possibly sends a commercial offer and “hands” the prepared buyer to the sales manager.

In another way, these specialists are called call center managers. Large companies, as a rule, have a fairly large lead generation sector, allocated to a separate call center, whose functions include both making cold outgoing calls and receiving incoming calls. When contact is established, "warm" clients are transferred to the next stage.

A lot of requirements are imposed on the call center manager: the ability to quickly switch between different scripts, to be well versed in professional programs promptly respond to the interlocutor's remarks.

All this requires constant tension from employees, so the turnover in these positions is traditionally high, but it is not difficult to find a new employee to replace the departed employee, because special skills are not required here, and training takes place quite quickly.

The third name for such specialists is telemarketing manager. It has taken root in large companies - banks, Internet providers, etc. The work takes place in specially allocated premises, where workplaces with specialized software are located, while the regime is strictly regulated.

A huge database is used for calling, the number of cold calls is measured in hundreds per day, and one cannot deviate from the developed script. It is quite difficult, and the salary, as a rule, is small (about 15 thousand rubles). However, this is a colossal school and those who do not break down and do not burn out while working in this position become real professionals.

The disadvantages include the fact that the telemarketing manager communicates with end customers, so the acquired skills may not be enough for B2B.

Experience shows that a certain type of person is best suited to work in such positions: active, assertive, well-trained, not shy in conflict situation and able to continue a conversation even when the interlocutor does not show interest in him. Of course, an indispensable condition is well-developed speech and excellent diction.

Given all these requirements, a good cold caller is a godsend. If you have such employees, you are guaranteed a stable influx of low-cost leads.

What do you need to do to get these professionals in your telemarketing department? Nothing special - we just give an announcement about the recruitment of employees. Gone are the days when it took six months to train them. In fact, it is enough for a person who comes from the street to provide:

• a clear logical conversation script (script) on two or three sheets;
• customer base;
• list specific tasks: do something and get so much.

This is enough to new employee began to bring you leads on the first day after listening to the introductory briefing.

Why you need a cold call script

A script is a carefully thought-out sequence of actions that an employee takes in the course of making cold calls.

This is a kind of algorithm, thanks to which the manager clearly knows what he should say to a potential client, in what sequence, how to respond to objections coming from the interlocutor. At the first contact, a cold call script is an indispensable thing, because we have a minimum of information about the client, just like he does about our company.

The effectiveness of the next communication attempts will depend on the fruitfulness of the first conversation, since it is at this stage that the manager finds out whether the interlocutor has a need for the company's goods and services, or the product is not interesting to him. In this case, it makes no sense to waste time on it, it is better to switch to the search for those to whom we can benefit.

For the second contact with a potential client, the script is no less valuable. Based on a well-thought-out conversation script, the employee moves directly towards the goal, and he has a much greater chance that the result will be positive compared to an employee who is not armed with a script.

An example of a scripted cold call:

How to write and implement a cold call script

Stage 1. Preparation of information

Cold calls are preceded by the collection and analysis of information in five areas:

1. We set a goal: registration, invitation or instant sale.
2. Product. We select arguments to confirm the value through the HPV algorithm: characteristics - advantages - benefits.
3. The target audience. We formulate the needs of potential customers.
4. Competitors. We try to get the scripts of the leading players in our niche and study what they focus on in cold calls. You can get scripts in different ways: using the mystery shopper technique, getting a job with a competitor or making a direct request - it is quite possible that you will be met halfway.
5. internal sources. We carefully analyze cold calls that ended in a purchase; find and select key points, which can be used when creating a script.

Stage 2. Creating a test case

Having finished collecting preliminary information, we try to write a test script. This work should be based on three basic points on which cold calls are built:

1. Structure. The sales classic is something you should constantly think about when building the structure of the script. Without applying the algorithm of five stages of sales (opening - identifying needs - presentation - working with objections - closing), cold calls simply do not exist.
2. Length. It depends on the goal of the seller, and can vary from five minutes, when the manager implements lead generation (registers and invites), to 10-12 minutes, if the goal is to close the deal directly during telephone conversations.

