Cold Calling Tips for Growing Your Sales

Cold calling is an unnecessary evil for many marketers, so it’s no surprise that many sales and marketing teams avoid it. The fear typically comes from a couple of factors, from potential rejection to the feeling that it doesn't yield the desired results.

But what do the numbers say? Well, cold calling, at a success rate of 2%, may not be your go-to marketing method. Still, 49% of buyers choose to be reached through a cold call as opposed to other channels. While this may give you some hope, you must do everything right to ensure you are getting wonderful results. Here's how:

1. Research Your Leads First

You never want to contact prospects without finding out more about them to avoid appearing spammy. Most potential customers will only engage with you if they believe you understand their needs. Before calling, therefore, find out as much information as you can about your contacts to understand who they really are.

Begin by revealing basic information such as where they work, their interests and hobbies as published publicly, where they live, and more. One of the best tools for this is a contact data enrichment tool such as Trestle's person search API. These tools are designed to utilise publicly available databases to reveal as wide a range of basic information as possible.

In addition to uncovering the basic details about your prospects, you also should dig for more information so it's easier to personalise your pitch. Some of the top ideas in this regard include:

• Checking their LinkedIn profiles to get a better idea about their roles and company background.
• Having a look at their company's recent updates: News about product launches, funding announcements, leadership changes, and others will help you understand your prospect's business or better.
• Identifying their pain points: Not everyone, even in the same industry, will be trying to solve the same pain points or issues. So, you will have to evaluate your contact's business-specific challenges to understand what issues they are likely facing.

2. Understand Your Product Thoroughly

No matter how appealing a deal or well-aligned a product is, potential customers will always have questions about it. You need a deep understanding of your product or service to provide information about the features and benefits. Remember, the only way to convince your customers is by showing the value of what you are offering.

In addition to understanding the features of your product, make sure you know how it addresses genuine business issues, its unique selling points, common objections and responses, and technical/functional specifics.

3. Maintain a Clean Cold Calling List

Not all leads will be worth your time. So even though it likely took a lot of time and effort to understand your prospects and create your contact list, you have to be willing to let go of any contacts that don't promise great potential. In short, only call the prospective clients whose interests align with the product or service you are offering.

To do this, you will need to clean your contact list. After getting your potential customers' numbers, use verification, validation, and enrichment tools to weed out the less promising numbers. Some of the numbers you don't want in your contact list are those that have become inactive or those whose owners have changed jobs or even locations.

When cleaning your list, be sure to segment your leads by particulars like job title, industry, or past interaction. This will help you optimise your marketing efforts.

4. Use the Right Tools for Maximum Efficiency

Cold calling is more fruitful when you combine it with automation and newer technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence. So, be sure to take advantage of tools like number extraction, CRM, customer tracking, and analytics tools.

Keep in mind that automation tools may vary depending on the industry you are in and other factors. It's, therefore, advisable to find out what's more appropriate for your business.

5. Call at the Right Time

When cold calling, you are looking for maximum engagement. So, avoid calling during the hours that don't promise maximum engagement, such as early mornings, during lunch hour, or late evenings. That's typically because most decision makers are busy at such times.

Instead, use industry data to determine peak hours. Some of the best hours to call are 10-11 am and 2-4 pm during weekdays. If contacting prospects in a different time zone, be sure to use tools to schedule your calls appropriately. Also, ensure to create a compelling opening statement and a convincing sales pitch to get your customers hooked throughout your interaction with them.

Improve Your Cold Calling Efforts Today

Cold calling may not be the most loved technique for outstanding success when it comes to marketing efforts, but be sure that it's highly effective if combined with the right techniques and tools. One thing you want to understand before setting up any campaign is that cold calling is your golden chance for building relationships first, before selling. So, listen more, offer helpful solutions, and follow up.

And to ensure you are contacting the right customers, use contact data quality enhancement tools like the ones Trestle offers. Visit trestleiq.com today to learn more.