Recent years There is a boom in cold calling. And in this article, I'm going to explain why cold calling has stood the test of time. I will also give you tips and share techniques that will increase your number of leads. Be careful, this article is huge and contains many secrets: tactics, strategies and myths about cold calling, you will understand what cold calling and sales really are. And also an example of an ideal script and ways to bypass the secretary.

And yes, I know. You hate cold calling. Everyone hates them. More precisely, everyone except the sellers who successfully use them, who receive millions from them.

So here's how cold calling works.

Six Tips to Master the Art of Cold Calling

1. Accept the possibility of failure, don't run away from it.
2. Prepare to learn quickly, not sell quickly.
3. Use technology and special services to avoid tedious monotony.
4. Don't waste other people's and your time.
5. Follow the script like an actor, not like a robot.
6. Maintain a balance of quantity and quality.

With all these complexities, it's hard to know whether cold calling is worth considering as a tool at all. However, that is precisely why they are worth considering.

If you master the art and science of cold calling, you could very well become the most effective and highest paid sales representative in your organization. As with other sales techniques, poor cold calling can easily tarnish the reputation of the entire tool. So try to be the opposite example. And this will lead to success.

First- don’t be afraid of failures and don’t try to avoid them

Failures are an integral part all trading activities. Nobody gets 100% return.

Here are 3 tips for overcoming the fear of rejection:

Tip 1: Have a competition. The winner is the one whose refusal is the most terrible, funniest or harshest. And not some simple: “ No thanks».

Tip 2: If a prospect says no, ask why.

Try something like this:

« I appreciate your honesty and directness. The hardest thing about my job is not knowing whether we can be useful to anyone. Could you tell me why you decided we couldn't help you?»

Don't try to sell a product or service. Just learn and gain experience.

Tip 3: Act out a conversation on the phone with your colleague. Let him be a client and refuse you in the rudest way possible. Every time a conversation with a real client becomes unpleasant, remember that “performance”. Real conversation won't seem so bad in comparison.

If potential clients keep turning you down and you feel bad about it, read positive reviews from clients who like your company.

Remind yourself that you are helping people.

Second— prepare to learn quickly, not sell quickly

Cold calling cannot be mastered overnight. So set a goal: to take away something new from every conversation with a potential client. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s successful or not.

Here's a mini cheat sheet for learning how to cold call:

Tip 1: Start with a script and don't deviate from it (yet).

Tip 2: Figure out exactly where you fail (a sign of this is when people hang up or refuse more than 50% of the time after you say something).

Tip 3: Rewrite this section of your script and change it until you stop getting rejections.

Tip 4: Repeat this process with the remaining points until you can get through the entire script with less than 50% failure rate.

Tip 5: Analyze the flow of the conversation. In particular, listen to the answers people give to your open-ended questions. The better the question, the more people will speak.

Tip 6: Record your notes (on paper or in electronic form). This is for clarity and to remind yourself of how much experience has been gained.

Setting your goals correctly and constantly learning on the job will take you many steps above the average salesperson.

Third— use technology to solve similar problems

The modern seller has many tools at his disposal. So you no longer have to suffer from tedious and efficient work.

Here are a couple of examples of foreign useful services:

ConnectAndSell. The tool helps automate such actions as dialing numbers, transferring telephone databases, interacting with the zone controller, and so on. So you can jump right into the conversation and get results.

Salesloft. Thanks to a strong development team and their coordinated work, this product is constantly adapting to the market and always meets the needs of the modern sales employee. It can be used as a main tool and for full control process (telephone databases, email and interaction with people).

DiscoverOrg. Quite a well-known service. This is a kind of gold standard that will not only simplify working with numbers, but will also help in working with customer databases.

If you use any CRM system, never be afraid to test and use all its features. Many products have stand-alone versions, but you can use several services simultaneously in a complex.

By the way, here are two common excuses for a lazy seller: “ Too much a lot of competition " And " I don't have enough budget to use the tools ».

Fourth- don’t waste time - both yours and the client’s

It is advisable to make a list of specific people who could potentially be interested in your offer. This will help you avoid wasting time on each contact, finding out whether the interlocutor is interested in the service.

There will be much less rejection if you know who you are dealing with. Make sure you only have people and organizations on your call list that you can truly help.

Criteria by which organizations should be selected:

• field of activity;
• budget level, number of employees;
• geography;
• related areas and technologies.

Criteria by which to select an interlocutor:

• his role or position in the organization;
• the tools he uses in his work;
• to whom does this person report on the work done;
• who or what he controls.

If you call someone who doesn't match your ideal criteria, you are stealing your time. If you call someone who can take advantage of your offer, then you are helping them improve their life and business. And for myself too. Don't waste your valuable time trying to persuade people who don't need what you're selling.

Fifth- be an actor, not a robot

A cold call is a scripted activity. And you have to “get” into the role - like an actor.

The actors also act according to the script. However, in neither the TV shows nor the movies do they look like a bunch of robots talking and looking at each other in a pattern.

They are full of real human emotions! Therefore, even when acting according to a clear plan, speak like a real person. Don't just "sight read."

This is easy to deal with, especially if you are interested in the work and results.

How to use scripts (with examples)

1 Step 1: First, remember your introduction and value proposition well. If you know how to explain who you are and why someone should listen to you, your adjustment to the conversation will be easier and faster.

“Good afternoon, this is Alexander from Company Z. We are engaged in data collection and analysis, and I would like to know if this could benefit your team. Do you have two minutes?

2 Step No. 2: Then write down open-ended questions that will open up your conversation. When you ask a question, be prepared to listen and hear. Don't just wait your turn.

“When you close a deal, how does your company leverage that for subsequent contracts?”

3 Step No. 3: Then come up with clear answers to common objections. If you are just learning, it is better to write down the answers on paper and keep them in front of your eyes. Without experience, it will be difficult to navigate on the fly.

Example of an objection:

“We're more focused on the top of the funnel now. And the results so far are satisfactory. So we are happy, thank you."

Sample answer:

“This is just one small area where data analytics can be usefully applied. Imagine that you have information about all the results and profits of previous years. With this data, your team can achieve results 2-5 times faster.”

4 Step No. 4: Finally, exercise until you start to sweat.

Ask someone else to pretend to be the buyer. If you are in the same room, close your eyes. This is necessary so that you can hear and not see the interlocutor.

Ask your assistant to gradually increase the “resistance level.”

This technique alone will give you incredible results..

Start with zero objections and work your way through the scenario to the most difficult objection. Then think through your responses to each objection individually in advance.

Practice thoroughly. You need to work out responses to small objections at the beginning of the conversation (like “ I'm not interested") and complex ones at the end, such as " Just send me an email».

Sixth - balance between quality and quantity

Cold calling is effective when you follow the best and proven practices:

• YES: do not be afraid of failures, but approach them creatively.
• YES: practice, practice, and more practice.
• YES: prepare open questions and detailed answers to objections.

• NO: Call random people to whom you cannot be useful.
• NO: Call without preparation (Stick to the script!).
• NO: independently struggle with problems that can be solved automatically.

Now you are prepared and configured to think in the right direction and use the right tools and techniques. Now success is much closer.

