Let’s be honest: cold-calling is not fun. Even worse, most salespeople know that they will have to do it, but still try to avoid it at all costs. The main reason, of course, is that even the most seasoned salesperson does not like being yelled at call after call for simply asking a person for an appointment.

This article will give you some techniques for what to say and also how to track your progress. Once you begin to see how many calls it takes to get a sale, cold-calling can at least become more predictable—and a little less intimidating.

Before You Begin

Before you begin to make cold-calls, set-up appointments, and make the big sales, you need the correct materials to do the job.

One of the materials that you really need is a telephone headset. Using a headset when you cold-call—or even just return phone calls—allows you to sit up straight, walk around, and sound more alive. Holding a phone to your ear, on the other hand, makes you sound tired, lowers your voice, and takes control away from you.

When you cold-call, you should stand-up and even walk around your desk. This will increase your energy and give you the desire to continue cold-calling.

Remember: sales are not a spectator sport!

What Is the Purpose

Cold-calling is probably the one task that sales people hate to do. The main reason that cold-calling is a chore for so many sales people is that they do not have a plan. Like so many other things, cold-calling can become easy if you have the right plan.

In this case, the right plan is a script that not only will easily allow you to introduce yourself and the company, but to also overcome objection.

When you call upon a potential client, your script should do five things:

--Get the person’s attention

--Identify yourself and the company

--Give a reason for the call

--Allow the potential client to respond

--Set an appointment.

When you call upon a potential client, you want to be the person in charge of the situation. You want to speak in a clear tone. You also want to speak to the potential client—not at him or her.

In addition, do not be afraid to ask the potential client to visit with you at a certain time. If you ask the person when would be convenient for him or her to meet with you, they will say never. Instead, ask the individual if Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. is a good time. Then, you have given a specific option and make it harder to say no.

Finally, remember that the point of a cold-call is to set an appointment—nothing more. If you are spending more than a couple of minutes on any particular call, then you need to set the appointment. Apparently the person on the phone is interested enough to talk to you.

Daily Goals

Everyday, you should have a goal for the number of phone contacts, appointments set, clients seen, follow-ups, and, more importantly, SALES. Following these mundane steps each and every day may seem like a waste of time. However, if you follow and track your performance, you will soon know how much work you must do to make a sale. Even more, you will almost be able to predict when the sale is coming.

Each day, you should be able to log the following actions. Beside each action (if applicable) is the minimum daily Performance.

Phone Contacts (you get a “yes” or “no” response) 10

Follow-up (returning a call to a prospect) 5

Number of Messages Left N/A

Appointments Set 5

Appointments Kept 2

Sales Made 1

Remember the formula: 10 contacts = 5 appointments = 2 kept appointments = 1 SALE

Scripts

Listed below are basic scripts to use when cold-calling a potential client and when calling on a referral that you have been given. In addition, below the scripts are responses that you can use when potential clients give you objections to making an appointment.

Referral Script

Hello, (name of client), I’m (your name) with name of company. The reason I am calling is that (name of referral) met with me and said that you might be interested in our services. I wanted to call to set-up an appointment so that we can review (product, service, etc). How about (appointment time)?

Basic Script

Hello, (name of client), I’m (your name) with name of company. We have helped hundreds people with (problem). The reason that I am calling is to schedule a time when we can meet to discuss our product. How about (appointment time)?

Overcoming Objections

No thanks, I’m happy with what I have.

It’s great that you have (current service). Many of our clients started out with (current service) and were able to expand by working with us. How about (appointment time)?

I’m not interested.

Well (name of person), a lot of people had the same reaction before they had a chance to see how we could help them. We should get together. How about (appointment time)?

I’m too busy.

(Name of person) the only reason I am calling is to schedule an appointment. How about (appointment time)?

Getting Voicemail

So often, sales people who are new to cold-calling view an answering machine as an insurmountable device to reaching a potential client. They figure that people will here the message and immediately assume that it is a sales call. However, with the right message, you can get a call back, and possibly a new client.

You want to tell the potential client who you are and where they can contact you. However, you don’t want to give any additional information. This will peak at least some of the people enough that they will call just to see what you wanted.

This is (your name) from (name of company). Please call me as soon as possible at (phone number).