25 Tips For Successful Cold Calling

Does cold calling work?

"Cold calling is ineffective."

"Cold calling annoys prospects."

"Cold calling is dead."

In sales, when you say “cold calling,” these are the common phrases you hear along with it. The term “cold calling” has so much deprecation around it that it instills fear in anxious salespeople and skepticism in hot leads.

Because of this, every step of the process has challenges that are discouraging, from finding the right decision-maker and getting past the gatekeeper, all the way to keeping the prospects on the sales call by handling their objections.

Why bad cold calls don't work

The reason cold calling is so unwelcome is that it is confused with “bad calling,” where you pick up the phone, dial random numbers, and deliver an ineffective sales pitch. But “bad calling”  is very different from cold calling.

Cold calling, when done right, is the most effective way to improve your sales. In fact, 57% of C-level executives prefer to be contacted via phone.

But, to make a cold call successfully, we need to cover the bases. So let’s get started with some great reasons to make a cold call.

What is the purpose of cold calling?

Cold calling has a long-term goal and a short-term goal. The long-term goal, of course, is to make a sale. But to get there, you need to achieve the short-term goal. 

Remember, it is not merely about getting an appointment. In your very first cold call, you need to intrigue potential customers and help them open up to you. To do that, you need to focus on:

• Finding a common interest and building a good rapport with them

• Establishing yourself as an industry expert

• Acknowledging their business challenges and empathizing with them

• Educating them about your solution and explaining its benefits

The goal here is to establish a relationship by showing them that you care about solving their challenges.

“When people know that you care about and anticipate their needs, they’ll reward you with their wallets.” - Neil Patel

Here are 25 cold calling tips to help you establish and sustain a positive relationship before, during, and after the cold call.

Before cold calling

1. Match your product’s features to benefits

“Buyers don’t buy products. They buy solutions to their problem.”

Your product’s features are not going to grab a prospect’s attention unless they know how they can benefit from it. When you list out the features you want to highlight, word it around what your prospects gain from it.

Example:

Instead of saying,

“Our product, XYZ, can automate all your mundane activities. It has an advanced reporting feature that gives you insights into  all sales activities of your SDRs.”

You could try something like, 

“We have worked with many companies like ABC in the past, and they have had a 70% increase in team productivity and 4x faster sales cycles. This has ultimately improved their ROI.”

2. Find the right person to give your pitch to

If the prospect you identified isn’t the decision-maker, then you are bound to get a lot of ‘will pass on the message’ promises that are never fulfilled. You are effectively wasting your time and theirs, which will eventually take a hit on your targets. 

This is why you must be  smart about finding the right person. Here are a few tips that will help:

• For SMEs, the decision-maker is fairly easy to identify. It is usually the CEO or founder.

• For publicly listed companies, take a look at their annual report to identify the decision-makers relevant to your product’s purpose.

• For privately held companies and enterprises, you may try the bottom-up approach — connect with an employee of the company, find out the next best person to connect with at a senior level, and work your way up.

• Leverage common connections or referrers who would be willing to give you an introduction.

3. Research, understand, implement

Before you get in touch with a prospect, dig deep and understand their challenges, background, and if you can help them. If not, you are bound to get rejected. Here’s a cheat sheet that’ll help you with that:

What do I look for?

• Prospect’s industry, company size, their role, who they report to, who reports to them, company geography, tools that they use or care about, tools that are popular in their geography, recent engagements on social media, news about their business, recent awards, and the company’s mission, vision, and goals.

Where do I look?

• Google search for general information; company website and blog for their vision, mission, and press releases; LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other social sites for persona and company profile as well as engagement in community groups.

What tools will help me? 

• BuiltWith: Helps you identify the tools used by the company.

• SimilarWeb: Shows the visits and engagement on a company’s website.

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Helps you find your target prospects and send personalized messages to engage with them.

• Zoominfo, Lusha, DiscoverOrg: Give you the contact details (emails and phone numbers) of your prospects.

4. Warm up your prospect before the cold call

Before you pick up the phone to cold call, reach out to your prospects via email, InMail, or social media to set the context. This will create a sense of awareness about you and your company, so when you dial them up, they know you’ve done your research and will be familiar with your details already. When you finally get them on the call, you could say something like:

"Hey Jane, this is Rebecca. I am calling you to follow up on an <email/InMail> I sent you a few days back."

Or

"Hey Jane, this is Rebecca. We connected on LinkedIn a couple of days back."

5. Prepare a checklist of items to talk about during the call

In the checklist, you should define the critical set of information to be captured and to be conveyed during the conversation with the prospect. With this in hand, you will not miss out on asking for the important details you require from them.

This checklist could include:

• How they are currently addressing the challenges your product can solve

• What tools they are using

• What they expect to solve with the new tool

6. Prepare, practice, repeat 

Prepare cold calling scripts for your target industry and person. This will guide you through cold calls when you are nervous and make sure you are saying the right things. 