The difference is due to the fact that in the second case, the movement follows a cyclical scenario during the processing of objections. During the specified period of time, the specialist must close up to five objections. If the resistance of the buyer could not be broken, the conversation ends, since there is no longer any point in continuing it.

1. Flexibility. The script can be written in such detail that the employee making cold call, you only need to speak the programmed text. Work with objections is also subject to automation. It is important to pronounce phrases in the right tone and with the right mood.

This is quite realistic if the product is simple, and the audience does not go beyond the boundaries of the outlined framework.

Stage 3. Testing the script

Having created the text of the cold calling script, we carry out its trial run. We control managers according to the following checklist:

• the employee does not deviate from the text;
• the interlocutor fails to seize the initiative in the conversation;
• the script provides for all types of customer objections;
• what phrases provoked the refusal of the purchase.

Stage 4. We introduce the script into the work of managers

The tested and finalized cold call script is subjected to automation. Existing services make it possible:

• writing, correcting and updating the text in one place;
• comparing the effectiveness of various scripts and managers;
• displaying the required parts of the script during the dialogue;
• search for stages at which a failure is fixed;
• integration of all data with CRM.

The right cold call with quick access to the decision maker

For a cold call specialist, the first task that needs to be solved is considered to be reaching the decision maker (decision maker). This person in the company is responsible for whether the product you offer will be purchased. Therefore, a conversation about the merits of a product should be carried out only with him, all other options are simply meaningless.

Most often, the decision maker is the CEO or CEO, Chief Engineer- It depends on the specifics of the business. Almost each of them has a secretary who screens out unwanted interlocutors, among which cold-call managers are secretly included.

Is it possible to overcome this obstacle? Let's consider several options:

See how the individual ways look in real life:

Cold calling + objection handling

Very expensive

• It's great that the budget of the company is so important to you. Tell me, is it only a matter of price or do you have other wishes to change our product / service?
• Therefore, all our regular customers are people who appreciate quality and do not like to pay twice.
• Yes, each of us would like to get excellent service and excellent quality, paying as little as possible. But you know perfectly well that most often these concepts are incompatible. Is it important to you that the product is reliable?

I will think

The answer "I'll think about it" is the equivalent of a polite refusal. Specify what exactly confuses the client in your product:

• Of course, as you wish. Let me tell you about the additional benefits of our product so that it is easier for you to make a decision.
• I think in general you liked our offer. Or are there things you don't understand?

Submit a commercial offer

• Yes, definitely. But I ask you to clarify a couple of questions in order to compose it specifically for you, taking into account your needs.
• Of course, I will send you an offer as soon as we meet and talk about special conditions that we can offer to your company. Your office is on the fifteenth floor, am I right?
• I think you get a lot of offers. In order not to take up your time, let's clarify what is most relevant for you, and I will prepare an offer based on your wishes.

• Perhaps now our product is not of interest to you. But over time, you may need it and you will know exactly where to go so as not to waste time searching.
• Tell me, what conditions of cooperation would suit you?

If you give me a 30% discount, I will buy

• We would gladly give you this discount if we overcharged. But we initially form the price so that you do not overpay, so this is already an excellent offer compared to competitors.
• We practice providing such discounts if _____ or ______. Let's discuss the details, and if you fall under these conditions, I will seek a reduction in cost for you.

Others are cheaper

• Yes, of course, someone's price is always lower. But are you ready to test own experience Why do they offer such conditions? Are you ready to receive a low quality product or limited service?
• Yes, but the price is not the only criterion when choosing, right? Let me explain what is the difference between our products and then you can decide if it is worth paying less. In any case, the choice is yours.

We work with others

• It's great that you appreciate your partners. But I am not saying that you should cut off your cooperation. Let me tell you what else we can offer you.
• Yes, it is a good supplier. But listen to our offer: it will probably help you negotiate a lower price with him. Or start working with us.

How Sales Managers Fail Cold Calling

A cold call is likely to fail if you:

• Don't prepare for dialogue.

A cold call involves a conversation on a specific topic within a given time limit. Each replica should be confident, thoughtful and with a clear goal.

• You will lead a boring monologue on one note.

Not a single person will listen to your memorized speech, especially if it is spoken without emotion and the slightest interest in the result. An attempt to speak without allowing replicas from the interlocutor is the second mistake. Not only do you have to convey information about the product, your task is to determine the needs of the client and collect as much information about him as possible.

