I recently received a question from a reader regarding phone sales and cold-calling: How do you use the proper language to attract the client into continuing the conversation when you cold call?
Cold-calling on the telephone requires you to engage the customer quickly. The best way to do this is to ask them a question that gets them talking. This does not mean asking them rhetorical questions like, “How’s the weather?” It means engaging them to respond with information that it useful for you to follow up with. This can be challenging. To do this effectively, you have to have a clear opening statement that provides both confidence and need. A statement / question I like to use is: “We show companies how to find and close better customers. What is the strategy you use to find customers?” I then take whatever they say and rephrase it into a question I ask right back at them.
Keep in mind that whenever you’re cold-calling, the key is to earn the right, honor, and respect to be able to contact the person again. Don’t expect to take a cold-call and move them to a hot sale in just one call. It takes time. Your initial cold-call needs to be part of a larger plan to attract great prospects and, in time, turn them into even better customers.
