Best cold calling method?

[MHT223]

Does anyone have any tried and tested methods for cold calling?

A friend in a different sector sends a letter to the right person in the company then follows up with a call the week after. Does anyone else work like this?

Any suggestions on this area??

Thanks,

Mark

[Frimley111R]

A letter beforehand can work as you can call up and say that you are calling regarding a letter you sent.

Good luck, cold calling is about as tough as it gets in sales.

[Soovy]

How about fking right off.

Cold callers should be killed.

[MHT223]

Soovy said:

How about fking right off.

Cold callers should be killed.

Thanks for that.

I meant on a B2B basis, ie PA to the CEO/MD during 9-5 & not to personal households while you're eating dinner watching Corrie.

[Soovy]

MHT223 said:

Soovy said:

How about fking right off.

Cold callers should be killed.

Thanks for that.

I meant on a B2B basis, ie PA to the CEO/MD during 9-5 & not to personal households while you're eating dinner watching Corrie.

Oh ok then.

For me, send a nice letter and brochure, inviting someone to call back.

I'd be irritated if you followed up with a call. In fact my PA would filter it.



Send me a nice letter and a brochure. If I am interested I'll call.

[Mr Gearchange]

Soovy said:

How about fking right off.

Cold callers should be killed.

Companies cold calling B2B is how the world works outside the rarified atmosphere of the legal profession.

Send an e-mail or a letter outlining what the company does, what references you have in this sector, and how what you have to offer may benefit the company/person you are contacting.

The key is to make it look like a personal and bespoke communiction - if it looks like spam it will get treated as such.

Then follow up the e-mail with a call 2-3 days later.

"Hi Steve - I just wanted to give you a quick call to follow up on my e-mail from a few days ago - is now a good time to talk"

They will either say Yes or No. If they say "No" then ask for a time when it would be more convenient to talk.

I don't do it anymore - I pay people to do it instead - but as another poster have said it's the hardest job in sales.

[Noel]

It's also worth calling before 9am or after 5:30pm, that way the PA who might filter calls isn't around.

[Cheeky Jim]

Don't call on a Monday morning either... typically, most people are busy trying to sort out their plans for the week etc cold calls rarely are appreciated then.

On the flip side, I've always found Friday afternoons to be reasonable times to call for a chat. People looking forward to the weekend, hopefully a bit more mellow and most of the weeks work is done. Usually, they are willing to have a bit more of a discussion.


Still a ste job mind you...

[Simpo Two]

Mr Gearchange said:

Companies cold calling B2B is how the world works outside the rarified atmosphere of the legal profession.

Agreed, and local government. What would a solicitor do if he had no work that month - just sit around waiting for the phone to ring?

Frankly I'd skip the letter as a waste of time and cost. IMHO a simple well-planned phone call gets better results more easily - but do be prepared for otherwise brave managers who are too frightened to talk to you.

[GT03ROB]

Mr Gearchange said:

"Hi Steve - I just wanted to give you a quick call to follow up on my e-mail from a few days ago - is now a good time to talk"

Now that would just piss me off. You don't know me, I've not spoken to you before & you use my 1st name. Thats a real turn off to be honest.

First off do some homework. Find out who you really need to talk to in the company, it's probably not the CEO or MD. Make sure you talk to the right person.

[singlecoil]

Soovy said:

How about fking right off.

Cold callers should be killed.

That's outrageous!

Simple public flogging is entirely adequate for a first offence.

[Mr Gearchange]

GT03ROB said:

Mr Gearchange said:

"Hi Steve - I just wanted to give you a quick call to follow up on my e-mail from a few days ago - is now a good time to talk"

Now that would just piss me off. You don't know me, I've not spoken to you before & you use my 1st name. Thats a real turn off to be honest.

First off do some homework. Find out who you really need to talk to in the company, it's probably not the CEO or MD. Make sure you talk to the right person.

Maybe so - although in dealing with senior directors at some of the worlds biggest companies I have never encountered a situation where anyone took exception to me using their first name tbh

Edited by Mr Gearchange on Tuesday 23 February 13:47

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

I used to call people at 7am in the morning (once I'd established whom I needed to call Director-wise and found their direct number.) - sometimes it was the only way to get through to them before their day kicked off. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't; most often I might get asked to call back at a specific time later that day. If they did I made sure I rang at exactly that time.

Yes you can send a letter and brochure but I find just picking the phone up and calling is best. Why waste a brochure and a letter (personalized) that takes time and most probably will end up in the bin anyway? Pick the phone up and find out first! They might have a watertight contract in place or something - just move on. Save the postage and time hassle of that letter until it really counts.

Don't see the PA's as a barrier that have to be hurdled. Some PA's are decision makers in their own right and establishing a rapport/relationship can work wonders. Sometimes they'll sell you to their bosses and make your life easier. Treat them as poeple rather than as a necessary hindrance and ask them for the best way into the company. If they say 'write in and I'll direct it' ignore them and carry on. They are either with you or without you.....

Is there a Head PA that organises the other PA's - they'll have supplier lists (depending on what you're selling etc etc) for new pa's joining the firm - might be worth asking the question. Offer to run a training session (either online or there at the meeting or a teleconference etc etc) to help them with your service. PA's will have 'how to's' or other supplier lists on their desks. If you can become the de-facto call when they need your service rather than a rivals - it's money for old rope. I overcame a rival's contract by doing just this. They had the contract for all the directors to use a particular service but hadn't thought it through - the director's didn't book the service, their PA's did - so I got to know the head PA and from there established a rapport with the other 30 PA's world wide. the rival just didn't understand the mechanics of how things worked for a good 4 months and whilst they phaffed we did well.

