8 Ways to Prepare for Your Cold Call

If you feel overwhelmed by cold calls, you’re not alone.

No two calls are the same, which makes the experience exciting and, at times, frightening.

This is exactly why I've gathered easy-to-implement cold calling tips to help you every step of the way.

Over the next few weeks, I will cover four main areas of cold calling for salespeople: preparation and prospecting, the best time to make your cold calls, turning your calls into meetings, and sales techniques to follow when you’re on the call.

1. Research, Research, Research

Some people jump up and down to pump themselves up for the day, in my opinion researching your prospect should be a pre-call ritual. Your outreach strategy should always begin with research.

By tracking down key information about them, you can deliver calls with value and keep their attention. Without research, you appear selfish by showing zero investment in the person on the other end of the phone. Your prospects will appreciate the extra effort made with personalization and will open up to better conversation.

Pre-call research also helps you enter the sales conversation with a better vision and have a tailored message from the get-go.

Check their LinkedIn, company site, your CRM (for possible past engagement), social media, etc.

Here’s a checklist designed from our Discovery Call Formula to help you get started:

Thorough research will also ensure you connect with the decision-maker in the organization you’re reaching out to.

2. Write an Outline of What You Want to Say

Write up a quick (30 seconds or less) cold call script that you can reference on the phone. The idea isn’t to read from this verbatim but to use it as a guide to help you communicate your message clearly and confidently.

In your cold call script, you should effectively answer these questions:

• Who are you?
• Why are you calling me?
• How do I actually benefit?
• What are you asking for?

Remember: The goal of a cold call isn’t to pitch to someone on the spot. You’re just trying to get them to commit to a meeting at a later date if you come to an understanding that you can help them

3. Take 1-2 Hours to Go Through Your Call List

This is called the flow state, the only thing in front of you should be your call list and script.

Anything else can be a distraction that prevents you from being fully present with the person on the other line.

4. Calculate How Many Calls You Need to Make to Hit Your Goals

Law of bloody averages. Deny it all you like, it is a thing and it works. If you have no clue what the Law of Averages are, Google it and thank me later.

If you are in the know, do you know how many cold calls you need to hit your monthly quota?

If you don't go away and calculate how many calls it takes on average for you get an answer and try and always be working to bring that number down.

5. Prepare a Strong Opening Sentence

I spoke with a member of my team recently and we were trying to work out how long you really have to prove your worth. If we are being kind (we are) you have ten seconds to prove that you’re worth talking to, so differentiate yourself from other callers. After introducing yourself, turn the focus to your prospect by weaving in your research and personalizing the phone call.

For example, you could open with a compliment on a recent professional accomplishment you came across through research.

Here are some strong opening sentences about your prospect, not you.

“I saw your post about _____”

“I noticed you manage _____”

“Congratulations on _____”

“Great insights on _____”

“I’m inspired by the work you’ve done on _____”

6. Let Rejection Motivate You

Oh, we have all been there. But it gets easier, even if rejection brings emotional pain.

We can relive and experience social pain more vividly than physical pain, so it’s easy to get discouraged by a bad call.

The best sales reps keep a positive attitude, pick up the phone, and continue learning from their mistakes.

7. Practice Makes Perfect

Never go into a cold call completely, well, cold. Sometimes I would walk around my room reciting my intros and objection handling.

Simply rehearsing what you’re going to say builds confidence which leads to better performance. Try practising before dialling.

The more confident you become, the easier cold calling will be.

8. Overcome Call Reluctance

It’s completely normal to feel jittery before a cold call, but with the right measures, you’ll be able to conquer that.

Next time you’re feeling nervous:

• Take positives where you can: Regardless of the outcome, look at every call as a learning experience. Learn from the negatives and embrace what goes right. Growth Mindset!
• Take a minute to breathe and remember the people on the side of the line are just that, people. The chances are their kids have also decided they need to go to the loo after 5 minutes of leaving the house resulting in them being late for work for the 3rd time this week.
• Look at a photo of a loved one: Seeing someone you love makes you feel happier, relieves pain, and makes you less susceptible to anxiety.

Next time we will talk about the best time to make your cold calls, like using trigger events to get your foot in the door and more.

If you have got the end, I would love to hear your feedback in the comment section or private message. I hope this has been useful.

Until next time