• Don't use words that show politeness.

Be courteous in conversation: Saying "thank you", "please" and "all the best" indicates your respect for the other person.

• You will be selling goods on the go.

The biggest chance of failing a cold call is to start with a sale. A person who is not ready to buy will immediately refuse, even if your offer is attractive from any point of view. Generate interest first, get the client to talk, and secure an appointment.

What does a good cold call look like?

1. A telephone conversation should not last more than five minutes.

The best option is three minutes. This is not as small as it seems. If you do not scatter on unnecessary details, it is quite possible to calmly and confidently convey the necessary information and get a positive answer.

1. The interlocutor does not see you, but this is not a reason to sit with a sour face.

Exude kindness, good mood perfectly conveyed by your intonation.

1. Focus on the buying company.

"You", "your company", "you will get", "you are right" and so on.

1. Maximum specificity in the proposal.

Instead of “Maybe we will meet? ..” we say “When is it more convenient for you to meet - on Thursday or Friday?”. The first question allows the interlocutor to refuse, the second not only excludes such a possibility, but also forces you to flip through the diary in search of free time.

Why Record a Cold Call Dialogue

The calling process must be controlled. A cold call script is an algorithm by which an employee acts. However, professionals recommend checking how the manager "walks" through the script. The easiest way to do this is to listen to recorded conversations between your subordinates and potential buyers.

There are several benefits of recording cold calls:

1. You are gradually collecting an invaluable archive, where you can find both a dialogue that can become a model for other employees, and an example of a failed conversation that demonstrates how not to work with a client.

Working on mistakes will help managers hone the technique of cold calls, and transcripts of recordings will form the basis of training for staff. The best dialogues that ended in a sale are used to correct scripts, while the bad ones serve as material for typing errors that lead to a deal failure.

1. Knowing that their work is being recorded and reviewed keeps managers on track to follow established rules and get the best results.

Naturally, you can't listen to absolutely every conversation, but employees are zealous because they don't know whose call is being monitored at the moment. As a rule, ambitious people go to sales, and no one wants to be the worst.

1. Bank of records- good way insure against conflict. Unpleasant situations happen to both employees and customers. Having the evidence base in hand, you have a serious advantage in their analysis.

Let's outline the measures that will help set up the process of wiretapping calls and make it regular:

1. The first step is the integration of CRM with IP-telephony. This is the only way to technically ensure that cold calls are recorded for later review.
2. Periodically ask the head of sales for information about the most problematic stages of transactions. To answer this question, he will have to regularly listen and analyze cold calls.
3. Constantly ask the head of sales for links to the best and worst dialogue recordings. This will not allow him to abandon work on the mistakes of managers, and the data bank will be regularly updated with fresh cases.
4. Instruct to develop manager development checklists - checklists with the skills needed by the seller. On their basis, it is possible to carry out a technological analysis of the qualitative parameters of telephone conversations, and not just give them a subjective assessment.

3 ways to evaluate the effectiveness of cold calls

• Evaluation of the performance of each manager.

Count the number of calls made by one employee per day. Often the manager plays for time, preferring to work with the base, and not with live clients. This approach is explained by the high stress load: telemarketers are constantly faced with a negative reaction from the interlocutor.

Experience shows that every employee should make 100-120 daily cold calls. If this figure is below 80, it is worth taking action.

• Evaluation of the performance of each manager.

You can calculate sales performance by dividing the number of successful cold calls per manager by their productivity and multiplying the result by 100%. The average figure, depending on the business area, varies from 5 to 15%. It is necessary to keep statistics for each employee and use the data obtained to motivate him.

• Evaluation of the profitability of "cold" telemarketing.

Profitability is calculated by the formula: ((income - expenses) / expenses) * 100%.

1. Enter a system of motivation for account managers. The effectiveness of motivation in cold sales is quite high, so it makes sense to identify every month the best manager and encourage him financially.
2. Edit and change the sales script. If, as a result of the analysis, it turns out that most of the dialogues end at the same step, it is worth making adjustments to this part of the conversation script.
3. Implement a CRM system that can be linked to telephony. As a result, you will be able to track how much time an employee spends on cold calls, as well as immediately see who and when the deal was closed.