All this 'if I'm interested, I'll call' is all very well but sometimes people are just too busy to do so. They need a phone call and conversation to get your service/what you can do for them across to them to my mind. Brochures were always to reinforce a conversation not to take the place of it.

I also used to read the papers (usually the FT in my particular product's case) and see if I could spot a use for one of my services and then call that company that very morning or whatever and try and get through to say to them; I see you've got X on at the moment, have you considered doing Y to help get your message across. It didn't work every time but the number of calls I got back later in the week/month/year was good.

Leave voicemails every time you call. How does the other guy know you're persistent if you ring and not leave one. Don't leave war and peace but do leave a message.

Also - don't make yuor second question - how are you? fk that - you don't know him and he knows you don't care what the answer is. Get to the point quickly.

You're not selling - you're helping them to do their job better/more efficiently and the real clincher for them sometimes is that by using your service they highlight what a good job they are doing to their bosses.

Listen to the what the guy says and don't interrupt him if he's on a roll or selling your service to himself. Let him carry on!

We all have to 'sell' to a certain extent. It's a question of your attitude to it that, in my opinion, makes or breaks it.

Pick up the phone and so what if you get a no? At least you found out and can move on.

Also - this is a bit cheeky (criminal to some) but if you are sat in a board room or meeting room and you have a moment; try and see if there's an internal telephone directory. Take it. Worth their weight in gold. you can see whom reports to whom, direct numbers (and mobiles too), sometimes their business title, other influencers (sometimes by the relationship of the telephone numbers) etc and sometimes you spot more opportunities to sell into the business too. Plus you can name drop at random to give your calls more weight......

People will think that's underhand but if it's there and you're being baulked and you know you've got a good product - why not? Besides; sitting quietly doing fk all at your desk doesn't pay the mortgage.....

[Soovy]

Oi_Oi_Savaloy said:

Also - this is a bit cheeky (criminal to some) but if you are sat in a board room or meeting room and you have a moment; try and see if there's an internal telephone directory. Take it. Worth their weight in gold. you can see whom reports to whom, direct numbers (and mobiles too), sometimes their business title, other influencers (sometimes by the relationship of the telephone numbers) etc and sometimes you spot more opportunities to sell into the business too. Plus you can name drop at random to give your calls more weight......

Oh dear.

[JustinP1]

Soovy said:

Oi_Oi_Savaloy said:

Also - this is a bit cheeky (criminal to some) but if you are sat in a board room or meeting room and you have a moment; try and see if there's an internal telephone directory. Take it. Worth their weight in gold. you can see whom reports to whom, direct numbers (and mobiles too), sometimes their business title, other influencers (sometimes by the relationship of the telephone numbers) etc and sometimes you spot more opportunities to sell into the business too. Plus you can name drop at random to give your calls more weight......

Oh dear.

Holy smoke, thats made my day!

Why don't you just use the more modern method of hacking their network!?

[Soovy]

JustinP1 said:

Soovy said:

Oi_Oi_Savaloy said:

Also - this is a bit cheeky (criminal to some) but if you are sat in a board room or meeting room and you have a moment; try and see if there's an internal telephone directory. Take it. Worth their weight in gold. you can see whom reports to whom, direct numbers (and mobiles too), sometimes their business title, other influencers (sometimes by the relationship of the telephone numbers) etc and sometimes you spot more opportunities to sell into the business too. Plus you can name drop at random to give your calls more weight......

Oh dear.

Holy smoke, thats made my day!

Why don't you just use the more modern method of hacking their network!?

Awesome work, promoting theft of confidential information on a website where you advertise your business.

FFS what a plank.

[Deva Link]

Mr Gearchange said:

GT03ROB said:

Mr Gearchange said:

"Hi Steve - I just wanted to give you a quick call to follow up on my e-mail from a few days ago - is now a good time to talk"

Now that would just piss me off. You don't know me, I've not spoken to you before & you use my 1st name. Thats a real turn off to be honest.

First off do some homework. Find out who you really need to talk to in the company, it's probably not the CEO or MD. Make sure you talk to the right person.

Maybe so - although in dealing with senior directors at some of the worlds biggest companies I have never encountered a situation where anyone took exception to me using their first name tbh

I always do what you said in your first post - nothing worse than calling someone as they were just about to go to a conf call, meeting etc and they're desperately trying to get you off the phone. If they say it's OK to talk then you've got a clear couple of minutes to get their interest.

The name thing depends on the industry I guess - I work in electronics and it's first names at every level.

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

You may well go 'oh dear' but I was young and it seemed like a cunning way of finding out stuff you couldn't get hold of through the normal channels.

Of course some people wouldn't belittle themselves to this extent but each to their own I guess.

[papabear]

For the patronising cold caller I tend to pass the phone to our odd job man, he's 73, half deaf, toothless with a strong Irish accent.

"Yes, putting you through to the decision maker now"

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

Soovy - get a grip fella - I'm not in that game anymore. The guy asked for advice about cold calling and in some cases; when you're dealing with a multi-national sometimes it was the only way to work out what the state of play was and whom worked with whom. I guess if you've never been in that position you'd not understand. Perhaps I should modify my sentence and say - read the internal directory - would that make you a little happier?

I don't cold call anymore - it's more word of mouth now - farmers, for the most part, aren't at home.

And look - I'm not technically advertising on here - I simply mention what I do now on my profile?