! Important. If you don’t want or don’t have time to make cold calls yourself, then you can try asking others to do this work for you. This can be easily done on the Kwork freelance exchange for only 500 rubles. large selection volunteers, the main thing when choosing a performer is to first read about

The Best Books on Cold Calling

• Cold calling techniques. What really works.
• Call Master. How to explain, convince, sell over the phone.
• Golden Rules of Selling: 75 Techniques for Successful Cold Calling, Persuasive Presentations, and Sales Proposals You Can't Refuse.
• Sales scripts. Ready-made scripts for cold calls and personal meetings.
• If the buyer says no. Dealing with objections.

Cold calling is not a waste of time. Stop listening to so-called "experts"

6 myths about cold calling that we debunked

• The practice of cold calling is dead.
• Cold calling is outdated.
• Cold calling is a forced activity.
• Cold calling is too unreliable.
• Cold calling leads to “roboticization” of employees.
• Cold calling does not comply with quality rules and is used by amateurs.

1 “Experts” and so-called “gurus” have declared that cold calling is dead. With such an influx of negative information (and even with our own bad experiences), it is easy to doubt the effectiveness of any technology. Leaders in emerging industries have been calling for an end to cold calling for years. Moreover, many people support them - from ordinary sellers to leading marketers.

And yet: THEY ARE NOT DEAD .

2 It's easier to say it doesn't work than to learn how to do it right. If you've tried cold calling once or twice and failed, it's easy to join the technology haters. However, any sales skill requires a lot of effort to master. And cold sales are no exception.

3 Many salespeople are pressured into cold calling. There are many ways to lose interest in work. All it takes is one manager demanding “50 sales a day” from you. With this approach, anyone will lose their appetite for activity.

4 This is unreliable and distracts the potential client from business. Personally, I like the idea of ​​selling the way people want to buy. And I am a big proponent of optimizing the sales process in this direction. However, we apply this concept equally in all areas. Therefore, we are afraid to “disturb” a potential client.

5 Nobody wants to be a robot. The script is the friend of the cold calling person. However, most never learned to use it properly. It is a lack of experience that forces one to speak like a robot, and not necessarily a condition of technology. And in general, unnaturalness and pretense are a sure recipe for disaster.

6 Fast food has taught us that quality and quantity are enemies. No one has ever walked into McDonald's expecting high quality food. Everyone expects a lot of food at a low price (though I'd argue there's a reason they've added a lot of fancy items to the menu). Well, people tend to view cold calling as something of poor quality. However, this is nothing more than a habit and has nothing to do with reality.

5 Cold Calling Strategies You Should Know About (Scientific Research)

Many people associate cold calling with something complicated and ineffective. Like, you'll have to sweat. Without using proven strategies, this is indeed the case.

In the end, you invade life completely stranger and yet only have ten seconds to prove your worth.

You are clearly aware that, most likely, after your words, the interlocutor will hang up, limiting himself to “No, thank you.”

Stop panicking.

Below are five simple and effective calling strategies that will ease your stress and turn cold calls into warm calls. So, here's how to boost your confidence and get more leads:

First - a smile

Next time, before you pick up the phone and dial a number, keep a smile on your face for at least twenty seconds. And it doesn’t matter where you are - in the meeting room or at your own table.

At first you may think this is stupid. However, recent experiments have demonstrated that a smile, whether sincere or not, still brings some benefits.

• Reduces stress. A scientist from a Kansas research university found that smiling stressful situation may reduce the severity of negative reactions.
• Reduces heart rate. Even just slightly raised corners of the lips will be effective in this matter.
• Improves mutual understanding. Smiling affects the way we speak. On voice and intonation. And to such an extent that the person on the other line can catch the expression on your face and even determine the type of smile. When exactly a person “hears” your smile is a matter of time. The whole secret is in mirror neurons, which are able to detect minimal changes in intonation and tone of voice.

An added benefit: your inner feelings show on your face. However, this pattern also applies to reverse side. So smiling helps improve your mood.

Stand like Superman

Research by social psychologist Amy Cuddy proves that body language matters. Even if the interlocutor on the other line does not see you. Stand in a confident, commanding pose (legs apart, hands on hips) for two minutes. Then cold call is more likely to be successful. And here's why:

• The level of testosterone in the body will increase (increases the degree of confidence).
• Cortisol levels will decrease (this will reduce stress).

This rule applies even when you are at a desk. Sit up straight and don't slouch. This will help you feel in control and remove the disturbing feeling of nervousness.

Call a friend

This practice comes straight from Yesware CEO Matthew Bellows:

“Take a photo with you loved one, which is extremely dear to you. Put it on desk or make it a screensaver on your computer. The next time you call another potential client, imagine that now you will not be talking to the client, but to the person in the photo.”

If you're not a fan of photos on your desk or you're in a meeting room, just quickly look through photos on social media or in your phone album.

Why does it work: Looking at a photo of your loved one not only makes you a little happier, but it also reduces your stress levels and calms you down. This will make you less susceptible to failure.

Say only one or two phrases at a time

This cold calling technique is simple but often overlooked. Research shows that the brain can only process information for 20-30 seconds. So divide your 15-minute conversation into 30-second chunks.

Be concise and thorough. Don't overwhelm a stranger with information or industry terminology. Speak simply, clearly and clearly. And don’t be afraid to explain unclear points.

If your interlocutor starts asking for specific information, it means he is interested. Don't miss this opportunity. Make an appointment during which you can discuss all the issues and nuances in more detail.

Love refusals (yes, this is also a cold calling strategy)

Do you feel comfortable when you receive a refusal?

For a cold calling salesperson, the answer should always be “yes.”

For example, instead of targeting a specific number of “yes” per day, one management consultant decided to hunt for “no’s.” He soon realized that the number of “nos” he desired was unattainable for him—because he was getting too many “yes.”

Focusing on failure has a doubly positive effect. This allows you to increase the speed and efficiency of sales.

7 techniques to increase your return rate from cold calls

Not all potential clients agree to offers. The outlook may be disappointing. However, regardless of whether you are talking in person or over the phone, the main task is to interest the person and attract him to the company.

Often this process complex. Especially if this kind of work is new to you.

Here are 7 tips that will improve your lead generation rate:

1. Focus on the potential client, not yourself.
2. Prepare all questions in advance.
3. Don't go blindly into the script.
4. Don't exaggerate your capabilities at the first meeting.
5. Don't try to get sales the first time.
6. Be natural and relaxed.
7. Analyze exactly how you are useful to the client.

1 Put the customer at the center. Concentrate all your attention on the other person and his needs. Especially if you have little experience in cold calling.

There is no need to tell in detail who you are and what you do. Don't talk about the organization.

Remember, the main topic now is the client. Not you. Full focus on the potential client and his needs is very professional. And you are a professional.

2 Plan the conversation in advance. More information means a higher chance of selling. The more data you can get from your interlocutor, the easier it will be for you to recognize future prospects and plan actions. Especially in cold calling.

The survey is important. The questions asked must be thought through in advance and carefully. And also distribute in stages - in a logically constructed chain from the most general to the most specific.

