Have you ever gotten off the phone with a potential prospect and thought wow… that could have gone about a thousand times better. Or left a voicemail and said out loud HAHA they are never calling me back..
Been there.
In fact, I’ll let you in on a little secret… we all have.
At this point in my career, I could kick myself when this happens. I know better. I have been doing this for 15 years and I STILL need to rehearse what I’m going to say. In fact, it’s something we all need to do.
Everyone has to cold call at some point or another. I don’t care what your business is, at some point you will have to pick up the phone, talk to someone that doesn’t know you at all and sell yourself in some way. Since you might be a newbie, I want to give you some basics on how to go about this.
So, here we go..
Introduction/Rapport
Introduction and Rapport is the first part of any cold call and should take no longer than a minute. Total. This is as simple as it sounds. Introduce yourself in a confident way by saying your name, where you are calling from and ask how they are doing. Here is an example:
“Hi my name is Sarah with SMD Coaching. How are you today?”
After they answer how they are doing it is time for you to connect with them. Building rapport means to build trust with your clients. This can done by several means. The first and easiest way is to connect with someone is to ask them about something that 99 percent of people can connect with. For example, I always instruct my clients to start with a question about the weekend or the weather. Everyone has an opinion or thought on the current weather (“Oh boy, it is so nice to see some sunshine again isn’t it?) or the weekend (My gosh, I can’t believe it’s Thursday already.. you looking forward to the weekend?). This is a simple way just to get a conversation going.
Now, do not make the mistake that many newcomers make. When someone is nice and actually wants to talk to you 10 minutes can go by without you EVER talking about your product. This is obviously a problem. Let’s make them smile, know we care about them and transition to why we are all here.
Fact Finding
You got on this call for a reason. You’re either hoping to get a sale, a presentation scheduled or maybe even just a coffee date. Whatever it is you got on the phone so you could move your relationship with these people forward. You can’t do that unless you find out more about them. What do they actually need? What are their pressure points? Are their problems something that your product or service fixes?
I want you to start thinking like a lawyer. I would ask but I know every single one of us has watched a cop show or law movie and seen a courtroom cross-examination. Benson and Stabler for life! Think back to one of those episodes. When you see a lawyer stand up on cross get the person to admit to lying, cheating, etc is that the first question out of their mouth? No. In fact, their first few questions can sometimes (to the untrained eye or witness on stand) seem irrelevant. This is almost never the case. Every question that lawyer is asking is being asked for a reason. It is leading them to the final statement or question they want to ask that witness. The nail in the coffin, if you will.
Think about what this means for you.
Here is an example:
Mary is an ad hoc bookkeeper. She is looking for new clients and is talking to Bob who owns a small ad agency. A good example of that convo could go as below.
Mary: “Gosh, Bob I can’t believe 2020 is almost halfway over.. How are you guys doing this year?”
Bob: “Ugh. I mean as good as anyone can be. It’s been pretty crazy. In some ways we have gotten a lot of new clients. In others.. a lot dropped off. Ya know?”
Mary: “Oh yea. It’s been a really weird time.. I think for everyone. For me it’s been pretty eye opening. More remote work seems to be helping my business.. what about you guys? Have you been all working remote?”
Bob: “Yea, actually its been nice. I have a lot of young folks that have been able to go back and help their parents full time. It’s been weird to get used to.. Zoom and all. Certainly, confusing. But, it’s been good in that sense.”
Mary: “I hear ya.. how has that affecting your bookkeeping? I know for a lot of my clients it’s been kind of confusing. What you can deduct. What you can’t. How to organize (now) at home expenses for workers. How are you handling that?”
Bob: “Um.. I mean it’s been okay.. but I honestly haven’t focused on the books a whole lot. Probably not a great thing with this year!”
Get the picture?
We are asking these questions FOR A REASON. You know what that reason is? The problem she is walking him towards is one she can SOLVE.
Think critically about your business. What problems do you solve for your clients?
Pitch/Ask
It’s your time to shine!! This is where you talk about how great you and your company/product are. Tell them how you can solve you’re their problems. Tell them why your product was created to do the exact thing they need!
Next Step
THIS is where most people fall flat. They will go through every step of a call script and then NOT ask about a next step.
Some people will do ALL THE WORK and then just be like.. “Ok, bye then!” Sound familiar?
You have to directly ask about the next step. The key is to ask about the next step without giving the client a ‘no’ option.
Examples include:
“I would love to tell you more about our product and show you a quick demo. Good news its only about 15 minutes and can be done virtually. Which is a better day for you next week to do that: Tuesday or Thursday?”
“Gosh I would love to talk about this more, but it’s so much easier to do it person. Why don’t we get coffee next week? Is Monday or Wednesday better for you?”
See how the answer is never no? See how they are being shuffled into saying a date instead of easily squirming out of it? This is your goal. If you get on the phone and don’t ask for a next step, you may as well have never called in the first place.
I know this can feel like a lot of info at once.. so don’t panic. Start by incorporating a good intro and make sure you ask for a next step. And above all PRACTICE. You know I say this a lot, but practice with literally WHOEVER will let you. Your mom, your spouse, your bff.. I don’t care. The more times you do this, the easier it gets.
For some additional help, head to our downloadable page HERE. I have created a worksheet specifically to help you through this. You got this! I know it!
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