3 Tactics To Avoid While Cold Calling
Posted by
Chris Lang on Thu, Jan 20, 2024 @ 03:18 PM
I hate being cold called, which is somewhat ironic seeing as though I work for a company that specializes in cold calling. Actually, let me rephrase, I hate being poorly cold called. Because I have been exposed to what good cold calling sounds like, I consider myself a master on identifying good and bad cold calls. I wish I were a master of rock and roll, throwing a 12-6 curveball or quantum physics, but I’m playing the cards I was dealt. Here are a couple of cold calls I recently received and why they didn’t go anywhere for the person calling me.
January 14th - I pick up the phone and after announcing myself I hear, “Hey Man, How are ya? I’m Jane Doe from…”. I immediately didn’t hear what the rep had to say because I was too busy figuring out why she decided to open with “Hey Man”. “Hey Man” is used by my buddies to address me right before a scathing insult used to humble me. For example If I wear a pastel shirt I will get a, “Hey man, does your father know you’re wearing your mother’s clothes again?” I’m all about being a little casual and not using sir and madam, but show your prospects some respect and at least use their name. The moral here, don’t get too comfortable right away with your prospect. You have to earn your “hey man” before you can say it.
January 17th - I had the day off for the MLK holiday and I received this call on my cell.
Hi Chris, I just wanted to tell you a little about XYZ company. We here at XYZ have the fastest (one minute of info) and the best (one minute of info) and we won(one minute of info) and we work with clients such as (I’m pondering what I will eat for dinner at this point). This went on for a solid 5 minutes and covered integration into current systems, implementation, differentiators and even references. I felt like I was stuck in an infomercial for the Slap Chop. The person just kept giving me information I didn’t care about and frankly I was scared he was trying to distract me while someone else stole my wallet.
January 18th - I answer my phone to, “Hi Chris…I’m sorry to bother you, is this an ok time to talk?” While the info dump is rude, the “do you have time” question is too soft. No one ever has time for an unsolicited cold call. “I’m so bored, what can I do to pass the time? (phone rings) Hmm, I don’t recognize this number lets give them an hour to see what they want.” I suggest calling and just getting right to the point. If anything, an interested prospect, will at least give you a solid time to talk to them later.
You walk a very fine line when you cold call. It is a very easy task to not be good at. The best way to pitch is quick, direct and focused on value to the prospect. “Hi Chris, I’m John Doe from company XYZ. We help our clients make/save money by... I’d like to find out if you’re responsible for (ABC) and if so can we have a quick conversation to see if XYZ is a viable option ” In 3 or 4 lines I know who you are, who you work for, how your company could potentially help mine and what you want to achieve in this call. It’s enough information to make me ask a question if I am interested, which then puts the inside sales rep in the drivers seat, while respecting my time.