3 Be responsible when choosing a script. After finishing your introduction and seeing that the client is still interested, ask him about the business, the situation on the market or in the field in general, about the budget, and so on. Quite often people will share this information in exchange for your offer. Or rather, for the benefits that you promised in your introduction.

To be more or less guaranteed to hear answers to the questions you need, ask something like this:

“Imagine that you have magical abilities and now you can get rid of three problems in your business or area. What are these problems?

"If you had the opportunity to provide ideal conditions To grow your company, what would you change?”

“I would like to meet with you in person to discuss the needs of your company and possible benefit from the services of our company. How about Thursday at 2:00 pm?”

Always keep in mind: a cold call should be personal. Focus on the other person's needs. Perceive him as a separate person with his own qualities and characteristics.

This allows you to build trusting and long-lasting relationships with clients. Acting strictly according to a script can make a cold call feel truly cold—impersonal. But we don't need this.

4 Don't exaggerate your chances during the first meeting. If you are meeting this client for the first time, you should not go “fully armed.” In other words, it is better to take an ordinary small folder with you rather than a huge briefcase full of samples and documents.

If a person becomes interested and wishes to obtain more detailed data, then you can always return to your car and take everything you need. This way you reduce the stress of possible failure. So reveal your cards gradually.

5 Don't try to get sales on the first try.. The first sales experience is rarely successful. Better concentrate your efforts on collecting information. If you are offering something on a budget, then you will need much less data. Ask questions and take notes.

Try to build a strong relationship with the client. Let the call and subsequent meeting be friendly.

6 Don’t “stress” the client. The more relaxed and comfortable your interlocutor feels, and the more he opens up to you, the higher the likelihood of selling the service and acquiring a regular client.

To do this you need to relax yourself. And be natural. This will greatly increase your attractiveness.

7 Find out how your customer will benefit and what will make them accept the offer.. In each case, you can highlight some advantage that will really interest the person and encourage him to accept your offer.

At the same time, every client has fears and suspicions that will make him refuse to cooperate with you. Your primary task is to find out what exactly will motivate your interlocutor to buy, what benefits he expects. And also - find out about his fears and doubts that can keep him from purchasing a service or product.

X Bonus tip: Don't be afraid to ask more questions. Asking is useful and beneficial. Especially in cold calling. Questions are truly a magical tactic.

You could ask something like this: “Mr. X, in practice we have found that the reasons why a person agrees to cooperate with us are different cases always different. What is this reason in your case?

If you are honest and open and natural, don't hesitate to ask more questions. Show genuine curiosity. And the answers you hear will amaze you. As a rule, a potential client is always ready to provide the information necessary for the sale. Especially if the conversation goes well and the service offered has aroused interest.

Remember, the main thing is to ask.

The perfect cold calling script

You have a list of names and phone numbers. You need to make 100 calls by the end of the day. Your sales manager has given your team a lot of work to do, so you keep dialing and dialing and dialing...

Now all you need is a script. And not just any... But the best, the coolest. Which works.

But before I give you the key to the door, let's look at how a typical cold call goes.

Example of a typical cold call

**Beeps, pick up**

Potential client: Yes?

Salesman: Good afternoon, my name is Dmitry.

(Pause 1.5 seconds)

Do you have a couple of minutes?

I'm calling about software that may interest you and solve your most significant problems.

What do you think of our proposal?

Potential client: Actually I'm busy right now...

Salesman: Maybe you need to test the product? We have all the certificates.

Potential client: We are not interested in this.

Salesman: Well, are you already at the decision-making stage? Give us two hours and we will call you back.

**Customer hangs up**

Don't laugh. There are many calls like this. And this happens every day. And you probably won't be surprised to learn that they barely convert, with less than 1% positive responses.

This means that if you call 100 people, you only get one consent. So if you're calling your potential clients and telling them all the same thing, just stop.

By doing so, you lose trust, damage your reputation, and reduce productivity.

If you follow this script (best cold calling script), your conversion can increase up to 14-20%. That's still better than 1%.

How to create a working script

1 Step 1: Identify 2-3 areas. First, you need to select areas. Your time is valuable - don't waste it on markets that don't fit the product. Think about who your potential customers are and look for common patterns.

For example, this could be the hotel business and retail. Or maybe finance and banking. Once you figure out where to aim, you're ready for step 2.

2 Step 2: Identify 20 promising prospects. Now it will be much easier for you to find specific companies or people who may benefit from your product or service. Use social networks and platforms for professionals. Let's say you're looking for hotels that might benefit from your yoga classes.

Set certain criteria. And find representatives of these hotels on the Internet.

Voila - your list of potential clients is ready.

It will be easier if you are looking for local or regional companies. People love to do business with fellow countrymen. If you are in Novosibirsk, then cooperate primarily with Novosibirsk residents.

3 Step 3: Research each potential client. I know, I know, everyone needs to quickly grab the phone and make calls. But trust me, spending just a couple of minutes doing a little research will make the process much more successful. So take advantage of the opportunity!

Check on the same Internet:

• what area the company operates in;
• what exactly do they do;
• have you helped similar companies in the past;
• some “fun fact” about them.

And one more important thing: look at how to pronounce the company name correctly. Nothing annoys people more than some sales rep mispronouncing their organization. So get ready.

To find out how the name is pronounced correctly, you can watch, for example, their advertising video.

Couldn't find it? Ask by phone: “ I want to be sure that I pronounce your organization's name correctly. Can you give me a hint?»

The best cold calling script

You may have noticed that the call isn't so cold anymore... You've studied your list and are well prepared before picking up the phone. I promise you, my friend, this extra work will be worth it. Now let's move on to the script.

First, state your name and the company where you work. Speak confidently and energetically. Don't rush into distorting words.

On the other side of the line begins: “What? Who?". From the very beginning the call goes so-so.

You don't need to speak too loudly. Just make it clear and precise.

After you say, “This is [name] from [company],” take a break.

Sometimes it's difficult. Especially if the call is cold. Many people want to jump straight to the proposal. But I want you to take a deep breath and just be quiet for these eight seconds.

While you wait, the client is racking his brain about who you might be. They think it looks like you know them - are you a client? Former employee? Current? Thus, you stole his attention, the one on the other side is now interested in you. Cunning move isn't it?

Now the conversation is somewhat different from a standard cold call. Then you hit the other person with a question to establish some rapport. Your goal: to show that you are familiar with him and his company.

Here are some sample questions:

A good question will be relevant and make you smile. If the interlocutor makes contact, ask the following question.

For example, if the client says " I took business English courses there, they have pretty strong teachers”, you can answer “Great, I’ll probably recommend them to my niece.”

In the end, the potential client will still ask: “ Why are you calling?«.

You can joke first, and then seriously state the reason for your call. Humor simplifies everything and helps build rapport. However, you should be careful with humor.

For example, if your potential client is in a hurry, you should accommodate this.

Introduce the product, tell us how it is useful in a particular area. This is called positioning. And this will show by example how you work with similar companies and help them solve certain problems. There is no need to talk about yourself, as most “zombie robots” do.

Here is a rough representation of the service:

« I work with sales managers in hotel business. My clients are looking to improve sales force productivity. Are there similar needs in your organization?«

Since you have made inquiries beforehand, the answer will most likely be yes. Just answer: " Tell me more about this«.

