Cold calling potential customers: where to get the base, scenario. Attraction of new clients

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

If you work in sales, you don't need to explain what cold calling is. It is because of this that young managers often decide to try themselves in another profession. Even for experienced colleagues, this task is often a real test. Hands tremble, voice breaks, and the dissatisfied tone of voice on the other end of the wire makes you want to quickly hang up and never call anyone again.

What can be said about the effectiveness of such work? Most likely, it will be equal to zero. Today we want to talk in detail about what cold calling is and what tasks the caller faces. In order to achieve them, it is necessary to first teach the manager how to work with the tool entrusted to him.

Wait to open the directory

How does it usually work in a trading company? A new manager enters its ranks, and with a sigh of relief, experienced colleagues pass him the directory of the city's companies. Instead of the required internship and adaptation, he is offered to call 100, 200, 300 people a day and tell them something about the company he himself is talking aboutknows nothing. What impression is left on potential customers? Will they want to listen to information about your company again? Apparently, this event needs to be prepared more carefully.

What is cold calling

Basically, these are calls to strangers. Sometimes company managers are engaged in the fact that they regularly call existing customers and inform them about current promotions. This is a slightly different technique, which implies different mechanisms of influence, and even a different style of communication.

Cold calling is exactly talking to strangers. At the same time, it is not always the goal to sell a product or service to an opponent. It is much more important to provide information in a way that will interest. And here lies the main reason for the lack of results. This is an incorrectly set goal and lack of proper preparation. This leads to a negative reaction from customers.

The main thing is to reach the end of the list

This is how young managers perceive the task. You need to ring the entire telephone directory, well, in any case, as many people as possible. Maybe someone will be interested. That is, this method is approached extremely frivolously, they do not try to reach out to everyone. So first change the target. You should interest a potential client, give him as much useful information as possible in general terms and make him ask for “additives”. Moreover, already now you can try to neutralize all objections and doubts. It is not necessary that the client make a deal over the phone. But in a week he mightremember you and stop by the office to ask more details.

Do you really need a phone book

Let's talk about the introduction of such a mechanism as cold calls. Yes, it is usually implemented simply: open an endless list of phones and start calling. Nobody is happy about it. You tear people away from business and pour out a stream of useless information on their heads, often without even asking if they need it. Therefore, it makes sense to build a customer base first. That is, not only contact information, but everything that can be found. How long has the company been on the market, who manages it, where are they located, who do they cooperate with. Agree, it is much easier to conduct a dialogue with a person about whom you know something, represent the scope of his interests and can formulate an offer that he does not want to refuse. This is much better than calling a shoe company and offering to buy plastic window bolts.

Where to get the base

Cold calling potential customers isn't just for start-ups. Experienced sales professionals have their own base, but no company can do without constant development. A constant influx of new customers is the key to success. Where to look for them? There are many ways, you just need to think.

• Business events, trainings or conferences are held regularly. A company representative should visit them, and not only to obtain new information. Any of the people present here can become a potential clientyour company. Moreover, it is not necessary to immediately start offers, it is enough to take contact information and agree that you will call.
• Word of mouth - it would seem, to whom you can tell about your products and services in everyday life? It turns out many. You should not lure friends and acquaintances, but their acquaintances are quite a suitable audience. Therefore, tell the hairdresser about your company while you are getting a haircut, the taxi driver, the dentist. How many people pass through them in one day!
• Buying a ready-made base is a popular service today. Through the Internet you can buy a certain list of phones. However, customer information is often minimal here, and many numbers may no longer be up-to-date.
• Search for companies through advertising. There are two ways here. Look for advertisements in which the firm offers its services to clients and also recruits new employees.
• Social networks. Attracting new customers from the Internet has long been a priority for many managers. And social media is ideal. Here a person shares his aspirations and aspirations, posts information about his family and friends. Therefore, even individuals become convenient targets for cold calls. It is logical that if the profile picture is a young woman with a child, she is unlikely to need information about auto parts. Her dad is a completely different matter, flaunting next to his favorite car in every photo.

Tips & Tricks

Now you havean idea of where to get a base for cold calling. However, it cannot be done once and for all. While your company is running, the database should be constantly open to new customers. At the same time, the accumulated results cannot be ignored. Many make a mistake. We made a number of effective cold calls, perhaps invited a client and made a deal … and forgot about the client. But it is precisely the focus on long-term cooperation that adds stability to your relationship. You need to call clients regularly, regardless of the results. If he refused today, it is not certain that the same thing will happen tomorrow.

Preparing a speech

Do not rely on your eloquence, this is not the option when it can help out. A cold call script must be pre-written and rehearsed. Ideally, it is based on the prospect's implied questions. It was you who planned the call, and the person who picks up the phone does not know anything about it. And he should literally get the information in 30 seconds:

• Who are you?
• What are you doing?
• What do you want from him?
• How can you help?
• Why are you trustworthy?

It is advisable to prepare scripts in advance, but try to use them as a cheat sheet. The conversation strictly according to the template resembles a conversation with a robot. And don't forget to smile. Even on the phone, a person feels your mood.

Sample scenario

He might not fitto you personally, but will give a general structure in which direction to proceed. So, the algorithm of the manager's work on cold calling includes ten standard elements. Let's take a closer look at each of them:

• Introducing the employee and the company. No explanation needed.
• Identification of the interlocutor: “How can I contact you? Who in your company is in charge of…?” If the personnel officer picked up the phone, it is useless to talk with him about purchases.
• Be sure to get permission to contact. If the caller is busy, ask when it would be convenient to call back.
• Formulate the purpose of the call: “Because we specialize in introducing products…for your industry.”
• Generating call value: “With XX equipment, companies I, J increased sales by X%.”
• Value proposition: "It is possible that implementing … in your company will have a similar effect."
• Call to action: "Do you think if you had a similar tool, would you be able to act more effectively?"
• Bait: "I can't waste your time right now, but I just need 20 minutes for a face-to-face meeting where I'll explain my proposal through examples."
• Make an appointment. Farewell.

Main issues

Do not forget that all this will only work if we hit the client's “pain point”, that is, in the form of our product or service, we offered their urgent problem. In fact, this is not always the case. There are only two ways to knowabout the client's problem. This is to make an offer or ask a question. In the first case, you risk making a mistake, and in the second, not getting an answer. Therefore, at the stage of cold calls, it is enough to get a minimum amount of information about the interlocutor, inform about services, make an offer to get a more detailed package of goods or services. Then you will have a chance to meet again and have a more detailed conversation.

Professional Services

As you can see, the work ahead is long and difficult. Instead of training your managers and watching them make mistakes, you can hire a specialist who has been doing this kind of work for a long time. Most call centers offer cold calling services. You give them information about the goods or services provided, as well as the primary customer base. They look for new potential customers and make phone calls. Special programs record the number of calls made and their effectiveness. As a result, you pay for services and make a profit.