How to Make Cold Calling Fun

Picking up the phone and dialing the number of someone you’ve never met can be rather intimidating at first. Scratch that, it can be downright terrifying the first few times you do it! If you’re a millennial, like me, this can be an even more uncomfortable activity since our entire way of communication with friends is text message and social media platforms. 

I think it’s safe to say that the only time people really get on the phone in their private lives is to order food, talk to a doctor, or talk to grandma when she calls on your birthday. Just imagine how weird you think it is when a friend gives you a call without texting you first! 

So, when people first get into telesales and they think about the concept of cold calling, they may think they will end up making the other person feel uncomfortable, just the way they do if a stranger randomly called them. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, placing phone calls is an essential part of selling (in B2B sales) and it’s a skill you must hone if you want to crush your quota and bring home that giant bonus you’ve heard about from other salespeople on your team. It can be intimidating, and quite frustrating to do, but Sales Therapy can get you through it, and we can do it together! 

You’ll be a cold calling master before you know it! 

IT’S 2021, WHY ARE WE STILL MAKING PHONE CALLS IN B2B SALES?

That’s an excellent question, and I asked the same exact thing when I was starting out in sales. I thought it was an outdated, and completely useless, way to communicate with people. But I promise you that it’s a good way to earn your customers’ trust and business! 

Think of it from an opportunistic perspective. You and I aren’t the only ones who have felt this way about phone calls. In fact, some salespeople may even avoid getting on the phone at all cost, unless they already have a strong relationship with their customers. 

That means there are more salespeople sending emails and LinkedIn connection requests than there are those who get on the phone. A customer’s inbox can only get so cluttered before they start putting filters on their email, or worse, just delete any email that they know isn’t part of a conversation they were already having. 

In some ways, getting on the phone and trying to get your customer on the line will help you differentiate yourself from the hundreds of other salespeople who may be trying to win the attention of the same customer! You want them to be talking to you, and buying from you, right? 

I’ll let you in on the ULTIMATE secret to make cold calls more effective, and less daunting…

The more talking the customer does, the more productive and effective your conversation will be. If you’ve read my other articles about writing effective prospecting emails, you’ll know that I’m a firm believer that people, above all else, love hearing and talking about themselves. 

This applies to phone calls as well! Ask the prospect about themselves. Ask them what their role is in the company, if you don’t already understand it fully. Ask them about the products they sell, if you sell a complementary product. Ask them which CRM they are currently using, and if they are happy with its performance, if you sell CRM packages. 

The point is, you ask them questions about them, and let them do most of the talking. If you do that, you’ve just started this relationship on the right foot! 

But why does this work? Why would you not tell them everything you can about your product?

The answer is quite simple, and brutally honest. They don’t give a shit about you or your product. When the customer first picks up the phone and realizes it’s a sales call, to them, you’re just an annoying person who interrupted their progress on a project that their boss is screaming at them to get done. 

Chances are, they will even tell you that with the tone of their voice. They won’t come right out and say it, but you’ll feel it in their voice. 

Don’t let that deter you. Remember, I’m going to make sure you make that phone call as productive as possible!  

Regardless of their tone, you just stay positive, and begin asking them questions about themselves. Which questions you should ask would depend heavily on the type of product you’re selling, the type of person you’re trying to pitch, and specific questions are something we can brainstorm together if you send me a quick message. 

DO YOU NEED TO DO ANYTHING TO PREPARE FOR THE PHONE CALL? 

Again, this can depend on the type of product you’re selling, and if you’re on a specific calling campaign, but generally speaking, absolutely. You absolutely need to prepare for a phone call. This is true for EVERY phone call. Yes, even if you need to call one of your closest customers! 

For the sake of this article, let’s make the assumption that you sell fancy coffee machines to corporate offices. It’s one of those machines that can make a single cup of coffee, late, hot chocolate, or even espresso! It’s fast, the beverages are always delicious, and you have the lowest prices out of all your competitors. 

Before you even pick up the phone and try your luck with whoever picks up the phone, you need to figure out who you are looking for. You may not know the name of the person you need to pitch, but you can narrow it down by just sitting back and thinking for a minute. 

