Prospect Successfully: Effective Cold Calling Conversations

Are your salespeople effective at prospecting, and are they doing it often enough? In this post, we will share how continuous prospecting is key to Driving Explosive Growth. We will share why it’s important, what happens if we only prospect when we need to, some of the deep-rooted reasons salespeople fail to prospect, and what we can do to turn on their prospecting behavior.

Let’s be honest with each other…Your sales team is not making enough cold calls and is not devoting enough time to prospecting.

I have been helping sales teams for just under 40 years, and sales teams that prospect continuously consistently outperform others that don’t. We know that 84% of new opportunities with current and new prospects start with a phone call, yet salespeople do not want to pick up the phone. Instead, they send hundreds of emails daily and grow frustrated no one wants to engage. The data shows 92% of decision-makers will delete an email from someone they do not know. Don’t ‘believe me? What do you do with emails from strangers each day? (Ok, we agree emails rarely create conversations that lead to revenue alone.)

Is prospecting ineffectiveness in sales time management?

Often, I find salespeople put prospecting with current and new ideal customers so far on the bottom of their to-do list. It rarely gets done. One thing you can always count on with salespeople is they will be busy. They always have something to do, but are they doing the activities you want and need them to do?

I heard this quote years ago, and I have found it to be very true…

“Salespeople are like water, and they take the path of least resistance”

Do they assume spray and pray emails work?

Unskilled and untrained salespeople send hundreds of emails a day, hoping for one to turn into a conversation.

Each day, they spray and pray…but rarely have success.

Are they busy? Yes

Are they too busy to prospect?

Are they executing the best tactics to create conversations that lead to revenue? In most cases, the answer is no.

Could it be salespeople were never taught the science of prospecting and an ideal prospecting cadence?

When I work with salespeople, prospecting with a regular cadence is often a sales problem that needs to be fixed. If we do not prospect with a regular cadence, your team will experience what is referred to as “Rollercoaster Revenue.” One month is great, two months sales goals are missed. So, your team starts making calls, and you have another good month, then three or months of a sales dry spell for new business.

What are other factors that impact prospecting effectiveness?

As I assess sales teams, I often find prospecting challenging for seven reasons…

1. Mindset 2. Time Management 3. Lack of a Professional Prospecting Cadence 4. Not understanding how to connect with customers and prospects professionally. 5. Sales Training on how to execute a cold call…” what to say” 6. The Intent of the first conversation 7. The goal of the first contact is not a sale

I will unpack these challenges in future posts, but let’s focus on one of the biggest problems:” What to say.”

If your salesperson does not know what to say, they will not make the necessary calls. It is as simple as that.

Creating a perfect sales cold call involves balancing a clear, concise introduction, a value proposition, and a meaningful conversation with the prospect. The conversation should be tailored to the specific product or service you’re selling and the prospect’s potential needs and challenges.

Here’s a general framework you can adapt.

When I train sales teams in prospecting skills, I share examples of conversations, but it is critical that they make these conversations authentically their own and not sound like a canned sales script.

The cold call is broken into eight key common steps.

? The introduction ? Give other people power/ make them feel safe ? Ask a question. ? Share the reason for the call ? Share how you help others like them ? Ask for a future meeting ? Thank you ? Follow up and confirmation invite sent.

When I work with sales teams, we spend a great deal of time helping them shape their sales conversations that lead to revenue. We practice them so often that when they make the prospecting call, their conversation tone and cadence are conversational.

What could your cold call conversation sound like?

Below, I will share a possible conversation, and I highly encourage you and your salespeople to make it authentic and conversational.

Sales Cold Call Conversation Example

1. Introduction:

Salesperson:

“Hi, [Prospect’s Name]. My name is [Your Name], and I’m calling from [Your Company].

2. Give them Power/ Make them feel Safe

I know you were not expecting my call. Do you have 25 seconds (a few seconds) for me to share why I called you?”

