Let’s face it; if you’re in business then you’d better be in the business of picking up your phone.

I know that most of us are afraid of cold calling, but the key to growing a steady stream of new business opportunities is to get over that fear and to learn how to make ‘warm’ calls instead.  If you have a team of internal telesales/marketing people –then make sure that they have the right kind of know-how to grow your company properly.  Here’s a quick list of the golden rules of new business calling:

1. Don’t rush to the key decision maker!

Why not take a 3 step policy to approaching key decision makers.  Far too often telesales people want to rush past the secretary or other internal staff and ask to be connected to the key decision maker.  This action results in either being blocked at the gate, or else a message being passed on that some ‘annoying telesales person’ is on the phone.  Treat people with respect by engaging properly with the first point of contact; tell them know about your product or service and how you feel you could improve their business.  Learn to influence the first point of contact and to make them an ally before moving elsewhere in the company. Secondly, once you’ve gained trust at this level, ask for the email address of the key decision maker and inform your first point of contact that you will send through an email and follow up with a call to the key decision maker, referencing their name in that email.

 

2. Be Relaxed, But Confident.

Trust me, there’s nothing worse that receiving a cold call from someone who is nervously rushing through a script.  Learn to relax and to greet the person with courtesy and respect.  Ask how they are, and ask questions at regular intervals through the call – in other words, give them a chance to talk too!  The best way to gain confidence is to be as informed as possible about your product/service and how it will benefit your target market.  Be convinced of the benefit prior to making a phone call – in that way, you are simply informing your target market of something that will help to improve their business.  Remember, if you’ve done your job well then you will have spoken properly to someone at a lower level in the organisation and this person has referred you upwards – in this way, your call is not a ‘cold’ one when it comes to the decision maker, so speak with a degree of familiarity that is absent from pure cold calls.

 

3. Put a Follow Up System in Place

Never, never, never engage in a campaign without having a follow-up software system to back it up.  Call it what you will – a CRM system, a marketing system – whatever the tag you need to have it in place and to use it.  In this way, you will never drop a lead.  Most campaigns will require you to speak to a prospect between 4-7 times before you can convert them into a ‘client’ so it is critical in this day and age that we avoid simply using excel, or hardcopies to log our progress.  At Connect121 we highly recommend either AllMyPR.com, or Onepagecrm.com, as excellent software systems to help track progress with your key customers.

 

Above all else – never neglect your phone work as a key component to gaining new business.  If you really are stuck for time, or lacking in expertise then don’t hesitate to contact us at Connect121 to either outsource that aspect of your work or to train you internally on how to perform better – that’s what we’re here for!