7 Cold Calling Tips That Will Generate More Sales

For years people have been writing about the end of cold calling because of the rise in popularity of other marketing methods such as inbound marketing. But that isn’t the case as cold calling still works. 69% of people accept sales calls.

Not all of these calls lead to sales though as only 27% of sellers state that cold calling is extremely effective.

If you want to be among the top performers, then you should check out the below cold calling tips to generate more sales…

Call at the best time:

An important lesson I learned from Tim Ferriss’s book, The 4-Hour Workweek is that when it comes to sales calls, timing matters. You need to call at a time when your audience is free to attend to them.

When Tim had a sales job, his target audience was CEOs and CTOs. In the beginning, he tried to call them during the normal “working hours” and didn’t get proper results. So, he experimented with different times and found that calling between 7 to 8 AM and 6 to 7 PM got the best results.

This worked for him because he targeted busy people like CEOs and CTOs and they usually start their days early and end late. This way you should figure out who your audience is, when they would be more likely to answer your call, and then experiment with different times until you find your sweet spot.

Use good equipment:

With cold calling, it’s not just about the callers, but also about the equipment you use. You will of course need a good phone to ensure that the voice is clear. But on top of that, you will also need call center systems with features such as hold, hold music, call transfers and call queuing. These will help you run an efficient cold calling sales team that will get the job done.

Hire proper personnel:

As aforementioned, the callers are an important piece of the cold calling sales process. When hiring your cold calling sales team, you need to mainly look for people with three skills.

These are knowledge on the subject, knowledge about the audience they are targeting, and of course sales skills. Your ideal callers should have all three. The most important of all is sales skills. Look for this first and then check for the other two as you can teach the other two to them quickly. Teaching sales requires time and it isn’t for everyone.

Use a script:

Many people wonder if they should use a script or if they should let their salespeople get creative and use their own techniques. I recommend that you do both. Give your salespeople a script, but allow them to use their own creativity.

A well thought out sales script based on your target audience’s psychology will work better than your salespeople just winging it. As it will give them a proper strategy to follow. You can also make modifications to this strategy later to see if a particular change will bring about better results.

Scripts and strategies make your process measurable.

Record calls:

One way to assess your cold calling strategy and the callers is by recording calls. The team leader can later go through the calls and offer suggestions on how they can improve results and close more leads.

Make sure you inform people you are calling that you are recording the call for internal purposes right at the beginning. This is a polite thing to do. And make sure you keep the recordings secure.

Combine cold calling with other marketing techniques:

Cold calling will work best when it combined with other marketing methods such as SMS, email, webinars, courses, and online messaging. As there is only so much you can say on a call. Sometimes it will be better to email a link to a webinar where they can learn more about what you are selling in detail.

The sort of marketing materials you combine with cold calling should depend on your audience. If your audience prefers videos, online courses will be ideal, but if they prefer reading, you can use white papers or case studies. These techniques will also help you build your email list.

Outsource it:

You don’t have to keep cold calling internal. You can also outsource to freelancers or a team. You’ll have better payment options for this. You can either pay an upfront cost or a cost per lead or sale. The latter two are the best as the salespeople will be more enthusiastic about getting you leads.

You could also try something similar with your own team. You can give them an extra commission for every lead or sale they generate.

Conclusion:

These are my 7 top cold calling tips to generate more sales. In the beginning, it can be hard to get them right as your entire team has to do it together. But once you and all the individuals in your team get a hand, it will become second nature.