How do you use the latest cold calling tools?

Dialling hundreds of numbers is not how to win outbound lead generation anymore. From personal experience, combining calling with email and LinkedIn will increase contact rate by 5 times. For example, rather than spending 5 minutes trying to talk the GK into giving you the right contact, jump on LinkedIn and use the people function on the company page to find the right person. Once you’ve got that person, head over to Hunter.io and get their email address, drop them a personalised (genuine) email and then follow up. You don’t need to make 100s of calls anymore.

Cold calling is full of old-schoolers thinking they know it all. And yet, there's so much tech that can help you. The very best minimum in my books is: - Call-friendly CRM - A Power Dialer - Mobile Data - Headset If your company expects to call and doesn't give you these, change company.

Automated dialers help if your front-line people and engagement process is calibrated to align with the people you are connecting with. Putting junior people who are unable to connect as peers on the front lines with an autodialer means you just facilitate more bad calls at a higher volume. It doesn't solve the problem of bad calls. Stakeholders in sales organizations need to understand the complex skillset they need to really find success with cold outreach. It is a combination of presence, technical/business fluency, mapping a discussion in real-time to what the prospect is saying, and capturing that data in a meaningful way so others can act on it. That is what makes "cold calling" work. People DO take calls, they DO NOT take bad calls.

Recording conversations is a great way to keep notes during the call. I have found that it allows me to take a few quick notes, then I can refer back to the call later to see if I missed anything. It also allows for self reflection of the call to see what went well, and potentially what went wrong and gives you powerful insight into how you can be more effective in future calls.

Recording calls is a must. But to be more efficient, use software that will transcribe, auto tag and share parts of the conversation. This will enable you to get better faster. You shouldn't be wasting time finding the parts of the convo you want.

Recording calls is a crucial practice for efficient note-taking. Harnessing software that transcribes, auto-tags, and shares conversation segments can expedite this process, eliminating time wasted on locating specific dialogue portions. This innovative approach facilitates speedier progress, allowing for swift capture of vital details that could otherwise be forgotten. The recorded calls serve as a resource to revisit at leisure, enabling one to review the exchange for overlooked information or insights. They also provide a basis for self-assessment, offering powerful insights into the effectiveness of the interaction and identifying areas for improvement in future calls.

In my opinion, I believe that way too often sales reps view the continual and detailed use of their CRM as a means of "big brother" (management) keeping tabs on them, rather than embracing it to help them and their team be able to have a standardized single point of reference to rehash what has been discussed, who has been involved, and determine what needs to be done next to move forward with the prospective customer. If for some reason you need to be away from the office for a period of time and others need to step in to assist, having the knowledge from your notes, quotes and attachments is invaluable to you and them.

Not having a CRM creates many blind spots in an account. As the organization changes and turnover occurs, you start at zero over and over again with prospects without knowing the history. Reps can view the CRM as this enemy tracking them or creating accountability they don't want, but if they see the value and WIFM, they will leverage it to have more active deals. There needs to be some "data capture best-practices" so the information gained on calls is consistent and can achieve meaningful results. Many organizations have zero guidelines for data capture and CRM usage, so the reporting is inaccurate, and many deals are lost from lack of visibility. Using a CRM correctly enables reps to "be in the right place at the right time."

There can be benefits to the salespeople using it for sure. Management, on the other hand, tends to view it as a way to easily transition a new hire should the predecessor leave the company. This rarely works. The accounts information and contacts will be there, but the relationships will not be. Addresses, phone numbers and contacts do not make sales - people do.

The modern sales professional would be wise to build a community leveraging the power and reach of Linkedin. 1) Create authentic video and image content focused on the industry or vertical market(s) your solutions serve. ***but here’s the key*** don’t talk about your products or services! Instead, share insights, learnings, trends, innovations and/or spotlight prospects and clients who are successful, creative, innovative or making a difference. 2) Share best practices, knowledge and point prospects and clients freely to information that could potentially help them grow, lead or serve better. 3) Illuminate problems or challenges an industry faces and share ideas on how they can be solved, without sounding like an infomercial.

I like to use the term call guide, something to guide you through your call. When creating yours here are the top 5 things you need to include 1. Opening 2. Elevator Pitch 3. Questions 4. Objection Handling 5. Close. Remember with your questions they must be probing with the aim of understanding your prospects pain points so that you can match your solution to fix their pain.

A good leader of any outbound function should be regularly listening to their teams calls and providing constructive feedback and training. Even the best outbound callers get complacent and regular feedback helps them stay on track.