Note that most of the conversation was about them! Now you will probably be told about the company's problems and goals. And this is valuable information that will help build a further conversation.

! Important! There are people who specialize in creating sales scripts based on calls. You will be provided with an effective conversation template. You can find such a specialist for your niche on the kwork freelance exchange.

Changing the script

I love helping newbies. I have been in their shoes and know the difficulties they faced. Help is good for both the company and their career. So, the script and course of the cold call can be slightly changed.

We have a common practice in our company called “just ask.” She encourages junior sales reps to reach out to sales leaders for help in setting up meetings with executives or prospects. Once a rep asks for my help, I ask for something in return: a website URL, the person's and company's social media profile, and the like.

This allows me to quickly become familiar with the person and organization I'm about to call. As soon as the person on the other side picks up, I use my standard greeting: “ This is [name] from [company]", pause.

If you are calling a junior executive or even a mid-level employee, chances are your call will go through an assistant or secretary. They are more likely to pass “Oleg Stanislavovich, sales director at company X” than “ , sales representative at X«.

They will know who you are. However, they will still be curious as to why you called. Keep them tense longer. As in the above scenario, I will spend a few minutes asking about the persona of the answerer. Here are some small examples:

• “Who do you like better: cats or dogs?”
• “What do you prefer for breakfast?”
• “Can you recommend some cozy restaurant in [the city of the Potential Client]?”

When the conversation gets closer to the reason for my call, I say, “I called to help.” This phrase usually stops the interlocutor. Then I continue: “My sales representative asked me to start the conversation with you.” This allows me to easily move the conversation back to the representative if the conversation is going well.

Next I use the above positioning: " I work with sales managers in the hotel industry. My clients are typically looking to improve the productivity of their sales reps. Is this similar to your situation?«.

The previously studied interlocutor will answer “ Yes". And then my active listening turns on. I speak: " Tell me about it". Once they have finished talking about their pain points, I repeat what I heard: “ So what I hear is..."And I propose to discuss this in more detail.

As a rule, the interlocutor agrees and offers to contact you within a few weeks or months. I often answer: “ How about tomorrow?". In most cases, something like this follows: " Of course, what time?«.

Everyone wants their day to go well. Take advantage of this and make the other person smile or laugh. Give them a chance to talk about their problems. And show that there is a solution. And you have it. Solving other people's problems means more sales.

How to bypass the secretary when cold calling - 4 ways

Secretaries and other intermediaries continue to be one of the biggest problems in telephone communication. Questions like " Does he know who is calling?" or " Will he know what will be discussed?", or " Has she talked to you before?“enough for sales to be halved. If you follow the philosophy outlined below and then adapt and use any of the scenarios provided, the speed at which the handset reaches the decision maker (DM) will increase significantly.

And the key point of philosophy is the following: stop hiding something, being cunning or deceiving the secretary. Mislead him into thinking that you have already spoken with the potential client. This also means that you don't have to give just your name or the name of your organization. The rule is:

Secretaries just need to know your full name and your company name. They are not security guards. This is necessary so that they can understand who is on the line. In most cases this is enough. Use the following proven methods to help you get to the right decision maker faster. Perhaps even without other intermediaries. So:

1 Technique #1:"Please, please." This method has been described many times, but it still remains effective and easy to use. And increases the chances to 65-75% (I still use this method and it works). Here's how it happens:

Secretary: « Thank you for calling ABC Company, how can I help?»

You: « Good afternoon, this is _______ _______ from (your company name). Please, can I talk to ________ please?«.

That's all. Simple, easy and effective. Moreover, it is important to say this with a warm smile in your voice and make sure that “please” is used twice. Use the template: “can I please speak to...”. Another key is that you give your full name and full company name (even if it's not required).

2 Technique #2: If you don't know the name of the client you need to talk to, use the " I need a little help please". Try:

Secretary: “Thank you for calling ABC Company, how can I help you?”

You: « Hello, this is _______ _______ from (your company name), I need a little help«.

[It is fundamentally important to WAIT until the person asks how they can help]

« I need to talk to the key person involved in (your product or service). Could you tell me who it is, please?«.

In more than 50% of cases, if you have asked well enough and waited for an answer, the receptionist or secretary will send you to the correct department. When you get there, just use the previous technique again. And you will most likely be connected with the right person.

There are three keys here: 1 - Be polite and speak with a smile on your face, 2 - Use "please", 3 - WAIT for the other person's answer before asking the right person. This technique only works if you follow the 3 steps above.

3 Technique #3: If you don't know the name of the person you need. Alternative option- ask to be put in touch with another department you need, and then use the technique above. This is a great way to bypass the secretary completely and thus avoid all middlemen. Use this technique:

Secretary: « Thank you for calling ABC Company, how can I help you?«.

You: « Good afternoon, could you connect me with the marketing department please?«.

Again, be careful and use that powerful word “Please.”

4 Technique №4: If you continue to be sent to intermediaries, you absolutely must know how to react. Use any of the following methods:

Registrar question: “Pavel Semenovich is waiting for your call?”

Your Answer: « I don't have an appointment, but could you tell him there's _______ _______ on the line?«.

To the question: « Does he know what it's going to be about?»

you answer: « Doesn't know specifically, but please tell him what this is about (one of the client's main problems), I'll wait, please«.

(The key to the above answer is that you are not intending to mislead the registrar, you are simply using "please" and the patterns above).

If you are asked: « Have you spoken to him before?»

you answer: « Not about his current affairs, but could you let him know that ________ _________ of __________ is on the line?«.

There is no need to doubt the effectiveness of these methods. After all, they only seem simple. In fact, these are powerful techniques. And they work. Especially if you monitor the “temperature” of your voice and do everything exactly as indicated above.

Just remember that main task secretary - does not at all distance you from the right person, always redirecting you to other intermediaries. Its function is to convey precise information about who is calling, from which company and for what reason. Are you likely to encounter difficulties? Certainly. Do these methods always work 100%? Of course not. However, if you use them consistently, you will find that they work 70% of the time. And I bet it's a lot better than your current methods, isn't it?

Bottom line

Follow the above recommendations, strategies, tactics and scripts and your sales will increase. If you plan to delegate cold calling, then give this guide to your employee to read. Gain experience, generate successful leads, and build long-lasting relationships with your clients. If you have already had cold selling experience, share it in the comments. What was your first cold call?

Active telephone sales or telemarketing is a tool that has long gained recognition and popularity in the business environment as a relatively inexpensive, but quite effective way to attract new customers.

In addition to the fact that it is almost universal in relation to the goods and/or services sold, it is also successfully used in working not only with legal entities, but also with individuals.

Hot, warm, cold calls as an effective way to sell goods and services

"Cold Call"- this is the initial, one of the main stages in the overall series of events in the difficult battle for new consumers.

Currently, there is no clear definition of the term “cold calling”. However, traditionally cold calling means practice of advertising telephone calls carried out by employees of trading companies in almost all business industries, with the aim of attracting potential customers and/or concluding a contract for the supply of goods or provision of services, as final stage in the sales chain. Sometimes, cold calling techniques are also used to collect necessary information about potential customers, which can subsequently be used to make a sale.

