Perfecting telephone sales tactics in 2018: start with cold calling

With all the marketing techniques surfacing today, whether through print, broadcast or social media, business owners are displaying openness towards embracing any trend as long as it helps them avoid cold calling. It is no secret that a cold call sparks fear, nervousness and awkwardness for both people at the end of the line. On one side, the salesperson feels the pressure of making a connection with the customer and landing a sale while being aware of the high chance of facing rejection. On the other side, the individual receiving the call has the instinct of hanging up the phone instantly after realizing that he or she is talking with a stranger. Consequently, it seems like this sales tactic does not bring any good to any of the parties involved so this makes us wonder: how did large companies succeed to increase their sales and boost revenue with cold calling? Is there a secret behind convincing someone to purchase your products or services? This article has the purpose to uncover the most efficient cold calling techniques.

 

The fear of cold calling is groundless – eliminate it from your head

Even though average people associate cold with unpleasant weather conditions and the taste of old food, business owners should know more than anyone else that cold calling represents a traditional method of building a positive relationship with prospective customers. Yes, we are living in an internet-based world, but it does not change the efficiency of proper cold calling when it comes to generating sales. We highlight the word“proper” because usually, those people who do not believe in this old-fashioned sales tactic have the wrong approach. Instead of viewing a cold call like a sentence to death, they should start thinking of it as an easy way to expand their social circle, to introduce themselves to strangers with the purpose of captivating their attention. The fear of picking up the phone and just calling someone is unreasonable and getting over that fear represents the first step. The most important thing is to learn not to take every rejection personally because obviously, not everyone would show interest in your offerings, but you have to work in order to transform a “no” into a “yes”.

 

Gather relevant details about your target audience – do not call randomly

After eliminating the fear from your mind, you should replace it with different strategies or techniques that could help you improve your calls and your sales rate. For instance, you can reduce the number of rejection if you create a list of people first. More specifically, instead of sitting down and calling random individuals, you should identify the target audience in order to make sure that those people at the end of the line need or want the products or services that you are trying to sell. Shortly, this allows you to narrow down your list of contacts and receive more “yes”
answers, which represents the ultimate goal. Furthermore, once you gain useful and relevant information about prospective customers including location, age and income, you know what type of approach you should use. For instance, if you need to sell products that families would use when going on a summer vacation, probably at the beach, would you contact people from Texas or Colorado?

Picture each call and be ready to answer unexpected questions

After establishing that mental preparation and research are very important steps when cold calling, you have to deal with people’s scepticism. You have to be aware that, since fraudsters are waiting in the shadows for any opportunity to make easy money, people are reluctant when it comes to talking with strangers. Therefore, you have to make them realize that you are not trying to pull off a malicious trick by preparing to answer spontaneous questions.Normally, targeted individuals at the end of the line would question you in order to be certain about your identity and your intentions. As a salesperson, you should think about all the potential conversations that you could have. Imagine
all the possible scenarios and come up with the most convincing lines without lying to the customer, obviously. In fact, you can even put yourself in a prospective customer’s shoes and think about the concerns and doubts you would
have if you would receive a cold call. If you manage to enter their mind, at some point, they will become more than predictable.

Review your voice and attitude before picking up the phone

After planning the calls, you have to control your voice. All people working in telesales must have a smooth voice and courteous attitude towards the strangers at the other end of the line. If you are nervous, this will instantly show in your voice because you will uncontrollably change the tone, not to mention that you will probably speak faster. The customer will notice your nervousness, thus ruining the trust you are desperately trying to build. Make sure that you lower your voice and that you adopt a polite attitude without striking as “affectionate”. Even though you know that, since you are having a conversation through the phone, the other person will not be able to see you, smiling is fundamental because it will make your voice sound more pleasant and add more warmth. You decide if you should follow a script or not. Generally, the script should help you stay on track and follow the logical steps, namely introducing yourself, explain the purpose of your call and finally, bring the product or service offered in the
discussion.

Track your progress and identify the flaws that stop you from evolving

After you put into practice all these techniques, you should track your sales rate. If you notice improvements, then keep doing the same thing. However, if you do not obtain the much-needed results, then you should start making some alterations. The industry will probably experience changes in time meaning that you have to stay up to date with the latest news and adapt. You can schedule a thorough analysis of your progress monthly in order to identify
the successful habits that help you build a relationship with customers and flaws that slow you down. Maintaining a great sales performance is a real challenge, but it is not impossible.