The BEST Cold Calling Tip Is.......

Cold calling is one of the most commonly and frequently used sales processes across the globe. Every day millions of calls are made to cold prospects with the hope of generating new sales opportunities.

We also now have the huge advantage of social media to enhance those cold calls. We can now research the business and even the prospect we need to speak to before we even dial the number.

Cold calling has been proven time and time again to be a reliable and consistent result achieving method.

So what is the best cold calling tip......?

There are some great tips for cold calling. Before I get to the best tip ever, here are some of the more common and still very beneficial cold calling tips:

Prepare for the call

Prepare the important questions you need to ask that customer.  Prepare any information you can find out about your customer before you call them. The internet has made that information very accessible, and it will help save you asking unnecessary questions leaving you time to focus on important questions. Have any relevant product/service information that you will need, as much as you can you want to avoid having to get back to the customer with information on your products and services.

Practice your calls

Whether in front of a mirror, with a colleague or one of your friends, it is of huge value to practice your calls and pitches. Like an actor will rehearse their lines, it is important you can "flow" smoothly when calling clients. It's also a great way to gain confidence in what you're saying so you then sound confident and happy when you do phone customers.

Aim to advance

Always aim to advance the call, which ever way suits your business. Whether it's getting relevant contact details, arranging an appointment or call back, all the way to actually making the sale! Every call should be given the same focus to gain some form of advancement from that initial contact. And push yourself, how far can you get along the sales process from each call? We all want to make less calls, and by making more quality and focused calls, this could really help.

Don't forget your ABC!

Always Be Closing is a very good technique for cold calling and one that is often missed by sales people. How many times during a call or sales pitch do you actually ask for the sale?

For some people it is done a lot earlier on in the process. When you are making your calls, always think about how and when you can close the deal. Don't be scared to ask for business, in fact just don't forget in general to ask for the business at all!

The gatekeeper is your friend

Be nice to the gatekeepers you speak too, not only are they the quickest way to your target decision maker, they are also a great source of information. The gatekeepers usually have the most knowledge on how that company works, who does what, and will be a better aid to your quest. That being said, they can also stop your quest! Get them on side, take some time to get to know them and the business from their perspective.

There is more than 1 decision maker

There are now very few businesses that have just 1 key decision maker. You will find staff of all positions and seniority having buying power so any one that you speak too could be valuable. This even counts for the gatekeeper! Make sure you get as much information out of anyone you speak to as possible. Whether you can do business directly with that person, or with their network, somewhere will be the opportunity to do business.

There are lots more tricks and tips that can help make cold calling as productive as possible.

However the one tip that I think rules them all......

This one tip has more meaning and depth than all the others.....

The one tip I think every sales person should have displayed on their desks....

One simple and easy tip that will make cold calling more enjoyable and rewarding....

The best cold calling tip ever is:

Smile and Dial!

It is that simple, just smile and dial. Keep making the calls, keep smiling and you will get the business you are looking for. Most sales people aren't making as many calls as they could, some making very little at all. Yet out there are people who are happy to buy from you, they just don't know you have the product for them yet. If you don't phone them, someone else will and you will lose that sale. That sale could be small, or it could be the largest sale you've ever had.

Here are some of the reasons "Smile and Dial" can have a positive impact on your sales:

Smiling has a positive effect on the sound of your voice

When you smile, the soft palate at the back of your mouth raises and makes the sound waves more fluid. For anyone who (like me) likes to sing in the shower, you know that the wider you open your mouth and the more teeth you show, the better tone you get! The same applies on the phone. Smiling helps your voice to sound friendly, warm, and receptive.

Some telemarketing companies are so convinced of the value of smiling when talking on the phone that they install mirrors above telemarketers' desks to remind them to smile! There's a good idea for sales managers out there!

To get an answer to a question, just pick up the phone

What ever you are doing, there will be something that will require a phone call, and yet so many people are scared to call someone. This is largely influenced by social media and emails taking away the necessity to phone someone. People suddenly just want to hide behind their computer screen, scared of rejection or awkward conversation. The reality is, to get an instant answer, to sort something out quickly, to actually have a proper conversation with someone, a phone call is often the most effective solution! So just smile and dial.

The ultimate cold calling tip

Working in sales and having to cold call new prospects isn't a fun task and one often met with plenty of objection and rejection. Yet cold calling is such an essential task for many sales teams and telemarketing teams. Whether you are avoiding picking up the phone, distracted with other tasks, worried about your data, the ultimate solution is to just pick up the phone and smile and dial! When you've finished that call, update your data base and repeat! Just keep smiling and dialing and you will find those valuable customers.

What do you think? I'd love to know your thoughts, please do write them in the comments box.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you enjoyed it please do click LIKE and click SHARE to share it with your network. Thank you. Please feel free to check out my other posts:

The 50 Most Inspiring Sales Quotes Ever

How To Make Cold Calling Fun!

The 10 Reasons You Lose Sales.....