Cold calls are carried out without prior agreements and only on the initiative of employees of companies that sell goods or services.

At its core main goal of all cold calls means an increase in the customer base.

Experienced sales specialists, authors of various business literature, as well as developers of various sales courses and trainings share outgoing calls to cold, warm and hot.

Cold type- this is a call made for the first time and addressed to a person who is not familiar with the selling company, its products, services, service and prices. At the time of making a cold call, the contact person’s plans do not include familiarity with the company’s activities, its services and capabilities, therefore it is assumed that the manager making the call will receive a “cold reception” at the other end of the line.

Unlike cold calls warm type carried out by persons who are already in one way or another familiar with the activities of the selling company and are to some extent interested in cooperation. The purpose of warm calls may be to restore once interrupted cooperation, inform about new products or services, promotions or upcoming price increases, remind yourself in the form of pleasant communication with a contact person or collect information about the intentions of the contact person or his plans in the area of ​​possible cooperation etc.

And finally, under hot calls Sales professionals understand calls made to customers who have a direct intention of doing business with the selling company. Unlike warm calls, hot calls are made with the goal of bringing a deal to its logical conclusion, which in 95% of cases ends in success for the sales specialist.

The essence and purpose of cold calling

Cold calling is the most difficult type of telephone conversation. This is due to the fact that most of the possible clients already, as a rule, have some suppliers of goods and/or services with whom everyone is satisfied with cooperation or solve their problems in some other way (for example, they have a staff of necessary specialists and do not need hiring a third party company to solve some problems).

Therefore, many experienced and practicing sales professionals do not set themselves the goal of making a sale as a result of a cold call. The main goal in this case, it is collecting information about the existing or possible needs of the potential client’s company, and reaching agreements on holding a business meeting at which the following takes place:

• personal acquaintance between the seller’s representative and the potential client’s company representative;
• presentation of the selling company’s capabilities;
• discussion of plans for further cooperation.

Only if these conditions are met, the chances of a “cold” contact transitioning into “warm” and “hot” significantly increase.

Difference cold calling of legal and individuals The only thing is that when working with legal entities, as a rule, a sales specialist from the selling company travels to the territory of the potential customer. If cold calls are made to a database of individuals, then they are invited to independently attend an event or establishment.

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The main difficulties of cold calling

You can select following difficulties when making calls via a cold base:

1. The main difficulty of conducting cold active telemarketing events is the reluctance of potential customers to communicate with strangers.
2. In addition, newcomers to the field of sales, forced by the nature of their work to call cold contacts, find it difficult to overcome various barriers that arise on the way to the right contact person.
3. And, of course, working with objections. Where would we be without her? And potential clients have a lot of objections, from the standard “We don’t need anything”, “It’s too expensive” and “We already work with suppliers” to the most extravagant and unexpected, for example “I don’t like your voice, so I won’t work with you” or “Stop calling me, I’m dead to you.”

However, all these complex tasks have their own professional solutions, and the sales technology of “cold” calling the client base remains the most popular technology in the field active sales.

Rules for cold calling

There is a certain scheme for making almost any cold call. It is versatile and suitable for use in a wide variety of business sectors.

To improve efficiency calls like this need to be made preparatory work, which is as follows:

1. Necessary prepare an up-to-date contact database for an upcoming call. The current database is a list of organizations with valid phone numbers. Ideally, the database already contains the names and positions of the necessary contact persons. But often, managers involved in cold calling have to obtain such information on their own in the process of work.
   In addition, before making a call, the sales specialist must know exactly the position and area of ​​responsibility of the contact person with whom he will have a conversation. For example, it is advisable to discuss the supply of stationery with the administration service, personnel training with the HR department, and the supply of software with technical director etc.
2. The sales manager needs to thoroughly and carefully explore the product or service offered. It is necessary to know all the features, unique qualities, disadvantages and the same about the products or services of the main competing companies. This knowledge is necessary for effective work in general, and for working out objections if they arise already at the cold calling stage.
3. Before making the first call, a sales specialist must clearly understand the purpose of the call. It is extremely rare for a transaction to be completed after the first and only call. That's why ideal option The goals of a cold call are to set up a meeting or reach at least some agreements, for example, send a commercial proposal and call back, call back the next day if the contact person is too busy today or find out the contacts of a deputy, etc.
4. Preparing a conversation script. Even experienced sales specialists from time to time prefer to look at some “cheat sheets” - an approximate script or conversation plan. In professional terminology, the script of a telephone conversation is called a “script” and it schematically depicts almost all possible options development of the conversation, with answers to standard objections and professional tricks in order to return the interlocutor to the direction of the conversation that is convenient for the sales manager.
   For beginners, such scripts help to cope with uncertainty and fears and more or less competently conduct a dialogue to its logical conclusion.

As many years of practice have shown, despite the fact that cold calls are one of the most popular sales technologies, the effectiveness of cold calls is very low in almost any business segment. Thus, existing statistics indicate that if, as a result of 100 cold calls, at least 5 transactions are made, then these are very good indicators.

Therefore, for maximum efficiency, for a continuous flow of new clients, sales managers must make calls to cold databases CONSTANTLY. And this is a rather difficult, stressful and very painstaking process.

The following video training is devoted to the competent implementation of cold calls:

Features of the work of a sales manager

In this regard, successful sales managers working with cold bases must have some specific qualities that are either given to a person by nature (which is rare) or acquired in the process of professional growth.

So, to these qualities include:

1. Stress resistance. A sales manager is a person who probably hears rejections more often than people in other industries, and the lack of immediate positive results can greatly impact overall motivation. Therefore, there is no place for overly receptive and sensitive people in sales.
2. Tenacity and perseverance. The saying “they are in the door, and they are out the window” best characterizes successful sales specialists. It is not uncommon that only through stubborn persistence can one overcome all the barriers and obstacles on the way to the person making the decision to complete a transaction. Without these qualities, it is extremely difficult for sales managers to achieve great success in the profession.
3. Energy, high level activity, self-discipline and high performance. A specific feature of the profession is the dependence of the result on the amount of effort expended. This means that the chances of success in the profession increase if the manager always has extra energy for a couple more cold calls beyond the plan or for one more meeting during the day.
4. Ability and desire to learn, the desire to learn as much useful and necessary information as possible, suitable both in professional activities when communicating with clients, and for personal growth and development.
5. Sociability. Due to the nature of his work, a sales manager has to communicate constantly, sometimes throughout the entire working day and even after it. For introverts, people who are not sociable and reserved, build professional activity much more difficult.
6. Responsibility and diligence. Failure to fulfill your obligations can result in the loss of a potential or existing client. So, for example, if a manager promised to call back in a day and did not call back at the agreed time, this may characterize him as an unnecessary and irresponsible person, and the desire to work with such a “specialist” is sharply reduced, especially when there are a lot of other similar offers on the market.
7. Sense of humor- quality is not mandatory, but desirable. A good, correct sense of humor helps a sales specialist establish contacts, even when they are still completely cold. In addition, this is a very valuable human quality that helps to look at the current situation with optimism, no matter how it turns out.

