Picking up the phone and calling a prospective customer that you’ve never met or spoken with before can be an intimidating experience. There are a number of reasons that salespeople like to avoid the cold call—they feel like it’s irritating, they feel like they’re constantly getting disappointed, or worst of all, they feel like it doesn’t work. Those are all valid sentiments when it comes to cold calling. Making those calls requires some bravery on your part, but if you use the tools available to you, those calls don’t have to be cold at all.
Think of them as warm calls. Here’s what you need to do.
Initial Contact
This doesn’t mean recycling an old cold call that you didn’t get anywhere with. It could be from an email campaign, a referral, or even just a brief introduction that happened at a business event. Whatever the case, you aren’t a total mystery to them. When they hear your name or your business’s name they have a memory to fall back on, even if it isn’t much. And the stronger the contact you had before the call, the warmer you would say the call is.
Research
Doing your homework before you pick up the phone never hurts. In fact, it’s one of the easiest and most reliable ways to warm up a cold call. There are so many avenues of research at your disposal online—from LinkedIn to a company’s website, and even their Facebook page. You can use this information to help you determine who the decision maker is that you need to be talking to, as well as show that you’re knowledgeable about their business and their needs. As an energy broker, you can safely assume that most people need a better deal on their energy bill, but having an idea of how else they can save money makes you stand out from the crowd.
During The Call
Have your objectives in mind, and script at least a little bit of your opening. Most people aren’t gregarious enough to just pick up the phone and dive into a conversation with a stranger without a little prep. Even if you know who you want on the line, you might encounter a gatekeeper whose job it is to keep you away from the decision maker. Be prepared for this, as well, and have a plan in place to get through them. Make the reason for your call clear and concise, and be prepared for a range of reactions. Like we said before, your research should help you here, but it will still take some practice.
Your warm calls aren’t always going to get you a sale, but they are a much better option than straight cold calling. Remember, anything you can do to warm up the call before you have the phone in your hand is essential to improving your odds. Great energy brokers have to be great salesmen, too. So check out some more sales tips courtesy of Broker Online Exchange.
