Episode #122: How To Cold Call

Cold calling is an unheralded intervention into someone's already packed schedule. They are distracted by the phone from what they were concentrating on, so they are automatically annoyed. They are time conscious because this call was not in their plan. The person calling them is an unknown quantity, so the trust factor is zero or less than that. They have been cold called by idiots in the past, who say dumb things like, "How are you today" which is an immediate warning bell that we are talking to a nincompoop. The unfamiliar voice triggers “who is this?”, and a feeling that being called by unknown people is not good, “I don't like this”.

So how do we call people in a way that we can add value to their business? A good starting point is to define what is the purpose of the call. Anyone thinking of pitching their whatever on the phone, had better rethink right now what they are doing. There are some items we can sell by phone, but actually very, very few with any success.

There is only one point in making this call and that is to sit in front of the client at a later date and have a conversation about their needs and whether we might be the solution to any problems they may be having. Having said that, the point is not to bludgeon them into a meeting, should they indicate zero interest. If you plan on staying in business then killing your personal brand is not a good idea. Be gracious on the phone, definitely don't be pushy and be charming.

Here is how it can go:

"Hello, may I speak with Suzuki san please?" This opening presumes we have a name to ask for. Usually in Japan if you only have a title, you will get killed at the entry point by some lowly minion, whose only joy in life is getting rid of salespeople like you who call unannounced.

Let's continue:

"Speaking"

"Suzuki san, my name is Greg Story, I am with Dale Carnegie. Do you have a moment to speak? When I say my name I slow down and put a little gap between the “Greg” and the “Story”, so that they can easily catch my name.

I ask for permission to speak with them, respecting their schedule. If they a too busy to speak, it won't matter what I say, I will only be annoying them and will blot my copy book for a later call. If they are too busy at that point, then I say: "Thank you for letting me know, I will give you a call later in the week".

I don't ask for a day or time, because they have already told me they are busy and I want to show I respect their schedule.

If they say, “Fine", then I know I have their agreed attention.

" Suzuki san, thank you. We are in the XYZ business. I have done some research and I see that your company profile fits with what our typical satisfied clients looks like. We have been able to improve the results for our clients who fit this profile because we have ABC. I was just wondering if our ABC were able to grow your business, like it has for our other clients, would getting those sort of outcomes also be of benefit to your company?"

We let them know what business we are in, so that they can garner some context for this unexpected call. We mention we have done research and the call is the product of some analysis and intelligence, not the random phoning a numbers from the phone book or business directory. We mention we have had success for people who look looks them and wonder, not unreasonably, if lightening could strike twice for them as well. We ask if they would like to grow their business.

It doesn't matter if they say "Yes" or "No" next, because we are ready for both. If they say "Yes" then we say:

“Thank you. I am not sure if what we have is a perfect fit for you or not, but let me swing by and show you what we have and how it works. Then you can make a judgment if it is helpful or not. Would this week suit or would next week be better."

We are polite and thank them for their agreement to continue. We are not pushy and we readily acknowledge this may not be suitable, but we at least want to give them the chance to make that judgment. This week or next week is an alternate choice, the answer to which is an agreement to meet, rather than a “yes” or a “no”. If they nominate a week, then we move to the next stage and suggest a choice of days, and having arrived at a day, we ask about morning or afternoon. We don't continue the alternate of choice after this, because it is becoming annoying. We just shoot for a time and then be prepared to vary it according to their time frame.

If they say "no" to wanting to improve the results for their business we say: " Thank you for telling me, may I ask why you say that?" And then we shut up and say absolutely nothing.

There may a thousand good reasons why they don't want to meet and we should be prepared to accept the referee’s decision and not try to force the issue. They may say something however which allows us to reframe the value of meeting and we can carry on asking about getting together this week or next week and so on. Remember a “no” is not “no”. It is “not right now, not in this budget cycle, not in this market, not in the firm’s current situation, not at this period of the financial year”. We do not want to leave them with a pushy, bad impression. This is because we will be calling them back in about 6-9 month’s time, when many of these extraneous factors have changed and their buying situation is quite different.

If we are polite, craft our conversation emphasising the value we can bring to them and only aim for a meeting then we can cold call people effectively. The success rate is not high, but sometimes that is what you have to do, to get new business. When there is best practice about how to cold call, it makes sense to use it.