Think about your own company. Let’s say a salesperson wanted to call and sell your company one of their fancy coffee machines. Who would they need to pitch?

Would they pitch the President of the company? No, probably not. Would they have to call one of the people on the production floor? It’s possible, but not likely. 

I don’t know the answer to that question, but you probably do. So, think about which job title you need to target for this call. Identifying which job title you’re looking for will narrow down the number of potential people you need to call, and it can limit the number of phone calls you have to make to get a decision maker on the line!

For example, most salespeople would dial the main number of the company, and they would “ask to speak with the person in charge of your coffee machine”, or something along those lines. I’d hope their question would be worded much better than that, but you get the point. 

The person who answers the main number of most companies is most likely not the person you need to pitch. However, don’t ever make that assumption. Never assume who you’re talking to just because they are answering the phones. However, for the majority of the time, the person who answers the phone will be the one who will transfer you, or not. 

These people are often referred to as “GateKeepers”. They are referred to as this simply because they are the first person you need to speak with when you dial the company, and part of their job is to screen calls and make sure no unsolicited salespeople get through to their decision makers. Again, think about your own company. If a salesperson were to call and ask to speak with the President or CEO of your company, they will most likely be sent to a voicemail that is never checked. 

That said, we need to use our manners, and some charm, to get them to let us through to the person we need to pitch! We can also use some of the research we did beforehand to get around them since you found the name of the person you need on LinkedIn (I have a lot of advice and helpful techniques for using the free version of LinkedIn to generate solid leads). 

So, one way to try and get to the right person is to say something along the lines of: 

“This is NAME calling from COMPANY, and I had a quick question for PROSPECT in regard to the coffee machine we discussed.” Look, I normally do not suggest that you deceive your way to a purchase order. In fact, I’m really against shady business practices and sneaky salespeople. But, a small white lie to a gatekeeper really isn’t the end of the world. It’s not doing anyone any harm, and they won’t get fired for letting one coffee machine salesperson through to someone. 

There is a solid chance you will get transferred over to the prospect, and you end up having to leave a message. This is completely typical, and I have a ton of advice for leaving voicemails and following up with an email after, but for the sake of this article we are going to assume you got the prospect on the phone. Trust me, it does happen! 

Remember, when they answer, there is the possibility that they will sound irritated or extremely busy. Again, this is typical, and you need to remain positive and just remember to keep the conversation about THEM. 

The first words out of your mouth should NOT be about your product. 

Let me repeat that… the first words out of your mouth should NOT be about your product. 

Instead, you should introduce yourself and let them know from where you’re calling (this is to build trust and save time. They will ask your name and the company, so just beat them to it and offer up that information). 

After you finish up the introduction, ask them a question about their coffee machine. As a general rule, you don't want to ask “yes or no” questions. If you give the prospect a chance to say no, they will take it. You want the customer to say “yes” more than they say “no”. Instead, you should ask open ended questions that get them to give you a full sentence answer. 

An example of what you could say is: 

“I’m curious, which of those full service coffee machines do you folks use in your office?” 

You’re telling the prospect you’re curious about them, and by saying, “one of those”, it doesn’t come across as a sales pitch waiting to happen. It sounds like you are genuinely curious about their coffee machine, and you should be! The key is, you SHOULD be curious about your customer, not just act like it. 

For the sake of this article, let’s assume they tell you that they don't use one, and they just have a regular old fashioned coffee pot. 

JACKPOT! 

You don’t have to get them to switch brands (very difficult) and you know they already use your type of product. 

Your follow up question could be as simple as: 

“Oh geez, you must have to refill that pot a bunch! How many pots of coffee do you have to make every day?” 

They may tell you that they don’t have to make the coffee. They may tell you that it’s up to the person who finishes the pot. Or, they could be the person who always seems to be that person who finishes the pot, and they have to fill it 6-10 times per day. Not a daunting task, but you could imagine how frustrating it would be for them to have to make a pot of coffee every time they want a cup (I’ve been that person before. Trust me, it does happen). 

Regardless of their answer, this is where you start your product pitch. But the important thing to remember is to keep it simple, keep it casual, and stay curious. 