But remember, the tone, personalization, and modulation can make a huge impact on the success of the cold call.

"Over the phone, our ability to influence is 91% tone, with the remaining 9% being the words that you use. So, yes, words are important, but the tone is everything. "

-Ryan Tuckwood, Co-Founder & CEO, ISR Training

In fact, 93% of the potential success of your cold call depends on the tone of your voice. So, although you have a script, you have to sound natural. Use the cold calling script as a reference and practice repeatedly until you sound confident.

5. Find the right time to make the cold call

Timing a cold call is less about you and more about who your prospects are and where they are from. If you call your prospects at a bad time for them, you’re more likely to be sent to voicemail.

So, it is vital that you find the right time to cold call. 

If your prospects are high–level managers, they are usually available at the start of the day before they plunge into back-to-back meetings. But if your prospects are at the mid-level, they are most likely to be available post-lunch and during the latter part of the day.

sales development team at Freshworks has put together a list of best timings to cold call prospects based on regions:

8. Make gatekeepers your allies

It is the gatekeeper’s job to filter out the 'bad calls' and allow only those they believe are important to get to the decision-maker. So, similar to calls with the decision-maker, your first impression should be good, and shouldn’t sound like a sales call.

Example:

"Hi Jenna, my name is Rebecca. I’m calling from ABC Pvt Limited,"  makes it obvious that you don't know them and you are calling for the first time. It would not just scream out "SALES CALL", but also raise sales defenses. 

Instead of introducing yourself formally, try to sound familiar by saying,

"Hi Jenna, it’s Rebecca from ABC Pvt Limited."

Most salespeople want to slip past gatekeepers and approach them with a sneaky attitude, but such an approach is unwarranted and will definitely ruin your chance with the prospect. 

A more effective strategy would be to treat the gatekeeper as an extension of the decision-maker. Treat the gatekeeper with respect, greet them first when you start the conversation, then ask and use their name during the entire conversation. When they feel respected, they are more likely to help you out.

9. Use a CRM to get insights on your prospects

It is no secret that salespeople hate a traditional, clunky CRM, but a simple and easy-to-use CRM will get you much-needed insights about your prospects. 

It can tell you The number of times they’ve opened your email and clicked on the resources you shared, the pages they have visited on your website, their social media handles, and much more. 

During the cold call

10. Make a strong first impression when opening the cold call

Delivering an effective opening line is the most crucial step of a cold call. It is the first few seconds of the call that set the prospect’s impression of you, so you need to create a killer first impression. And by killer, we mean the BEST.

Acknowledge the fact that you are interrupting their day and ask permission to have a quick conversation. 

Example: 

Sales rep: “Hello, Mr. Smith, thank you for taking my call. I was wondering if you could help me out for a moment?”

When you say this with confidence, 90% of the prospects will hint a ‘yes,' and you have their permission to talk further. If the prospect is busy, don’t hang up before getting a suggested time to call again.

 Example:

Prospect: “I am busy at the moment”

Sales rep: “I understand. When is a good time? Later today or tomorrow morning?"

Prospect: “Tomorrow morning"

Sales rep: "Can I give a call back at around 8:30 then?"

Prospect: "Sure"

Sales rep: I'll call at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Thank you, Mr. Smith"

11. Have a strong introduction

Having a weak introduction is a common mistake most sales professionals make. A strong start is crucial as it influences whether the prospect continues the conversation. Clearly state who you are and why you're calling to capture their interest instantly. Once you have them on a call, start off with something like: 

“I really appreciate your time, John. I’m a Business Development Executive at <company name> assisting businesses in solving challenges related to <a major industry challenge>.”

12. Lead the call

Talk about their pain points or interesting industry-specific challenges, trends, or insights. Make sure you have done your research well and state facts.

 Example:

“I have worked with business leaders like you and helped <competitors> to improve their <industry metric (eg, sales processes)>. 

Most businesses are finding it incredibly challenging to < industry-specific challenges>. Does that sound like you?”

13. Showcase your company’s credibility

Leverage your current customers and share results achieved with them to pique the prospect’s interest and add to your credibility. 

Example:

“Companies like <businesses in the industry> have relied on us for <value props of your product>, and what they say is <outcomes of using your product>.”

14. Use the “Try me, don’t have to buy me” approach 

The objective of your first cold call is not to sell the product. You need to educate the prospect about your solution, so don’t push them to buy your product. Focus on maintaining a relationship and suggest trying your product before making a purchase decision.

Example:

“I understand you are currently using <current tool>. But before you close your doors to <your product name>, maybe you could try it out for a couple of days and see how you like it.”

15. Ask your prospect the right open-ended questions 

The first call is the perfect opportunity for you to learn about the prospect and get first-hand information that you won’t find on the internet. The key to this is asking open-ended questions and listening to the prospect talk.

Example:

Rather than asking,

“Would you consider trying out a new product that will boost your sales reps’ productivity?”

Or

“Are you happy with your current solution?”

