How to get more results from cold calls?
Cold calls - this name alone throws sales managers into a "cold sweat" and gives rise to ideas in the head how to turn such a ringing into warm one, and then get hot customers. Making cold phone calls, call center operators are preparing to hear not just the cold, but the icy voices of subscribers on the other end of the wire and are trying their best to keep the user's attention so that as a result of the call he shows an independent desire to become a client of the company.
In most cases, even experienced sales managers pass before cold tense calls, explaining that the effectiveness of such calls is minimal, and it is unlikely to increase it. However, most modern companies are in no hurry to deprive themselves of "cold" telemarketing tools, considering conversations and calls of this format one of the main, albeit not so effective ways to attract customers by phone.
Key recommendations for improving the efficiency of cold calls
A cold phone call is an appeal to unfamiliar subscribers, the purpose of which involves:
- selling goods or providing services;
- advertising products or services;
- informing about interesting commercial offers;
- "Warming up" subscribers for the purpose of subsequent conclusion of the transaction.
In order not to "drown" in the icy ocean of cold telephone calls and calls, to conduct a dialogue in the right direction and to feel the real effectiveness of calls, telemarketing experts suggest using the following tips:
1. Gather a detailed information base before a cold call.
Behind the seemingly complicated action is a simple algorithm - go to the Internet, download the Google search engine and find companies that may be potentially interested in your calls. Information about potential customers should include:
how long has the company been operating in the market;
- the main profile of its activities;
- who is a business executive.
Having detailed information about a potential client-company, it is possible to conduct a more confident and objective cold dialogue, demonstrating knowledge of the company and showing interest in cooperation.
2. Thoroughly think over the scenario of a phone call.
In the telemarketing sphere, there is a tendency to abandon hard scripts that drive communication into the framework of prescribed cold scripts. Cold phone calls using pre-prepared scripts are much like dialogs with an answering machine or a robot. Therefore, instead of a script, it is better to use the main anchors or call beacons:
- friendly greeting of the subscriber;
- What are the advantages and benefits of the offer you will cover during the call;
- options for ending the conversation: making an appointment, calling later.
In the process of calls, it may be revealed that the offer for the client is not interesting, in this case it is advisable to use the following script-script of a cold-type call:
A company competing with yours also initially mistrusted our call, and now we are successfully working together.
Perhaps the lack of interest is your subjective opinion, and the company management thinks differently. Can I connect with the leader?
Often during a cold phone conversation, it turns out that the company has another supplier. In this case, it makes sense to apply a ready-made script for a cold dialog:
Fine! Having one more supplier in our person, you can give an objective assessment of both offers.
Honestly, it is unlikely that your current supplier will be able to offer the same conditions as us. Can I connect with company management?
Such scripts for cold conversations during calls are understood at training courses for call center operators providing outsourced telemarketing services. Skillfully using words during a cold dialogue and showing an active, but unobtrusive pressure with a manager or secretary, the operator enters the decision-maker (decision-maker) and convinces the manager of the benefits of the proposed transaction.
3. Set the time for making cold calls and prepare the setting.
A pre-planned watch for making calls in a cold format will help solve a complex of possible problems. Take advice on creating a comfortable environment during calls. Take care that nothing distracts you for the period of calls, turn off your mobile phone, turn down the sound of your computer. Armed with a pen and paper to take notes, prepare a diary to mark the dates of appointments after cold dialogs.
At the first stages, the time of cold calls should not exceed 2-3 hours. To make them most efficiently, choose the most productive (not cold) time - from 10 to 12 hours. During this period of making cold calls, you can catch the majority of employees on the spot. In the process of cold calling, do not take too long pauses between calls so as not to bring down an optimistic psychological mood, without making it cold as calls.
To understand the state of affairs in the field of cold efficient calls in your company, use the post technique digging funnel calls. The lines with the lowest percentage hide the weak points of calls that need to be adjusted. For example, a funnel of cold signals can show that the operator rarely calls the manager or secretary during calls and almost never goes to the head (decision maker).
Constantly improving the technique of cold calls and calls, you can effectively sell goods or services, enter into transactions by phone, schedule business meetings. Using the recommended techniques for increasing efficiency, cold calls can be turned into one of the most effective telemarketing tools.