- \n
- The person I wanted to speak to wasn\u2019t available and so I left a message asking for a call back.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These, by far, made up the majority of my calls. Sales cold-calling is mostly an exercise in patience and persistence.<\/p>\n
- \n
- I reached the correct person and they were too busy or uninterested, and quickly dismissive.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These calls were disappointing but weren\u2019t as uncomfortable as I imagined they would be. They were over quickly and I simply moved on to the next call.<\/p>\n
- \n
- I reached the correct person and they were willing to give me a little time to talk.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Embarrassing as it is to admit, these were the calls I dreaded the most. They formed the minority of calls so they took longer to become accustomed to – and they required me to actually try and sell something!<\/p>\n
In time, however, I found a rhythm that was successful enough to start growing our list of leads and customers. If you\u2019re as nervous about the prospect of cold-calling as I was, here are the things I found to be most helpful.<\/p>\n
B2B Phone Calls are Easier<\/b><\/h3>\n
Consumers hate receiving sales calls over the telephone. Whether they\u2019re cooking dinner, changing the baby\u2019s diaper, watching Hardcore Pawn or staring blankly at the wall, your call is considered to be far less important than what they were doing when you interrupted.<\/p>\n
Some years later, I spent three months doing business-to-consumer (B2C) cold-calling. Curiously, I wasn\u2019t terrible at it and, after a week or so of trial and error, I become fairly consistent in my results. But it was a soul-destroying job that I would hate to return to.<\/p>\n
Business-to-business cold-calls, however, are a very different beast. For a start, it\u2019s considerably easier.<\/p>\n
Yes, you still get some people who are irritable that you\u2019ve disturbed them in the middle of something important, but the majority of people are far nicer about it, even if they\u2019re dismissing you quickly.<\/p>\n
Overall, the percentage of business people who are willing to engage with you is much higher.<\/p>\n
![\"B2b](\"https:\/\/www.genesisdigital.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/b2b-cold-calling-is-easier-than-you-think.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s worth remembering that most of the business people you speak to are being paid a salary or by the hour. In other words, they\u2019re being PAID to take your call. And if you\u2019re speaking to the right person, purchasing is a part of their job.<\/p>\n
In my case, I was selling marketing opportunities to people who worked in marketing. At the very least, most of my prospects – when I eventually got through to them – were willing to hear me out.<\/p>\n
Stand Up and Smile<\/b><\/h3>\n
This might sound a little basic but I discovered that, when the person I was trying to reach answered the phone, it was helpful to physically stand up.<\/p>\n
In my head, it was a bit like being sat at a table, and then standing up to greet and shake hands with someone who just entered the room.<\/p>\n
It took the quiver out of my voice (I really was that nervous!), reminded me to breathe and made my greeting louder and more confident.<\/p>\n
And, as you\u2019ve no doubt heard before, smiling does change the tone of your voice for the better.<\/p>\n
Get to the Point and Make It Free<\/b><\/h3>\n
Small talk is valuable (more on that in a moment) but, in the first example above, if I was talking to someone for the first time, it helped to get to the point quickly. I came up with a short, snappy description of who I was, what our business was and why I was calling.<\/p>\n
And the reason for my call was always to offer them something for free.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no different to having a landing page offering a free report, and then showing the prospect the sales page further down the line. Cold-calling and immediately asking for a sale was always less effective than starting with a freebie.<\/p>\n
Our website had a directory of suppliers and any business in the industry could obtain a listing, free of charge. This was always my opening gambit.<\/p>\n
If they asked about cost, I would say that upgrades were available but that they were optional.<\/p>\n
Once I got the agreement to continue I would take the details for their listing and only then would I invite them to upgrade.<\/p>\n
In truth, I was much better at getting the agreement for the free listing than the paid upgrade. I didn\u2019t care too much as the main goal was to make the connection, get them onto the directory and then follow up with upgrade offers later.<\/p>\n
If I had a do-over, I would have pushed harder and been more aggressive in the discounting, maybe by stating that the upgrade offer on the site was $99 but if they agreed to the upgrade over the phone today, it would only be $29.<\/i><\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Read a Script but Have Facts at Hand<\/b><\/h3>\n
Reading a script is good when you\u2019re nervous but it\u2019s not terribly effective. People instinctively know when you\u2019re not being yourself and it makes them suspicious. And you can only be yourself by speaking naturally.<\/p>\n
I had an \u201celevator pitch<\/a>\u201d-style piece for describing the business but otherwise I tried hard to be conversational.<\/p>\n