Tips for proper organization The work of an active sales manager is shown in the following video.
Part 1:

IN modern business cold calling, as a telephone sales technique, is used in a wide variety of areas commercial activities, regardless of the specifics of the goods/services offered and the personality of the potential buyer. Recently, this method of selling products has become so popular that it can be safely separated into a separate unique field of activity with its own laws, rules and methods, the study of which helps to increase sales volumes and achieve set goals.

Many business entities perceive cold calls as the most ordinary telephone conversations with clients, which an ordinary secretary without education and sales experience can do. Of course, this stereotype absolutely does not correspond to the real meaning of this telephone sales technique. A salesperson who makes cold calls must have the knowledge of a psychologist, a marketer, an ideal knowledge of the object of sale, and even have the talent of an actor. In this article you will find useful information on this topic, you will learn what cold calls are, how they are carried out, what is the secret of this sales technique and what every seller should know to achieve success.

Cold calling telephone sales techniques - essence and features

The prospects for developing business cooperation with him depend on how successful the first dialogue with a potential client was. If you were able to find those “thin threads” that are the foundation for establishing contact, then you can count, at a minimum, on the fact that they will listen to you carefully and show sincere interest in your proposal. In many areas of business, as already mentioned, cold calling is used for these purposes.

This sales technique received this name because most subscribers react to unfamiliar calls rather coldly (this is at best), and sometimes rudely and aggressively. In principle, this is a completely normal reaction when a person is very busy or is waiting for an important message, he is not in the mood, etc. The task of a sales manager who uses cold calling in his work is to overcome the “wall of alienation”, to ensure that the caller changes his aggressive tone to an interested and friendly one, and then to establish business contacts and turn a potential client into a real buyer of your products. Naturally, only a well-trained person who knows psychology and has at least minimal acting talent can cope with this task. If the first dialogue ends with unexpected beeps on the phone, you can forget about this potential client for at least a month.

Please note one interesting fact: in some countries, cold calling is prohibited or has serious legal restrictions. Although such laws can be considered as a violation/restriction of human rights and freedoms, which are enshrined in the Constitution of any civilized state.

If we consider the importance of cold calling for business, then modern conditions they are one of the most common sales techniques. Even despite the constant complaints from managers that it doesn’t work, it’s just a waste of time, etc., the method of establishing contacts by telephone is used more and more every day and becomes more advanced. It is enough to trace the development trend of various call centers to understand how the popularity of cold calling is growing. Many of these companies operate according to the following scheme.

You provide a database of potential clients, set a goal (make contact, arrange a meeting, sign a contract, sell a product or service), agree on all the details of payment, and expect the results of completing the task. At the same time, call center employees do not care at all what products they need to work with, which is additional confirmation of the versatility of the telephone sales technique using cold calls. The services of telephone sales managers are in great demand among small companies, which save significant amounts of money on the wage fund: there is no need to maintain a whole staff of sales agents and managers, because the development of the client base will be handled by call center employees.

Basic rules

In order for your call to be successful, you must follow certain rules.

Your speech should be confident, competent and to the point. If you plan to work professionally in in this direction, then constantly work on your speech.

Be prepared for the fact that you will have a large number of refusals. Even managers who show fantastic results in attracting clients are not immune from unsuccessful calls. You need to take this fact calmly, and not “wind up” yourself in case of refusal.

Don't focus on the products being sold. If you know something about a potential client, try to use this information correctly. For example, the other day football club(whose potential client is a fan of) won a very important match, try to start the dialogue with this positive news. Then, you can switch to the benefits of cooperation with you, potential profits, etc.

Always respect the client's choice. Quite often, at the time of your first conversation with you, your potential client is already working with a company that sells similar products. You should never speak badly about competitors and their products - this rule is one of the main ones in business. Try to gently find out what your potential client is not happy with, and then use the information received in the process of presenting your products.

Learn to distinguish between a refusal and an objection. If in the first case the chances of establishing a dialogue are practically zero, then it is necessary to work with objections. In addition, do not forget that you can call when the client is very busy, does not have the opportunity to talk, is resting, or is not in the mood for a serious, business dialogue. In such situations, the minimum task is to agree on the next call, and best of all, taking advantage of the lack of time and desire to continue the conversation, schedule a personal meeting.

Before starting telephone conversations, you must have a clearly defined goal: sign a contract, arrange a meeting or sell a product/service. No troubles, failures or force majeure should stop you on the path to achieving these goals. If you don’t know how to work like this, quickly lose your positions and have a hard time even with a minor trouble, then it’s better to direct your knowledge and skills to another area of ​​activity; cold calling is not your job.

Cold calling techniques and techniques

Practicing managers identify two main types of effective cold calls:

In the first case, the main goal of the dialogue is to schedule a business meeting in order to then agree on cooperation, sales of products, etc. Basically, the dialogue is very short, all proposals are made directly, without “lyrical” digressions. This is an aggressive and direct tactic that should only be used when communicating with prospects. A proposal for a meeting, as a rule, comes immediately after the greeting. The presented cold calls save time; they can be used even by an inexperienced manager, but clients may not like them and, when scheduling a meeting, you do not know how fruitful it will be for both parties.

In the second case, the sales manager calmly finds out how promising a given client is and only then leads him to setting up a meeting. This tactic does not allow the use of questions “head-on”; it is designed for a detailed discussion not only of substantive issues, but also of a number of other topics that are not directly related to your business. The advantage is that you make an appointment with the client, knowing his goals and capabilities, and the disadvantage of these cold calls is that a beginner cannot cope with such work on his own. In addition, this tactic of telephone conversations takes a lot of time.

Novice managers who know that cold calling is a telesales technique, but have never encountered even examples of it, should definitely study how they are carried out.

First of all, you need to collect as much information as possible about your potential client. You can use everything for this available methods: accounts on social networks, opinions of former and current work colleagues, etc. Then you need to create a script (scenario, plan) for future calls. It is compiled for one group of clients with whom similar dialogues are expected. Your success largely depends on this moment. Beginning sales managers must definitely consult with experienced colleagues on all points of the future scenario of dialogue with a potential client.

Let's get straight to the call. Naturally, you should say hello and introduce yourself, saying your name (maybe surname), as well as your position and company name. Try to tell about your company in a nutshell; you need to do this briefly, to the point and in such a way that the client does not get bored. At the next stage, try to obtain from the client the information that is necessary to attract him to cooperation, using leading questions. For example, a company that provides services for advertising on the World Wide Web on the most promising resources (social networks, maps, message boards, thematic sites, etc.).

You work as a manager and your goal is to negotiate cooperation with a potential client. Leading question: “Have you ever tried to advertise your company/product on the Internet?” Next you need to get as interested as possible possible client. In our case (advertising company), you can talk about specific results when similar companies used online advertising services and, thanks to this, their customer base increased by 10-20%. When giving specific examples, use real numbers, but do not mention the real names of your clients (this information is considered a trade secret). In response, you can hear not only notes of interest in the subscriber’s voice when he asks about the cost of your services, but also an indifferent remark that they themselves can create a VKontakte or Facebook profile, as well as place a dozen advertisements on specialized resources.

