Cold calling just might be the greatest mystery of the modern sales process. Most sales professionals dread cold calls, yet make hundreds and hundreds of them throughout their career. Even though cold calling is a vital sales tool, sales productivity expert and CEO of Smart Selling Tools Nancy Nardin says most sales people just aren’t getting it yet.

Given the quick access to valuable information that the Internet provides, sales professionals are rarely required to go into a sales call completely cold. Nardin suggests a multi-faceted approach to the cold call to get a hold of busy people today. She recommends these three approaches to take the cold out of sales prospects:

1. Warm-up with “cold emails.” It has become increasingly difficult to get people on the phone on your first try. It feels like pestering even if you’re just asking for a quick conversation. Instead of calling out of the blue, try sending a warm-up email first. The email should include compelling content so you can reference it when you do pick up the phone. Try including a link to a ClearSlide presentation or video mail. As a bonus, not only will you intrigue the prospect with your content, you’ll know which prospects to prioritize with follow-up phone calls because ClearSlide will track who has opened it and when. If a cold call is required and you get someone on the line, explain why you’re calling, why you’re specifically interested in reaching out to that particular person, and then point them to your email.
2. Prove your credibility right away. Building credibility out of the gate is essential to success. It’s not enough to explain to your prospect how you found their information. In a very short window of time, you should openly and honestly explain why you’re contacting the person and what you’re hoping to get out of the call. Build your credibility with confidence, honesty, and authenticity—characteristics that shine through even on a phone call.
3. Change your “me, me, me” dialogue to “you, you, you.” Sales prospects don’t care about your background and history up front. They care about what you can do for their business. Even LinkedIn invitations to connect are auto-filled with a message that is centered upon the sender, not the prospect. In your initial point of contact, whether that’s a cold call, warm-up email or LinkedIn invitation to connect, make your dialogue about what you can do for the prospect.
4. Play the game of outcomes. Sales professionals have a limited amount of time to complete their work. Churn, smile and dial doesn’t work anymore because everyone is strapped for time. Before cold calls are made, ask yourself these questions: Am I calling the right people? Do I have the right information to engage? If you’re not experiencing positive outcomes with cold calling, it’s time to make a change.

Cold calling is part of the sales professional’s game, and has been for years. We’re not ready to ditch it altogether—but get ready to enhance it with warm-up emails and tactics that prove your value proposition to prospects right out of the gate.

What’s your best cold calling tip? Tweet @ClearSlide – we’d love to add it to our list!

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