   The introduction of an auto-dial system, which independently selects a client and makes a call, will minimize the likelihood of a manager delaying the conversation.

4. Train your managers. Don't challenge telemarketers to mechanically reproduce script text. It should serve as the basis for their confident speech that can interest the client, while the ability to improvise is only encouraged.

These skills need to be worked out at internal trainings or by inviting reputable sales specialists.

• Igor Alyasiev, Elena Alexandrova “Direct sales: features of national “cold calls”.

The feeling of indecision is familiar to anyone who had to make the first cold call in their life. What to say at the very beginning? How to continue so that the interlocutor wants to listen to you? What might be of interest to him? How to respond to objections? How to get an appointment? How to get a positive result in the end, how to achieve the goal set by the management?

The answers to all these questions are in the book, so anyone who wants to overcome their shyness and fear, learn how to find contact with any client, convince and sell by phone, it will be very useful. The authors supplemented the second edition with examples of real dialogues.

• Stephen Schiffman "Cold Calling Techniques"

The sales manager faces difficult tasks: to get an agreement to a meeting, to present a product or service, to achieve a deal. How to do it easily and successfully, how to achieve your goals and raise your own bar higher and higher? The book offers proven ways to solve these problems.

• Anastasia Kozachenko Cold calls and what they are eaten with.

The technique of cold calling does not lose its relevance, and the author of this book has done everything to convey maximum useful information to readers. Just look at the content, and it becomes clear that there is everything that a person who aspires to become an ace in this field of sales can need.

For any company, the issue of finding new customers is always relevant, which is associated with work in the "cold" market. How are cold sales different from warm sales? How to make an unfamiliar skeptical person a "hot" client?

How are cold sales different from hot sales?

Negotiations with clients without intermediaries are referred to as "Hot" and "cold" sales are carried out in different markets. The "hot" market is regular customers, shop visitors, that is, the target audience.

For any company, the issue of finding new customers is always relevant, which is associated with work in the "cold" market. As a rule, "cold" sales are business trips, telephone conversations and a mandatory meeting with a product presentation.

"Cold" calls are telephone conversations, the result of which should be a positive attitude, an appointment or a deal.

The specifics of working in the "cold" market

Working in a cold market has its pros and cons.

Any cold sales department needs technology to help them work effectively with customers.

10 Rules for Successful Cold Selling

1. Let go of tension and relax before negotiating. A successful salesperson is an energetic and self-confident person.
2. Self-motivation.
3. Thoroughly know the product to be sold.
4. Create a comfortable environment for the client, arouse sympathy. To "hook" the buyer, just to interest, but not to "shove" the goods.
5. Feel the client. What language, with what intonation does he speak? You can use similar vocabulary, tone of voice, style of speech.
6. Generate interest in yourself, in your product, service, company with the help of the media and participation in customer meetings, forums, fairs, exhibitions and other events. Creation of newsletters, leaflets with useful information for potential customers.
7. Record effective cold calls with meeting arrangements.
8. Constantly and daily replenish the database of new customers.
9. Remember that every “no” brings you closer to closing the deal. In order to make a good deal, you have to be ready to hear a lot of rejections.
10. Be sure to prepare before calls and meetings using cold sales scenarios.

Ability to respond to failure

Drawing up a form (table) for entering information received during negotiations.

Work in pairs. Conversation with the manager, head of department and director. The goal is to make an appointment.

How to bypass Cerberus?

Choose tactics and come up with a wording to get around the adamant secretary.

objections

Memorize the answers to common objections and work in pairs.

• "We have entered into an agreement with another company."
• "We're not interested in that."
• "We don't need that."
• "We can't afford it."
• "Call another employee."

As statistics show, almost 90% of the information received at trainings, seminars is forgotten in a month. Trainings are useful if the sales manager regularly trains, repeats and consolidates the knowledge gained during the training.

Conclusion

All the secrets of "cold" sales are to constantly work on yourself. The one who is capable of self-motivation succeeds. Faith and love for your work help to resolve any difficult situations!