Work with objections begins. Your script should have a prepared response to this remark. Representatives advertising companies, as a rule, have agreements with the owners of all resources on which client advertisements are placed, so the process itself is carried out using special programs and it costs your company at least 2-3 times cheaper than for an ordinary user. For a normal, adequate person, these arguments will be enough. If you hear any other objections, act according to the situation, but never “let go” of the client without a persistent fight.

Remember, there is a certain category of people who get real pleasure in the process of such dialogues, when they are convinced, and they constantly find some kind of counterarguments. Sometimes, in such situations, it makes sense to stop the dialogue by inviting the interlocutor to familiarize himself with the commercial offer in in writing. If the prospective client is really interested in your offer, he will provide his email address and will contact you in the near future.

In the process of communicating with potential clients, you must show yourself to be a true professional in your specialization. The interlocutor expects to receive an instant answer to any question. And it should be meaningful and useful information. If you don’t know what to answer to your interlocutor, don’t make up some fantastic stories, say that you need to consult with your superiors or more competent colleagues. Lies always cause misunderstandings, mistakes, etc., and as a result, you will lose a client and leave the worst impressions about yourself and the company.

Two conditions that must be met by every sales manager working with cold calling. When talking to potential clients, you need to smile as much as possible. This will not only have a positive effect on your mood, but the interlocutor will also feel that they are treated kindly, which means you can relax and calmly conduct a business conversation. Another important point is that the success of cold calling depends on the experience of the manager. If you make 80-100 calls daily using one script, in a couple of weeks your level of training will reach the maximum level, which will have a positive effect on the number of attracted clients.

Additionally, experienced managers recommend:

never use the words: “hello”, “I don’t know”, “fine”;

during the dialogue, address the client by name, but not every three words;

remain calm in any situation and do not raise your voice at the client;

If the subscriber does not answer the phone, call the next day.

The process of learning everything related to cold calling is quite interesting, and if you master the telephone sales technique in practice, you don’t have to worry about your employment, but it’s best to use this knowledge to organize the work of your own company. We also recommend that you read the article “”.

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Hello! Today we will talk about cold calling.

Today you will learn:

• What are the features of cold calling?
• How to create conversation scripts;
• What rules should the caller follow?

What are cold calls

A certain type of call is called “cold” not because of the tone of the caller, but because of the attitude of the client who answered the phone. It is not for nothing that sales department employees are afraid to make such calls, because very often the responses to an unsolicited offer are rude and unpleasant.

The main task of a cold call is to set up a meeting. The second most important task is to expand the customer base.

Cold calls are made to new clients with whom a business relationship has not yet been established. This is their main difference from warm and hot calls, which are addressed to already familiar and existing clients, respectively.

In a number of countries, cold calling is limited and controlled by law, and sometimes even prohibited.

In Russia, many companies strictly instruct secretaries not to facilitate cold calls. Telesales are becoming increasingly popular among marketers, and potential customers, in turn, are becoming more and more easily evasive.

Cold calling has its pros and cons.

The advantages of this type include:

1. Costs a minimum of time and money. The search for clients is carried out from the office; the manager does not need to make many unnecessary trips.
2. Fast communication (relative to correspondence), a high chance of convincing the interlocutor.
3. The opportunity to understand the client’s reaction to the offer and ask additional questions.
4. PR of the company, increasing popularity and number of clients.
5. An additional way of sales without compromising the main one.
6. Research of demand, competitors and the market as a whole.

Disadvantages of Cold Calling (even if the calls are organized correctly and the sellers do not make mistakes):

1. A client's obviously negative reaction to a sudden call.
2. It’s easier to refuse an offer if you don’t see the seller in person.
3. The client can end the conversation at any time (hang up).
4. It is impossible to clearly demonstrate the product.

In our country, cold calling is most actively used:

• Forwarding companies;
• Advertising agencies, media;
• Manufacturers or wholesalers of business goods;
• Real estate agencies.

Cold calling can be carried out by specially trained own employees organizations and third-party specialists from the call center.

Cold calling techniques

There are many cold calling techniques. But it’s better to look at an example of how to make cold calls.

Every company's customer base inevitably changes. Regular customers sooner or later they leave, having lost interest, need, or become interested in a new seller. To maintain a balance in the client base, it is necessary to regularly call not only the warm base, but also make about a hundred cold calls to new clients per day.

The main skill of the cold calling technique is to anticipate the client's responses and know the scenarios for continuing the conversation.

Cold calling is only appropriate in the following situations:

• The offer is definitely necessary for the potential client (for example, a watch repair shop always needs batteries and spare straps);
• Various clients may be interested in the offer from time to time (computer equipment repair);
• The offer is not driven by necessity, but may be of interest to various clients (printing business cards);
• They constantly need an offer and at the same time choose the most suitable seller (courier service).

In practice, cold calling is a very complex technique, and sales managers who have mastered it are irreplaceable employees in any company. In addition to theoretical training, such a specialist needs self-control, self-confidence and the ability to accept refusal.

The components of a successful cold call: self-control, knowledge of the product, customer needs and sales techniques.

Stages of cold calling

Let's figure out what the cold calling technique looks like in a step-by-step scenario.

Stage 1. Collecting information about clients

It is more pleasant to talk with the interlocutor who is well aware of who he is calling and why. The Internet, reference books and other media will help here.

If your client is legal entity that provides certain services or goods, you can conduct reconnaissance and, pretending to be a buyer, find out details about their offers.

At this stage, it would be nice to have a reason to call.

Example. The beginning of the conversation could be like this: “Good afternoon, Ivan Petrovich. My name is Victor Sidorov, I am a representative of the EcoPlus company. I saw a story yesterday about your new production line. I agree with your words that modern production must cause minimal damage to the environment. We are engaged in the removal and disposal of waste from industrial facilities. I would like to meet with you to tell you more about our proposals.”

Stage 2. Creating a script

This is a kind of cheat sheet for the seller. You can learn it by heart or have it before your eyes (the format of telephone calls allows this).

Well-written cold calling scripts are the sales manager’s faithful assistants, helping him speak confidently and to the point.

Stage 3. Conversation with the secretary

Sometimes this stage can be avoided, but the first call most often goes through the secretary. Moreover, the larger the organization, the stronger the “wall” erected by the secretary in front of his leadership. We’ll talk more about how to bypass a secretary with a cold call later.

Stage 4. Conversation with the client

The total duration of the conversation should not exceed five minutes. The golden mean is three minutes. The main purpose of the conversation is to set up a meeting and conclude a deal.

When talking with a client, a sales manager needs to go through several steps:

1. Introduction: Greet the interlocutor, introduce yourself and clarify whether there is free time for conversation.
2. Establishing contact: cite the source, use the information obtained in the first stage.
3. Receipt additional information: ask if the client uses a product similar to yours and if he is interested in improvements.
4. Attracting interest: Explain the benefits to the client from the meeting.
5. Dealing with objections(if required).
6. Arrangement for a meeting: suggest your option for the date and time of the meeting.
7. Completion: repeat the agreed meeting time, thank the client for his interest, say goodbye.

Secretary on the cold call route

If you are calling not an individual, but the head of an organization, then there is a high probability that the call will be answered by his secretary (or another third party). How to behave in such a situation?