Pause for response.

3. Establishing the Purpose:

Salesperson:

“Your time is valuable, so I’ll keep this brief. The reason I’m calling is [brief statement about why you’re reaching out that shares how you have helped others like them with common problems you have discovered in their business or industry].”

Example: “We’ve been helping plastic rotation molding companies [achieve a specific benefit] and increase gross margins and revenues, and I wanted to see if this might be something you’re interested in.”

4. Ask Question

Do you have your calendar handy?

Pause and wait for a response

5. Ask for a meeting to discuss how you help people in their roles and companies like theirs

Are you available for an introductory discussion on August 16th at 3 PM EST?

Pause and wait for a response.

Yes, I can spare 15-20 minutes.

Great, [ customer name]. After we hang up this call, I will send you a meeting invite. Can you confirm your email?

Customer shares email

6. Thank you

Thanks, [Customer name]; please watch for the meeting invite, and I look forward to discussing how we can help [ Company name] with [ value you shared you have delivered]

7. Invite sent

Send a meeting invite for the date and time agreed. Add something to the email demonstrating that you listened to them on the call.

24 hours before the meeting, send a meeting reminder and ask if there is anything else they would like you to be prepared to discuss.

Day of meeting, 8 AM send reminder…I look forward to speaking with you at 3 PM EST today. Here is a link to join our call quickly.

Congratulations…you just executed a meeting from a cold call!

Your goal with the cold call was to find time on their calendar to have a discovery discussion…not do a demo, not close a sale.

When I teach cold calling in the prospecting course, I share something I learned at an AA-ISP conference in a session with Chris Beall, the CEO of Connect and Sell. ( if you ever get the opportunity to hear Chris speak, you will not be disappointed)

? We need to understand the psychology of what is going on in the mind of the person you want to speak with.

? First, they were not expecting your call, so let’s agree you are an interruption.

? If you do not execute the conversation correctly, it will feel like an ambush.

? What have we been taught about strangers since we were toddlers?

? Stranger Danger! (We can’t help but feel afraid)

What else do we need to know?

Less than 13% of decision-makers trust salespeople.

That is because so many salespeople have never been trained in selling skills. They behave badly, so decision-makers often do not want to speak with any salesperson.

Another reason decision-makers do not trust salespeople is what author Larry Levine refers to as “commission breadth.” Salespeople call up, show up, and throw up. They pitch slap decision makers. It is obvious in the first few seconds that the salesperson’s motivation and intent to hit their sales numbers do not solve problems for you. (think car dealer salespeople swarming you and your family when you walk onto a car lot and trying to sell you a car way over the budget amount you shared seconds ago)

33% of decision-makers (growing yearly) do not want to speak with a salesperson. Research by Florida State sheds some light on why. Decision makers shared only 6 minutes in a one-hour sales call with a salesperson, which was valuable to the decision maker.

Our current customers and prospects are busy. Trying to have a sales conversation on a cold call is rude and unprofessional. It is much better practice to schedule time for a meaningful conversation.

Below are more tips for having effective cold calls.

1. Be Brief and Direct: Respect the prospect’s time.

2. Listen Actively: Pay attention to the prospect’s responses and tailor your conversation accordingly.

3. Personalize Your Approach: Make the prospect feel like they’re not just another name on a list.

4. Be authentically you: Use words and phrases you use often, conversational tone

5. Stay Positive and Professional: Even if the prospect is uninterested, maintain a professional demeanor.

6. Practice Makes Perfect: The more you practice your conversation, the more natural it will sound.

Do your salespeople make enough cold calls each week?

Have you provided sales skills training on prospecting and making a professional cold call?

Have you asked your salespeople to cold call you?

How did they do?

Would you agree to have a future discussion with your salespersons’ cold call, or would you hang up?

Let’s schedule a call if you need your salespeople to prospect more frequently and effectively to Drive Explosive Growth for your organization.