Many who decide to work as a sales manager are faced with the need to make cold calls. However, not everyone understands what it is, and do not know the rules by which they should be carried out. Against the backdrop of the great importance of such activities, the inability to make sales by phone can drop the employee's credibility in the eyes of management.

essence

It is not difficult to understand what cold calls are in sales. Their technique involves calling potential customers who are not yet familiar with the company. The goal is to interest a person and encourage them to contact the organization to purchase a product or service, as well as to expand the customer base.

Some people think that cold calling techniques are quite simple. However, this is not at all the case. To succeed in this area of ​​activity, you should study a huge number of nuances and pitfalls. That is why managers who own this technique are in demand among employers.

There are three characteristics that an employee must have in order for the effectiveness of cold calls to be sufficiently high: a sufficient level of self-control, full knowledge of the information about the goods and services offered, knowledge of the tastes and preferences of potential customers.

Shortage of professionals

Specialists who understand how to make cold calls are in high demand. However, their number in the labor market is very small. The reason lies primarily in psychological factors.

Many people cannot overcome themselves and call a stranger. They are afraid that a potential client will simply reject them and refuse to talk, because no one likes it when they call stranger while trying to sell something. That is why for a specialist, cold calls can be a very serious test of strength.

However, the manager should not be afraid to hear “no”. All objections can be predicted in advance, so with the right behavior you can try to prevent them. At the same time, it is important to conduct a conversation not in stereotyped phrases, but to develop your own answers in accordance with the situation. It is also necessary to learn how to determine the intonation of the voice and respond to it adequately.

Rules

There are a number of rules that must be followed by managers making cold calls. The technique of selling by phone implies following the following principles:

1. Do not immediately try to sell a product or service during the first call. It is even useful to emphasize that the goal of the manager is not bargaining. It is much more important at this moment to collect information about a potential client and achieve his location.
2. It's important to ask the right questions. This will create an impression of both the specialist and the company he represents. Competent dialogue increases the chances to interest a potential client. That is why you should prepare very carefully for the conversation. If the manager has information about the company and is oriented in the market situation, he will create an impression of himself as a competent specialist. The purpose of the first call is to collect as much useful information as possible about the problems a potential client has in order to offer him effective solution similar difficulties.
3. It is important to try to arrange a personal meeting. If the manager manages to do this, the chance of converting a potential client to permanent status will increase significantly.

First difficulties

Anyone who decides to use cold calling techniques will have to face a huge number of difficulties. Most of them appear at the very beginning of the conversation.

The first problem is that in most large companies all calls go to the secretary first. He recognizes standard telephone sales patterns very quickly. Many secretaries have learned to competently interrupt calls even before the manager has time to convey any information.

The next difficulty is that customers during a cold call usually do not want to communicate. In this case, the manager must arouse some interest in the opponent. However, this is difficult to do because the potential client rarely wants to talk. Many cold calls last no more than 60 seconds. The manager should not flatter himself if he was asked to send a commercial offer and even gave an email address. It still hardly means anything. The fact is that most of the offers of unfamiliar firms are deleted without reading.

Reasons for not liking cold calls

The phenomenon of cold calling is that they are disliked by both sides of the process. Managers are afraid to use such technologies and try their best to avoid them. Clients listen to a lot of cold calls from specialists. And often those who sell are not even able to properly make an offer. However, those managers who are really interested in what cold calls are in sales, how to make them correctly, are able to overcome all the difficulties of this complex technique. For this, it is necessary to study the technologies on which such negotiations are conducted. It is important to gradually get rid of the need to follow the script.

How to increase the chance of success

Cold calling technology can be very effective if you follow a few rules. It is worth starting communication with a question that will help you quickly find out whether the company receiving the call can be attributed to the target audience. The reason should not be the desire to sell, impose a product or service. In this case, the conversation is unlikely to last long enough. Much more effective is the manager's offer of a free trial service or seminar. At the same time, he should not be afraid of failures. They are inevitable. Only by passing through them, you can achieve success.

call script

Any business event will be much more effective if you prepare for it in advance. In this regard, there is a wide scope for creativity for managers who make cold calls. Selling by phone means that the interlocutors do not see each other. And this means that you can lay out a variety of cheat sheets, diagrams and tips around.