What helped most in this area, at least for maintaining some level of confidence, was having a list of facts in front of me. I had details that I could provide in response to the most common questions about our business, and I had a list of our chief selling points.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s definitely worth brainstorming as many selling points as possible because you never know what might be most effective from one person to the next. I once took a call from someone who was trying to convince their boss to purchase advertising from us and he wanted me to give him some reasons he could use in his pitch.<\/p>\n
I rattled through a laundry-list of useful facts that failed to impress him, until I mentioned that we were #1 in Google for a particular search phrase. He instantly stopped the conversation, saying that I needn\u2019t continue because that fact alone would be all he needed to convince his manager.<\/p>\n
Ask Questions and Be Interested<\/b><\/h3>\n
Regardless of the outcome of the initial cold-call, I tried to make small talk in an effort to make our interaction more memorable and lay a foundation for future phone calls. I\u2019m notoriously terrible at social conversation (my idea of small talk is to tell you about my most recent etymological discovery) but it had to be done.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how I stumbled upon it, but I found that the easiest way to get people to open up was to ask them about what their business did and especially its origins.<\/p>\n
Have you noticed that business owners love to tell you on their website and other marketing material about the year the business was founded and how it came to be? And have you also noticed how most consumers couldn\u2019t care less?<\/p>\n
Well, that\u2019s because this information is meaningless to the customer but is often deeply personal to the people who work there – especially if you\u2019re talking to one of the founders.<\/p>\n
I could often tell how well a call had gone based on the friendliness and enthusiasm of the \u201cgoodbye.\u201d And I noticed a correlation between how long I\u2019d listened to them gush about their business and its origin story, and how much they appeared to have enjoyed the conversation.<\/p>\n
To this day, even in social interactions, my fallback strategy (once I\u2019ve exhausted discussion on why grammatical sloppiness and lack of precision in language is hastening the end of days) is to find out one of the person\u2019s chief interests and ask them questions about it. Even the shyest of conversationalists can suddenly talk for hours when they meet someone who appears to be interested in a topic they know and love.<\/p>\n
Small talk may, by definition, be trivial. But when it comes to B2B cold-calls, it can make a huge difference to your follow-up phone calls and emails.<\/p>\n
Evading the Gatekeepers<\/b><\/h3>\n
If you\u2019re unfamiliar with the term, you\u2019re definitely new to cold-calling. A gatekeeper, in this context, is the person who answers the phone on behalf of the person you\u2019re trying to reach and whose sole purpose is to deflect your call.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, if you contact a gatekeeper and you tell them that you\u2019re cold-calling with an \u201copportunity\u201d or anything synonymous, you\u2019ll find that – 99% of the time – the person you want to reach is unavailable.<\/p>\n
The easiest way past a gatekeeper is to outright lie about the purpose of your call. I\u2019m not down with that. I\u2019m not, however, adverse to a little subterfuge. Here are some of the techniques I found to be effective in getting past the Black Knight (\u201cnone shall pass!\u201d).<\/p>\n
- \n
- Hint at an existing relationship<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Cold-callers are anathema to a gatekeeper, so implying that there\u2019s an existing relationship definitely helps. Send an email or a letter to the target and then, when the gatekeeper asks why you\u2019re calling, explain that you sent an email\/letter, that you\u2019ve not heard back and you want to check they received it.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Make the request second-hand<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Tell the gatekeeper that you\u2019ve been asked to contact <Target Name> about <something that sounds benign>. For example:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been asked to contact Joe Bloggs about the Fruit Loops exhibition next month.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
It\u2019s true that you\u2019ve been asked to contact Joe. Your boss asked you to cold-call them. But framing the question in this way, to many people, will sound like you\u2019re RETURNING a call.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s horribly manipulative but it can give you an opening that you might not otherwise achieve.<\/p>\n
![\"Be](\"https:\/\/www.genesisdigital.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/be-personable-in-B2B-cold-calling-to-bypass-gatekeepers.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat do you do if the gatekeeper is sharp enough to ask you WHO asked you to contact them? It\u2019s rare, but I find it best just to ignore difficult questions and carry on regardless. Explain the purpose of your call and ask to be put through.<\/p>\n
If the gatekeeper pushes for an answer and you don\u2019t want to just hang up, there\u2019s no harm in coming clean. Try phrasing it this way\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cOur company provides <brief description of your product or service> and our Managing Director asked me to call to set up a meeting.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n
