How To Cold Call Without Interrupting

I've made over 72,000 cold calls in less than 12 months when I "knighted" myself as a sales professional.

Cold calling sucks (if you're not a fan of the grind). It requires serious stamina since most of the time you're getting rejected. When I did cold calling as a real estate agent and an insurance lead generator for Allstate before getting into the startup space, I was surprisingly amused at how I could refine my pitch, tone of voice, and mindset, to get to a yes. Despite all the "fun" I had, I still felt a little bit of anxiety before cold calling since I was interrupting a stranger with a "selfish proposal" of mine.

After enough patience and practice, the "fear" of cold calling dissipates and all that you're left with is a game that's fun to play.

Before Felix Baumgartner plummeted from a height of 128,000 feet, he had a 42-point checklist that made his plunge down to Earth successful.

You can see here how the checklist alone took half an hour to complete:

Start with this 12-point checklist before you start cold calling:

1. The prospect doesn't know you're calling
2. The prospect doesn't know who you are or what you're selling
3. When you call your prospect, you are interrupting them
4. Have the mindset of your prospect already saying yes to you
5. ABP - Always Be Prospecting. Never rely on any one lead
6. Know the difference between an objection and a condition (one is non negotiable)
7. Have a list of rebuttals practiced and prepared
8. Be ready to improvise
9. Don't take anything personal

In cold calling, it's only personal if the lead knows who you are, which they don't.

10. Only ask YES or NO questions if either one benefits your sales flow

11. Don't show desperation or fear - be relaxed

12. Challenge the customer (respectfully)

13. Do, Fail, Repeat

So how do you actually cold call someone without interrupting them? First, put yourself in your prospect's shoes - what would you want someone to say if they called you out of the blue? How would you want the salesperson on the other side to behave?

Be empathetic.

Empathy is the ability to understand or feel someone else's perspective.

Empathy leads to patience, curiosity, and timing.

Instead of cold calling someone EXPECTING them to think they're interested in a stranger, think about how you're actually interrupting them. What would you say to someone if you felt you could be bothering them?

These magical lines have worked wonders for me when calling strangers and I believe they'll work for you too:

"Is this a bad time?"

"Do you mind helping me with something?"

"Do you have 30 seconds that I can borrow?"

"Sorry to call you on the fly..."

Showing the prospect that you value their time and understand that you care and empathize with their situation (whatever it may be) is the difference between a cold caller and a potential business opportunity.

Don't go in cold calling, guns blazing, because that's just spam.

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Mor Assouline is the Vice President of Sales for PracticePanther, the fastest-growing legal case management software in the world. As the company’s second employee, Mor has channeled his passion and 10+ years of experience for sales and customer service into the #1 rated legal case management platform on the market. Combining his affinity for constructing streamlined, intuitive business procedures with his extensive experience in successfully implementing such processes, Mor has spearheaded the bulk of PracticePanther’s revenue generation with tremendous results. Mor is thrilled to continue leading PracticePanther’s accounts into what is certain to be a bright and prosperous future.