Cold Calling is one of those things that many people have an aversion to doing. They may worry that they will annoy potential clients or they may simply have a fear of talking to someone that they don’t know and making a pitch. This is perfectly normal but if you do things the correct way, listen to who ever is on the other end of the phone, and are polite, it should be a positive experience for everyone.
When you are first starting out, picking up the phone can cause alot of anxiety for people. The way I got through this is by taking things one step at a time. First I would dial the number and put my finger on the call button and press. Once I released my finger the number would dial and I would do the best I could. Its important to remember that by simply calling, you have already won. Be independent of the outcome of each call. Not every one will go well especially when starting out but that is okay. You may even have to call and then hang up a few times to get over the fear to make the call.
One thing that is reassuring that I wished I new when I started was that you don’t need to have a 20 minute conversation with the person on the other end of the line. You may get someone who is particularly chatty but most of the time the call will only take 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure you get to the point when doing B2B calls because these people are busy and don’t have time to talk long. Your goal is to get the potential client interested and then ask them if you could email them some more information to read later.
After you get them interested ask them if this is something they would like to hear more about then close by asking them if you could email them some more info, get the email address, then let them know that you will send over the information shortly and ask if you can call them again sometime tomorrow to go over everything when they have some extra time. Make sure you set up a specific time to call when they won’t be so busy.
You may be wondering ‘What should I email them?’. Type up a template describing your product or service, and most importantly how it will benefit your client and what results to expect. Sending over some information about how you have helped previous customers is a great way to build rapport as well. The next time you call, you can get more into the details of what you are offering, pricing, etc.
To recap, here are the steps to making a successful call in a b2b setting
1.) Smile and dial
2.) Give a short explanation of the results that you can bring. Focus on the outcome you can give the client
3.) Ask them if they would like to hear more.
4.) Answer any questions then ask if you can email them more info
5.) Ask them when you can call them back to go over the email