That kind of response will 95% of the time get you out of an awkward question. The other 5% of the time it actually gets you through to your target<\/i>!<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something about invoking a prestigious job title that gives gatekeepers room for doubt. Don\u2019t forget, as much as they want to keep \u201cnuisance\u201d calls away, they also don\u2019t want to incorrectly block a legitimate call that their boss needs to receive.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Call as a journalist<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
See PART THREE<\/a> of this article series to understand fully how this works. If you\u2019ve created an arm of your business for this purpose, you can call to ask about press releases, their attendance at a forthcoming event or anything else news-related. You might be diverted to a PR person, but they\u2019re usually affiliated with the marketing team which is perfect is you\u2019re selling advertising.<\/p>\n
The Ultimate B2B Gatekeeper Dodge<\/b><\/h3>\n
This strategy is far and away the most effective that I found. It takes more time and effort, but it\u2019s perfect for those hard-to-reach decision-makers.<\/p>\n
When it comes right down to it, the only true way to cold-call someone who is protected by a gatekeeper pro is to remove the \u201ccold\u201d from the equation. You HAVE to find a way to make an undeniable connection, so that your call is a legitimate follow-up and not a call out of the blue.<\/p>\n
The best way to do this is described in PART THREE<\/a> of this article series. If you can meet your target at an event and swap business cards, then your job is much easier. You\u2019re calling because you met at the Boondoggle Expo and you want to chat about your mutual interests.<\/p>\n
But if you haven\u2019t met the target in person, you can achieve much the same effect. It just takes a little more work.<\/p>\n
If your access to your target is blocked, start by moving down the chain. If you can\u2019t reach the manager or the director of the department you want to sell to, ask if there\u2019s someone else in the department you can speak to. You might need to do some digging so you can ask for an executive by name, but I often found that when a gatekeeper denied me access to my primary target, they were more likely to agree to put me through to someone in a lower position rather than refuse me a second time.<\/p>\n
Once you get through to your secondary target, treat the call as you would any other. Introduce yourself, explain the reason for your call and offer the freebie.<\/p>\n
You may find that this secondary target is still sufficiently well-placed for you to eventually make a sale. A manager or director might be more likely to give you an instant decision, but someone in a lower position can still recognize the value in your offer and then make the pitch on your behalf.<\/p>\n
This person, effectively, becomes your \u201cin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t hate me for stating the truth but an executive, as opposed to a manager, often has more TIME to chat and, because of, shall we say, certain levels of boredom, is more INCLINED to chat.<\/p>\n
And if that executive has the ear of the person you originally tried to reach, you might not need to worry about speaking directly to the decision-maker.<\/p>\n
If, however, the executive isn\u2019t interested or capable of making a purchase, as long as you can get them to accept the freebie, you\u2019ve still made a connection. The next time you call to speak to your primary target, you can tell the gatekeeper that the department recently obtained <impressive-sounding description of your freebie> and you need to discuss it with them.<\/p>\n
My freebie, if you recall, was a free listing in our online directory. So, for me, subsequent calls were along the lines of:<\/p>\n
\u201c<Target Name> is advertising <Company Name> on our website and I need to check we have all the details correct.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Simple, but invariably effective in getting me past the receptionist denizens!<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
With so many digital advertising venues available, it\u2019s easy to ignore the potential of making telephone calls – especially if you hate the idea of talking to people in person.<\/p>\n
But B2B calls can be easier than you imagine, and they open doors far more easily than emails that can be easily be lost in the crowd.<\/p>\n
Especially for a new business, a little cold-calling can go a very long way.<\/p>\n
Hopefully the advice in this, and the previous three articles (# 1<\/a>, # 2<\/a>, #3<\/a> ) have turned you on to the potential of the B2B market and offered you some sound ideas for getting up and running. The strategy in PART THREE <\/a> especially offers a route that can get you on the inside very quickly.<\/p>\n
In the final article in this series, we\u2019ll look at how to react when your successful B2B<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cold-calling businesses can strike fear in the heart of any marketer. I can still recall the first time I considered picking up the phone and calling business customers to try to sell advertising. The very idea made me nauseated. I had zero sales and marketing experience and I was convinced that the moment I spoke […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[162,17,12],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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- Call as a journalist<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Make the request second-hand<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Hint at an existing relationship<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- I reached the correct person and they were willing to give me a little time to talk.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- I reached the correct person and they were too busy or uninterested, and quickly dismissive.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n