You could try asking,

“How do you feel about trying a product that will boost your sales reps’ productivity?”

Or

“What do you think could be better about your current solution?”

16. Learn how to handle common objections

Change is difficult to embrace. 

When you tell your prospects they could be solving their challenges differently, there will be resistance at each stage, and it is your job to quell their concerns with the right answers. 

While it is impossible to anticipate and prepare for all the objections that you may face, there is also a set of common objections for each industry and persona.

Record the sales calls of the entire team, and try to identify those frequent objections that prospects pose.

With this information, you can come up with ways to handle each objection and experiment to find the answer that works best.

17. Show empathy

"Empathy is everything in sales. Show the prospect that you really care for and want to solve their problem."

-Rekha Rajendra Prasad, Ex-Sales Development Specialist, Freshworks

Displaying empathy during cold calls is the basis for building rapport and establishing a connection with the prospect. This genuine understanding and concern for their needs not only improves receptiveness but also helps in addressing objections and building trust, increasing the chances of success. Unless prospects know that you really care about their situation, companies will not want to work with you. Try saying something like, 

 Prospect: Is this a sales call?

Sales rep: No, John, I did not call to sell. I wanted to understand in what way I could add value to your business and help improve your < industry-specific metric>.

18. Align with the business’s priorities

"Seek first to understand, then be understood."

Aligning your cold call with a company's goals helps you maximize the impact of your call. It's essential to first understand the company's priorities and objectives so you can tailor your cold call pitch to explain how your product or service aligns with and supports those goals. This not only makes your call more relevant but also increases the likelihood of piquing their interest and moving the conversation forward. Try saying something like,

Sales rep: ABC PVT Limited is known for providing excellent customer service. Our product XYZ is designed to streamline and enhance customer service practices to exceed customer expectations and drive retention.

After the cold call

19. Determine the next step

• If the cold call went well:

• Send an email summarizing your conversation

• Schedule a follow-up call or meeting if they have agreed to one

• Create a sales strategy to share important resources and keep in touch

• If the cold call went south:

• Record and analyze your sales call. Listen to it carefully to figure out where the call went wrong. 

• Ask for help from your team, mentor, or manager, and find a way to handle such situations in future calls.

20. Share your learnings from the cold call with your team

As you try out various strategies to nail cold calls, so do your peers. It's a good idea to get together and brainstorm ideas, share your learnings from calls, and grow as a team. Repeat the process until most of your cold calls are successful.

"Learn from your mistakes. Correct it in your next cold call and derive inferences. Once you see a positive outcome, share the learnings and the results with your team."

- Koushik Pillalamarri, Director, Sales Productivity, Freshworks.

New to cold calling? Here are a few sales tips that’ll help

21. Know your product inside out

Only you can be the best advocate for the value of your products; be familiar with its unique selling points and how it stands out from the other competitors in the industry. 

• Explore your product/solution hands-on and learn its features and pricing.

• Understand the different use cases for it by listening to discovery calls and talking to the top-performing sales reps in your team.

• Catch up with the product and development team often and get visibility into the product roadmap to understand what’s in the pipeline.

• Reach out to your manager or other salespeople and collect a list of resources that you can share with the prospects.

Apart from your product, deep dive into understanding: 

• Your competitors’ products

• How they position themselves

• How you are better than them 

This will help you understand the domain and your competitors, learn how you can better pitch your product to your prospects, and handle objections from prospects who are using a competitor’s product.

22. Shadow your coworkers’ cold calls

If you are new to sales, sit with the best sales reps in your team and learn how they present the value proposition and handle objections raised by prospects on cold calls. When they cold call, observe how they speak, their tone, the words they use, and the questions they ask, and try to implement the same.

23. Prepare an elevator pitch

An elevator pitch is a short description of you, your product, and your company. The goal is to earn the prospect’s time,not convince them to buy.  It should ideally cover the questions:

• Who are you?

• What do you do (with credibility)?

• What do you want? 

It is a good idea to prepare more than one elevator pitch of different styles and lengths and be prepared to answer questions that may arise from each. As with the call script, practice your delivery of each pitch. Although words are important, tone is everything.

24. Understand your target audience

Think of your ideal client, their pain points, and how you can address their pain points. This varies for clients with each industry and their hierarchy. 

Referring to your company’s buyer persona and ideal client profile will help you understand this. You could check with your manager or top-performing salespeople in your team for these documents. These documents can give you a glimpse into the lives of your prospects and help you establish a better rapport with them. 

25. Final tip: keep going

If you feel discouraged by a cold call that went bad, you aren’t the only one. Rejection can dampen anyone’s spirit and reduce morale. Worse, you might avoid picking up that phone ever again.

The trick to staying positive is to be persistent with your efforts; the more cold calls you make, the more confident you will become in making them. To grow in sales and close more deals, you have to constantly pull yourself up with a positive attitude and continue selling. Embrace failure as you would embrace success. Don’t dwell on it — learn from it and turn it into success.