Get Cold Feet Calling Cold?
With no doubt whatsoever, every job has its perks and its brand of stress. If you think about the most stressful jobs, police and military officers, healthcare workers, firefighters, and pilots will be the first to come to your mind. Be sure you’ve hit the nail on the head. Still, did you know that according to health research, office workers are among the top ten most nerve-racking jobs ever? Moreover, we strongly suspect that sales managers head the list of those affected by stress (except office cleaners, of course) in the office. Cold calling is often the criminal to blame.
Cold calls are pretty challenging. Just think for one tiny moment… People find your calls irritating, say things to you, or hang up immediately. And now, think again. Telephone calls, even cold ones, give you a brilliant chance to find a regular customer connecting them in a particular way and making them interested right from the start. Well, easier said than done. Yet, here, we’ve prepared several tips for you to give it a good whirl.
Cold Calls: Make It as Warm as Life
Сreating their own business, either a sole proprietorship or an LLC services (which is definitely preferable for many reasons), people dive into everyday trade. To successfully sell goods and services and make your client a regular buyer of your brand, you must put your best foot forward. But how do you ensure you make the right start with any cold call when you have never even seen someone on the other end of the phone? As the old saying goes, treat people the same way you want to be treated. In this respect, business relations are no exception.
People would prefer to do useful things (or just do nothing) than spend some time talking to strangers willing to sell you something. But cold calling is not about sales (just joking); it’s mainly about relationships (no joking at all). To build successful relationships from scratch, you have to prepare thoroughly and completely, and here are three essential points for you to consider.
- Research. Not to irritate good people by calling them out of nowhere, you must conduct a detailed analysis of your prospective client and thus customize your business offer to their needs;
- Time. Terrible timing often turns out to be the greatest irritating thing ever about cold calling. So, it is pretty reasonable to think over the call records at your disposal to find when most people answer the phone and spend some time speaking;
- Script. Well, here comes the king of the hill. A cold calling script is considered the most significant thing helping you keep things under control for specific reasons:
- You sound better, thus making a better impression;
- You get more results from every cold call you make;
- You have prepared answers to FAQs and sales objections.
Now, it becomes clear that creating a fully-customizable script for cold calls is a decisive element in phone sales, whether you trade insurance services, personal care products, rocket engines, or various software, for example.
Software Sales: Don’t Leave Them Out in the Cold
What’s So Specific About Software
No doubt, tech sales differ from selling other types of goods and services. The main point about selling software is that this service is unique. Software is created precisely for solving technical pains. So, offering your prospectives this kind of service, remember these three essential principles:
- Listen to your prospect’s pains. In communication with your potential client, you need to find out what technical issues they experience;
- Create a solution picture. Having heard people’s pains, tell them what they need to solve before telling them what you can really offer;
- Offer assistance. At last, go through the list of issues and say what you can offer to get rid of these pains forever.
Ultimate Script: What It May Look Like
Now that you know the most significant pitfalls of cold calling and software selling, the time has come to build the ultimate cold call script framework to boost your software sales.
- Introduction
The initial part of a cold call is essential as a good beginning makes a good ending. It is important to be brief and courteous and show respect for your prospect’s time. Your main goal is to hold your interlocutor’s attention and make them stay on the line with you.
- Launch
Provide your prospect with a short message helping you get across your principal idea in the most understandable, clear-cut way. It would help if you expressed why your service is relevant and valuable to your potential client.
- Value Proposition
Now, it’s the right time to explain to the interlocutor why your service can improve their business and make their lives easier. If you carry out good research beforehand, it would be easy for you to approve that your custom software is just what they need as the proper solution. Besides, it would be a plus to mention a free trial of your product.
- Needs Identification
This part is essential to understand what people want and what they are really ready to buy. Ask prepared open-ended questions to discover the pains, issues, and challenges your potential buyers face in their business. Not to sound salesy and slimy, try your best to listen and react to your interlocutor’s tone and the information they provide.
- Solution Picture
This part is a logical extension of the previous paragraph. Create an immediate solution picture based on your potential client’s pains and expectations. Tell people what they need to receive before telling them what you really can do.
- Assistance Offering
It’s time to hit. Go through the list of all the pains your prospective faces and offer a reasonable solution represented by a set of beneficial features of your software and quality assurance services.
- Objections Handling
Strictly speaking, objections can appear at any stage of cold calling. Don’t be afraid to practice active listening, repeat back what you hear from the interlocutor, ask follow-up questions, and use the entire arsenal of creative objection handling tools.
- Closing
At this point, it is essential to make a practical step forward. At least, there must be enough intrigue on the interlocutor’s end that gives you a good reason to call them back and provide your service. You can offer a quick free demo or trial of your software product by sending this direct link to your potential client’s email.
Final Thoughts
Generally, cold calling is excellent training. It allows newbie sales representatives to practice their sales until it becomes impeccable. The main thing here is to give it the proper whirl. Don’t listen to those who say cold calling is as useful as a chocolate teapot. They are just bad at it.