You can respond with: 

“Well, I was just curious because my company makes full service coffee machines for office buildings like yours, and most of our customers bought one because they realized they were actually wasting hours of company time per week with all the coffee they had to make, and I was just curious if you thought a full service coffee machine would be of value to you folks! Our machines can also make late, hot chocolate, or even espresso - all with a few button presses.” 

What did you do here with this pitch?

You stayed curious, that’s the most important part. You also used an example of what is called “social proof” in your pitch. You let the customer know that you have other customers who are satisfied with their purchase, and even presented them with a pain point that they may not even realize they had! You also gave them a quick introduction to the product features by telling them all the different drinks your machine can make, and you told them that it is simple to use by saying “few button presses”. 

You probably won’t get a sale right on that first phone call. But this conversation should have lasted at least 90 seconds so far, and according to some books I have read, the average cold call will last 30-45 seconds. Remember, the more you keep the prospect talking, the more productive your conversation will be. 

Most of the time, if your pitch was good, the prospect will ask for some product information via email, if they don’t ask you a few questions about the product during the call first. Sometimes they do ask additional questions, but usually they just ask for some information, and that isn’t a bad thing. It’s better than hearing “no, not interested” or “CLICK”. 

After they ask for additional information, keep the conversation going, but not about coffee or your product. You can simply ask them if they “have any good plans for the upcoming weekend”. That will turn the conversation slightly personal, and it begins warming the call up. It’s now a warm call, not a cold call. If you want to get fancy, you can offer up some of your weekend plans as well. Usually I mention a hobby, like music, because I never know if I’m talking to a musician. Guess what? There are a lot of musicians out there, and they are more than happy to stay on the phone with me and discuss music! 

YOU SENT THEM PRODUCT INFORMATION, NOW WHAT?

Well, the first thing you should do after sending them the product information is to get right back on the phone, and call the next prospect. And then you repeat this process, and call the next one, and then the next one. 

You won’t always get the prospect on the phone, and most times they just aren’t going to be interested, but you just need to stay positive and move on to the next person. At least getting a chance to have a real conversation with someone is more fun than just pitching a product, getting rejected, and doing it all over again with the next person. 

But really, you want to follow up with the prospect to see what they thought about the product information you sent over to them. For some really great advice on improving your follow up game, go read my article about follow up. We won’t go into the techniques for a follow up cadence in this article for the sake of your attention! 

Let’s say you want to call them back a week later. Well, hopefully you were able to get their full contact information (extension, direct dial, cell number, etc.) so that you don’t need to get through the gatekeeper again, but even if you didn’t (which you should have) you can just use the same line on them again. And guess what, this time it won’t be a little white lie!

You get the prospect on the phone again, and this time you two already know each other. It’s not a lot, but you built up some rapport with them. Just like the last call, the first words out of your mouth should NOT be about your product, or the information you sent to them. 

Need I repeat myself again? 

Instead, you should have remembered, or written down, what they told you they were going to do over the weekend. You use that as your introduction to the phone call. This time, we are starting the conversation on a personal note. On a friendly note. 

You don’t ask if they had a good weekend. You don’t ask what they did last weekend. You know what they did last weekend, so just go ahead and ask them about it. But again, don’t ask them how it was. Ask them a question to which they have to offer a full sentence answer. Keep them talking, for as long as you can. That’s the goal of prospecting calls. In fact, that is the metric to which a sales team should be held - length of prospecting calls. 

You can say something like: 

“Hey PROSPECT, what was your golf score last weekend?” 

What you’re doing here is keeping it extremely casual. You say “hey” instead of “hello” or “hi”. That’s how humans typically communicate with one another. You are also staying curious which is always great, and you are telling the prospect that you were listening enough on the last call to remember they were planning a golf day. 

Seriously, even if they don’t know that’s what you’re saying, that’s what they hear. It’s almost like using subliminal messages, in a way. You are just asking them a simple question, but the words you use are carefully chosen, and the tone of your voice is purposely pleasant. 

Usually, and especially if they’re in a good mood, they will talk for a good amount of time about their golf match. They may even talk about the golf game that was on TV over the weekend, if it’s in season. They will also ask you if you play golf as well. 

