Cold calls - what is it, the technique of cold sales by phone

Companies that are engaged in sales are looking for their customers in many ways. Cold calls are also very important. For many, this term is unfamiliar, so it is worth investigating. There are a number of important rules and tips on how to achieve sales in huge heights.

What do cold calls mean?

The name "cold" arose not accidentally, as it reflects the fact that the sales manager is turning to a company that he does not know, so the relationship can not be called warm, because they are not installed. Describing what cold calls are in sales, it is worth noting that the duties of a distributor are prescribed the norm of cold calls for daily execution. In most cases this is 25-100 pcs.

It is worth knowing in what situations cold calls will be effective:

1. Sale of goods and services that are always needed, for example, paper, water, stationery and much more.
2. Providing services and goods that are not superfluous, but do not need them. As an example, you can bring the delivery of business lunches, special literature, reference systems and so on.
3. Sale of goods and services, in which the client from time to time needs, but can not now. This includes the repair of equipment, refilling cartridges, updating software and more.
4. Realization of inexpensive necessary goods and services, the supplier of which the client can easily change. For example, this applies to the transportation of goods, the manufacture of labels and packaging materials.
5. Provision of goods and services on favorable terms. Ideally, if they have no analogues in the market. You can offer such bonuses in cold calls: low cost, deferred payment or short term of the order.

Cold and hot calls

In addition to the already discussed concept of cold calls, there are other options: hot and warm. In the first case, calls are meant to be made with the direct intention of cooperating, that is, to bring the transaction to an end. It is worthwhile to compare even cold and warm calls, and so in the second case, contacts of customers will be used, with which the manager is already familiar and they are interested in cooperation to some extent. Warm calls are used to report on a stock, to reduce or increase prices, or to restore a previously interrupted cooperation.

How to make cold calls?

It should be said at once that this task is not simple, because in most cases people do not want to talk, put pipes or rude. To conduct effective cold calls, the phone sales technique should be worked out thoroughly. To do this, you need to have a client base, plan in advance the plan of the conversation and learn how to avoid obstacles, for example, the refusal of the secretary or the client's objections.

Rules of cold calls

In order not to encounter irritation, it is necessary to prepare beforehand. The technique of cold calls, this is not a trivial call, because the goal is to appoint a real meeting. There are a number of rules that need to be considered:

1. Find an excuse . To do this, you need to collect more information about the potential client. For example, the motive may be an article published on their website.
2. Do not sell . Cold calls are needed to interest and tell, and not to make a deal. You can use this phrase: "Could this interest you?".
3. Respect . In a telephone conversation there should be no pressure, aggression and deception. It is necessary to focus on the interests of the interlocutor, in order to understand what to focus on.
4. Refusal and objection are two different things. Do not be intrusive if a person says a hard "no". Offer different alternatives, for example, to meet at a suitable time for him.

Where can I get phone numbers for cold calls?

A natural question that arises in people who first encountered this topic. If you plan to make cold calls, the sales manager's conversation schedule and the client base should be pre-formed. There are several ways how to get the desired numbers:

1. Independently to find . To do this, you need to use the Internet and find customers and information. Note that the name and number of the phone is not enough for effective sales.
2. Purchase of ready base . Pleasure is not cheap, as each client will cost about $ 0.18, and the minimum number of rows in the database is 10 thousand. If you make a purchase, first check its quality, because there are fraudulent organizations that sell obsolete bases or make fakes.
3. Using the program-collector . They are sold on the freelance exchanges and are inexpensive, but cold calls using this technique will be ineffective due to poor quality information.

Cold call - dialogue plan

Among professionals, the first call plan is called a script. Since the conversation will take place over the phone, it is possible to think through all the details, for example, to formulate questions and guesses. The manager must independently make the script, taking into account important moments of the correct dialogue. Cold call technology includes:

1. The introduction implies a greeting and a presentation. It is important to minimize the mention of the desire to sell something. You need to speak on behalf of the company, not your own.
2. Establishing a contact . Finding out what a cold call is to a client and how to make a script correctly, one should note the need for creating a friendly conversation and determining the needs of the client. For this it is necessary to know in advance at least the minimum information about the interlocutor.
3. Call of interest . At the next stage of the conversation, it is necessary to provide a high-quality product and service so that the client does not want to end the dialogue.
4. Achieving the goal . Experts point out that the end of cold calls should be the appointment of the meeting. For this purpose, the client must be placed in a comfortable environment, for which he offers several options.

Cold calls - work with objections

To develop professionalism in the field of sales, you need to thoroughly respond to the refusal, which the manager for the day can be heard many times. When considering a cold call, objections must be taken into account necessarily. It is worth noting that the answers at the end of the wire are the same in most cases.

1. "The assortment is complete, we do not need anything." To cope with such an objection, it is necessary to try to get from the potential client, as much information as possible about what goods they really have.
2. "We have no money for this." The tactics of actions in this situation are connected with the fact that in more detail describe the client the entire benefit of the available proposal.
3. "We do not want to cooperate with your company." Negative attitude can be caused by distortion of information or personal experience, so it is necessary to find out what caused such a reaction.
4. "We are satisfied with everything as it is, so we do not plan to change the range". In this situation, you need to explain to the customer that your product or service will not change the range, but will complement, bringing profit .

How to get around the secretary at cold calls?

A significant obstacle between the sales manager and the decision-maker is the secretary or personal assistant. Getting a connection with the boss is not easy, but possible. There are several tips on how to pass a secretary at a cold call:

1. First you need to find out the name of the person who makes the decision, and when you call, you already have to ask to be associated with him, calling him a name.
2. Use in the cold calls the effect of suddenness and swiftness, for which confident tone say hello and ask to connect with the commercial director.
3. Try to get the secretary to think that you call not the first time. To do this, you can say: "Hello, the company is so-so, switch to the purchasing department."
4. Try to call at a time when the secretary may not be in place, for example, it's a lunch break, the end of the day or 30 minutes. before it starts.

Cold calls - training

If you want, as soon as possible to develop the ability to correctly make calls, you can go through special training. For this purpose there are different seminars, webinars , trainings and so on. The specialists will give details on how to properly make cold calls and how to avoid possible problems. In addition, it is recommended to read useful literature, communicate with experienced people and constantly practice and then a good result will be achieved.

Stephen Schiffman "Cold Calling Techniques"

If you want to understand the rules for conducting cold calls, then you need to read this book. Stephen Schiffman is considered the best instructor in the US for sales techniques. The book "Cold Calls" in simple words explains all the terms, gives many practical examples and even includes many ready-made answers that will help to avoid many problems. The author perfectly motivates the newcomers and gives effective advice on the replenishment of the customer base.

Training - cold calls

Specialists in the field of sales are engaged in conducting trainings, where they teach the basic tools for increasing the efficiency of cold calls. Many training courses not only clarify the theory, but also practice, that is, all the techniques are tested. At the training you can learn in detail what cold calls are, what sales techniques will help you to get results, how to exclude mistakes and to work out your plan of conversation.