Cold calling carries a bad reputation for a lot of companies but it’s really only because of the few cold callers that ruin it for the rest of us. Cold calling in itself is a very effective marketing and sales channel that can really help any business expand and reach more customers.
This is particularly effective in the B2B world where according to research, most executives and managers still expect to be solicited through a phone call.
So how do you make cold calling a successful channel for your organization? Here are the top 3 tips that should get you started.
1. Have the right technology stack
Technology is really important when it comes to cold calling as there are several technology requirements to make this channel a success for your business.
First and foremost, you should invest in an autodialer which is a tool that dials numbers for you automatically. It can significantly reduce the time it takes for an agent to call a lead. How does it work? It simply loads up your list of leads and calls each one. All you have to do is to wait for one to pick up. As soon as they pick up you have all their information ready for you on the screen.
Next, it’s crucial that you have a good CMS tool for managing all of your customer information and sales funnels. You should also invest in a good database and get a tool like Hunter.io that verifies all of your leads emails and information for you. It’s critically important that all of your database info is up to date on each lead to avoid confusion and calling the wrong person by mistake.
2. Build rapport and handle objections
Now let’s talk about the sales process itself. There are two really important things that you should train your team on and they are building rapport with the customer on the phone and handling objections properly.
Building rapport turns your cold caller into a consultant and helps them focus on providing value for the other person on the line rather than trying to sell them something. This builds trust and helps improve your conversions.
If the rapport piece is in place then the customer will open up and ask questions. This is where you need to train your cold calling agent on how to handle their objections correctly.
Always validate their concern, repeating it back to them, and then calmly explain the solution or way around that concern.
But what if you don’t have the resources or time to hire a team of cold callers? This brings us to our next point.
3. Consider hiring a cold calling service
One of the main challenges of hiring and running a call center or a team of callers is that it gets really expensive and time-consuming. So consider hiring a cold calling service or agency. It could also be a great way to test out the waters and see if you have a need for your own in-house team.
Recap
Cold calling is a really effective marketing and sales channel for any business. What you need to have is the right technology stack and the right sales training. Finally, consider hiring a cold calling agency as it might be more cost and time-effective for you and your business.
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Interesting related article: “What is Canvassing?“