Minimising distractions and streamlining the process as much as possible is essential. You don’t want to waste too much time and energy that you could spend on making calls.

Number 1  | Automate as much as Possible

Wouldn’t it be much better if…

• scheduling follow-ups,
• dialling numbers,
• updating the database,
• sending messages

…were as automated as possible,  as an example highlight and dial functions integrated into the phone system not only foster higher productivity and work performance, but also much less frustration with miss dialling a number.

Number 2 | Understand the cost of dropped calls

Dropped calls represent a missed opportunity, whilst the financial cost to your business is difficult to count. Research from BT Business has suggested that dropped calls cost UK-based SMEs £90m per year.

Every customer contact point, be it a complaint or general enquiry  is a valuable opportunity to grow your business. It could offer a chance to strengthen a customer relationship, increase their overall spend, or retain their custom. Understanding the cost of your missed enquirers and dropped calls is important, these can be measured through analytic software.

Number 3 | Identify the best time to call

Analyse your call records, to find out what days and times people most often answer the phone.

One of the main reasons people react poorly to a cold call is timing. Salespeople often seem to prefer phoning in the early morning. Typically this is because it suits the sales person, but it might not be the best time to contact a decision maker. The last thing people tend to think about in the early morning is a new sales offer.

Scheduling your calls to that time of the day might be just what you need to improve your sales performance.

Number 4 | Conduct Pre-Call Research

Call research does not need to take long, but it will prove extremely valuable.

Avoid embarrassing situations by:

• carrying out thorough research on your prospects before calling them

• carrying out  research on your prospects before calling them, check their website for recent news.
• Identifying essential information about your prospects, will help you customize offers to their needs and also help you to maintain their attention, without wasting their time.

Number 5 | Don’t Start with a Sales Pitch

If you want your prospect to stay on the line, start by gauging their needs and expectations , a lot of sales reps make the mistake of immediately presenting the sales pitch, without even asking for an opinion of the person on the phone.

To help you better understand where you might be going wrong it is valuable to have a colleague listen to your call recordings, by tailoring your introduction based on the feedback that you receive this will help you recognise where you might be falling into similar traps as other sales reps.

Number 6 | Start up Dialogue

Another benefit of listening to your own call recordings is that you can identify if you’re falling into bad habits. Some sales reps have the habit of monologing rather than establishing dialogue with the prospect. The prospect may try, but they simply aren’t allowed to say a word, unless it happens to be “yes.” It’s like such reps think that the longer they talk, the more convinced the client will be. Quite the opposite is true in reality.

Give your clients enough time to talk about their needs and ask questions.

Number 7 | Leave a Voicemail

Leave a voicemail with a direct dial to be able to contact you. When you leave a voicemail with your name, company, the reason for calling, and your phone number, it’s more likely that the prospect will call you back.

According to Hubspot, the best length for a voice message is between 20 and 30 seconds.

In Conclusion

Cold calling is much more of a science than you would realise. 44% of sales reps leave just one follow-up and then never try to re-engage.

95% of all converted leads are reached by the 6th call attempt. It is important to have good data from your call stats to understand what will be the best approach for your business – By implementing a good system to support your sales reps they can be more confident in making calls, knowing when is best to call and through listening to the call recordings they can adjust their approach to meet the needs of their potential customers.

Workflow are leading providers of Audio Visual and telecommunication solutions that can help you with the right technology to become a cold calling star. Talk to us, we are happy to arrange a meeting with you to discuss more.