This is where you will differentiate yourself from that awful salesperson stereotype of being a fake person who is just looking to upsell and overcharge everyone so they can drive their fancy cars and park them in their heated garage. 

If you don’t play golf, then be honest and tell them that you don’t play golf. What they are NOT asking you is if you LIKE golf. There is a huge difference between those two questions, and your answer needs to be to the correct one. 

THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

If you don’t play golf you say, “no, I don’t play golf”. 

If you don’t like golf you say, “no, i don’t play golf”. 

If you say “like” instead of “play”, you are not keeping the conversation positive, and you never want to be negative when you are on the phone with a customer or a prospect. 

You also want to try and keep the golf conversation going, if you can. If you know anything about golf, or have even hit a golf ball, or if you played the Tiger Woods golf video games, then you should say something about golf after you say you don’t play. 

You could say something as simple as: 

“But I have been to the driving range a few times before. I should probably go again. It was fun”. 

That’s it, just say something as simple as that, if you’ve actually been to the driving range. You want to keep every conversation you have with customers honest as well as positive. Mostly because being honest is sincerely the best policy. There’s nothing more important. But you also want to keep it honest because people can see through lies. They can tell you’re faking enthusiasm. And if they can’t tell right away, when they ask their follow up questions, you’ll tell them with your nonsense answers. 

The best part is, if you keep them talking about their interests long enough, they will eventually realize why you actually called them, and they will offer up what they thought about the product information, or they will just say something about it being the reason you’re calling. Either way, discussing the product information is now THEIR idea. They are the ones suggesting it. Since they are suggesting it, they will be more enthusiastic about talking about the product information, and that’s when you can tell them about all the awesome bells and whistles, and they’ll actually listen. 

The chances of them purchasing from you has increased significantly because you now have something in common. You are no longer an annoying salesperson calling them JUST to take their money. This is the infancy of a strong and trusting business relationship. In this example we are just talking about selling a coffee machine, but you can see how this can be applied to basically ANY product you sell. That’s the beauty of this technique. This technique doesn’t require a specific product type, or a specific sales cycle. It can be used to develop strong business relationships with everyone, regardless of anything! 

If you do this, whenever you call them, they will be more than happy to take your call and speak with you. If they miss your call, they will be much more likely to call you back when they have a chance. If they need something that you can offer, they will call you first. Hopefully you see how simple it can be to turn a cold call into a sale, and the ideal B2B relationship! 

CONCLUSION

The main reason you don’t want to make cold calls is the possibility of rejection. Not just because it feels terribly, but also because it makes the job totally boring and daunting. “Smiling and dialing” down a list of people aimlessly and getting rejected 90% of the time gets real old, real quick. 

In fact, based on nothing but my hunch, I’d be willing to bet cold calling, and the fear of rejection, is the number one reason why most salespeople quit sales entirely and switch careers. I’d also bet it’s the main reason a lot of people wouldn’t become a salesperson, or switch their career to sales like I did. 

The truth is, cold calling can be the best part of sales! It’s so simple to make it a fun experiment instead of a dreadful metric - if you learn the right way. And that is what I can do for you, or anyone else you think could use a little Sales Therapy. 

Together, we make plans and scripts that make your daily grind fun and successful at the same time. That’s the best part! You make more money while having FUN. Don’t “they” always say you should do what you love? Well, who doesn’t love to have fun while making more money? 

In Sales Therapy we can make plans and strategies customized to your specific role in your company. I don’t have all the answers, and I will never claim to. Instead, I brainstorm with you and you help me come up with all the answers! 

If you want to become the best salesperson on your team, or if you just want to discuss some difficulties you’re having, let’s chat! You can talk to me about all the problems you’re having in sales without the fear of losing your job or being looked at as a bad salesperson. There’s no such thing as a bad salesperson, just salespeople who haven’t been given the proper instructions for the sales tools they ALL have available to them. 

I can teach you how to use LinkedIn (the FREE version) to your advantage for lead generation, and we can take a look how you can use Google Maps (FREE) to find new customers in your area in an instant, or develop techniques that will help you get more customer engagement. If there’s one thing you should have taken away from this article, it’s that the more customer engagement you have, the more sales you will book. 

Reach out to me on LinkedIn for a FREE Brainstorming Session!!