A pre-written conversation script will help to overcome fear and make speech more confident. It must contain the following blocks:

• The greeting should be in the form "Good morning!" or "Good afternoon!".
• Representation: you need to give your name and the name of the company that the manager represents.
• The purpose of the "acquaintance" block is to find out the name and position of the person who is in charge of the issue of interest.
• Presentation: briefly indicates the scope of the organization.
• The suggestion is to indicate the purpose of the call. It can be an invitation to a seminar, a story about discounts and promotions.
• A question that helps to test whether the company belongs to the target audience.
• The final. The ideal option will make an appointment.

It should be understood that it is not always possible to fit a cold call into this scheme. This example is approximate, it can be modified depending on how the dialogue unfolds.

Stephen Schiffman

There are a huge number of authors who study the techniques of cold calling in their writings. Shiffman Stephen is one of the most famous. In his books there is not only a description of the methods, but also practical advice on their application. The author is a fan of studying phone sales. He carefully lays out all the mechanics of calls and gives a huge number of recommendations. One of the principles that Stephen Schiffman advises to adhere to is that cold calls should not be annoying and repetitive. The books give specific advice on how to respond to customer objections.

Objection handling

An important stage in the sales process, including by phone, is the handling of objections. Managers who have not studied the methods of working with them most often get lost during a conversation, begin to stutter, and behave insecurely. Here are a few examples that can help a merchant respond to the most common objections of potential customers.

In the event that a manager hears a phrase on duty with a request to send an offer by e-mail, he must understand that this is just an excuse. It is best to state at the same time that the assortment of the company is huge and try to persuade the client to a personal meeting for the purpose of presentation. In response to the phrase "I'm not interested in this," one can say that there is not a single person who is interested in what he does not know.

Curious is the use of the boomerang method. It means that objections should be returned to the client. In the event that he declares that he does not have time to talk, you can answer the following: the manager seeks to save his time and, for this purpose, offers a certain product or service. It is best to prepare possible objections and answers to them in advance, write them down on a piece of paper. It is important not only to learn them, but also to keep a list at hand just in case. If a new objection comes up during the call, it is worth writing it down. Subsequently, it will be possible to come up with the most successful answer.

Probability theory

Every manager must understand that there are no perfect sales techniques. Regardless of what techniques the specialist uses, it will not be possible to avoid failures. However, there is one principle that is important to know if cold calling is being used. Conventionally, it can be called the theory of probability. The first call is unlikely to lead to a deal. However, the more the manager makes contacts with clients, the higher the chance to make deals. That is why you should regularly make calls in large numbers.

Customer Knowledge

Important conditions successful sales on the phone is customer knowledge. That is why the manager must first collect as much information about him as possible.

First of all, the Internet can help in collecting data. A huge amount of useful information is contained on the company's website, as well as various official resources. At the first stage, you should find out the need for the product and service of this particular company. It would be helpful to know the leader's name. This will impress and increase the chance of a positive effect.

Maintaining contact

Once you've established contact with a potential client over the phone, it's important to keep them going. You can't let them forget about the firm's offerings. There are several ways to regularly remind yourself by sending the following items:

• news booklets that should be of interest to the client and related to his occupation;
• invitations to events, seminars and exhibitions;
• greeting cards and small gifts for the holidays.

All this helps to maintain a positive impression of the company.

Without training and gaining experience by making a huge number of calls, it is impossible to achieve significant results. However, following a number of recommendations will help improve and speed up the result. Let's summarize them at the end of the article:

1. The script of the conversation should be drawn up in advance. It should be carefully considered.
2. During the conversation, you need to be calm and confident. The manager must be able to overcome the excitement. Trembling in the voice will not bring a positive effect.
3. Do not get involved in conflicts.
4. In the event that the client states that he does not have time to talk, it is best for the manager to clarify when it is most convenient to call back and say goodbye politely.
5. If a categorical refusal is received in response to an offer, you must apologize and say goodbye.
6. It is important to mention promotions and discounts, to offer product samples.
7. You should carefully, without interrupting, listen to the client. Any objections can be made only after he has finished speaking.

It is possible to succeed in cold sales. But this is quite difficult and will require some effort from the manager.