• Introduce yourself politely.
• Try not to directly say that the purpose of your call is sales.
• Ask to speak with the decision maker on the issue you are interested in (for example, “who can I talk to about advertising?”).
• If at the moment you are denied a conversation with the manager, find out as much information as possible about him (what is his name, when and how can you contact him).

There are several tricks that will help you bypass an attentive secretary:

1. Big Boss Mask. The secretary will not refuse to communicate with the boss if he hears on the phone the confident voice of not the seller, but the boss. (For example: “Are you worried about the reception general director Alekseeva. Connect me to the director").
2. Recall style. This technique is possible only if at least the name of the decision maker is known in advance. In response to the request “Please connect with Arkady Ivanovich,” the secretary most likely will not ask additional questions, but will simply direct the call to the right person.
3. Request for advice. A friendly tone and the phrase “Please advise who is best to contact...”. The secretary will be flattered if the interlocutor increases his status (“only you can help me”).
4. Difficult question. Sometimes, in order to answer a caller's question, the secretary is forced to redirect his call. But to ask it, you need to know well the structure and specifics of the company.
5. False error. In this case, the caller uses a trick and asks the secretary to connect him to another department. For example, if he is interested in the purchasing department, he goes through the secretary to the accounting department, and there he pretends that he made a mistake. “Hello, is this the purchasing department? - No, this is accounting. “Can you connect me to the purchasing department?”

Techniques

For effective sales Using the phone you need first of all practice, and only then theory.

It is impossible to develop an ideal cold calling script that is universally suitable for every seller and buyer - both have their own characteristics.

Here are a few basic rules that all sales managers working in cold calling should adhere to:

1. Find out the client's needs and interests in advance.
2. Use scripts prepared in advance.
3. At the beginning of the conversation, explain the purpose of the call and ask for some time.
4. Do not put pressure on the client, communicate without aggression. Don't use expressions like "I'll make you an offer you can't refuse." The phrase “Let me tell you about...” sounds much softer.
5. Emphasize the importance of the client. Less “I” and “we”, more “you”.
6. Take your time, pause between speech blocks, and speak clearly.
7. Be confident, friendly and always smile - you can hear it even over the phone.
8. Don't try to sell your product. Your goal is to generate interest and schedule an appointment. In this regard, replace the common “we offer” with “we are engaged”.
9. Don't argue or prove that you're right. Respect the client's choice if he is satisfied with his current counterparties.
10. To get people interested in a meeting, talk about the main benefits.
11. Know how to switch the attention of your interlocutor and interest him in additional offers.
12. For questions about details, offer a personal meeting.
13. More specifics. When asking about a meeting, immediately give a specific time. Instead of “Maybe we’ll meet?”
14. Monitor the client's mood and adapt to it.
15. Remove the “not” particle, closed questions and complex terms from your speech.
16. Use attractive words: “promotion”, “free”. If there is an opportunity to offer a free trial of a product, don't miss it.
17. Don't drag out the conversation, watch the time. Three minutes is usually enough.
18. Listen to recordings of your conversations, analyze and draw conclusions about what could have been said differently.

Dealing with objections

In any sales, it is important to distinguish objections from categorical refusals. “Cold” calls usually become an unpleasant surprise for the client, which is why objections arise in this format much more often.

There is no point in working with decisive refusals; it is better to end the conversation on a positive note and not waste your own and other people’s time. But with objections, subtle work is needed.

Let's look at the most common examples:

"I'm busy (in a hurry)"	Explain that you will not take much time, but only want to arrange a meeting. As a last resort, ask when you can call back.	“I understand, let me come to you to tell you everything. Will it suit you on Wednesday at eleven in the morning?”
"Call back later"	Ask to schedule an exact time convenient for the client.	“When will it be convenient for you to talk? What if I call you back tomorrow around ten in the morning?”
"Send information by email"	Don't end the conversation here. Such a request is almost tantamount to refusal. Offer a meeting or accept and ask when and how you will receive a response.	“Okay, I'll send you the information. But I'm calling to set up an appointment so I can demonstrate our products and give you a free sample. Will it suit you on Wednesday at eleven?”
"I don't need anything"	Name famous customers who changed their minds after trying your product. Convince that the meeting is non-binding and set a specific date.	“Representatives of other organizations also thought so, but only before they realized how much our proposal could help them in... We should meet. How about Wednesday at eleven?”
“My counterparties suit me”	Use all the information you prepared earlier. Explain that you are not trying to replace a competitor, but are offering an alternative, because two suppliers are more reliable than one. Tell us what the benefits of working with you are and offer to meet. If refusal is inevitable, turn the situation to your advantage and find out from the client why your competitors attract him in order to use this information in the future.	“If you work with ..., then you probably use their program ...? - Positive or negative answer - Great, then we should definitely meet, because our proposal is ... (list the advantages). How about Wednesday at eleven o'clock?"
"We don't have enough funds"	Don’t stop the dialogue here, but ask a leading question that will tell the client that he still needs your offer.	“Of course I understand. Let me ask, are you currently collaborating with anyone in this area? - Client's response - Then we must meet, because our product... (its advantages). How about Wednesday at eleven?”

Cold calling scripts

Sales call scripts can be of two types:

1. Hard. They are used in selling simple goods, where the variety of answers from the interlocutor is minimal.
2. Flexible. For selling complex products and ambiguous offers. Require creative approach and more experience.

Everyone who makes sales over the phone should have their own scripts, and those working in the cold calling technique are no exception.

1. There should be as many scripts as possible. An experienced seller regularly updates his database.
2. Each script must first undergo practical testing on colleagues and acquaintances. Those that are obviously unsuccessful and inconvenient should be eliminated immediately.
3. The main purpose of a cold call script is to illustrate the essence of the conversation, and not become a verbatim script.

Download cold calling scripts

Outgoing call script

Incoming call script

Cold calling examples

Example 1.

- Good afternoon, Ivan. This is Anastasia from the international company ABC, which deals with... I am calling you to arrange a meeting during which I could tell you about our new program, which ... (what the client is interested in). I am sure that you, like our other clients ... (examples of companies), are interested in ... (certain benefit).

- Yes, I'm interested in this.

- Great, let's meet. How about Wednesday at four o'clock in the evening?

Example 2.

- Good afternoon, Ivan Ivanovich. This is Anastasia Petrova from the ABC company. We are doing…. Do you use... in your work?

— I don’t have time to talk to you now, send all the information by email.

— I will send you a presentation so that you can familiarize yourself with it. free time, but I'm calling to make an appointment and demonstrate all the benefits of our offer. Will it suit you on Thursday at two o'clock?

“I’m afraid that my whole month is already planned out.”

- Okay, is this date busy for you next month?

- I'll take a look now. Not yet.

- So, maybe we will meet on April seventeenth?

Example 3.

- Good evening. My name is Anastasia, I represent the ABC holding in your region, which is engaged in... . Your company is ... (type of activity), which means you will be interested in our new offer for ... (what the client needs).

— Sorry, but we are already collaborating with another company.

— Let me ask, is this not the EYUYA company by any chance? Perhaps you chose their “First” tariff?

- No, this is the “Second” tariff.

— Great, I think it will be useful for us to meet, because our programs perfectly complement this tariff. How about this Friday?