The reason why cold calls fail hasn’t changed much over the past decade.
The video below was my first ever live recording I published on YouTube in 2013. As much as it makes me cringe everytime I watch it, it’s still on point.
Too many salespeople are unprepared for reaching the right person and instantly blurt out their elevator pitch in the hope their prospect won’t hang up.
Being unprepared isn’t the only reason why cold calls fail though.
Cold calls can fail for a number of reasons, whether that’s talking too much, too fast, not asking open ended questions or just catching your prospect on a bad day.
This is just part of working in sales.
How to Improve Your Cold Calling Success Rate
I could probably write a list of 100 things you could do to improve your cold calling success rates, but for this post, I will give you a list of 5 things to get you started.
1. Call the Right People in the Right Companies
This one sounds obvious, however, the amount of companies still relying on quantity over quality when it comes to cold calling is shocking.
You need to know or try to define your ideal customer profile (ICP).
Too many salespeople spend their days just calling anyone with a marketing director or CEO title at any company in the region they cover.
By making your target audience niche, you have a better chance of having more relevant conversations with prospects that have a real need for your solution.
2. Separate Lead Preparation and Cold Calling
In order for cold calling to be effective, you need to get in the zone.
If you have to spend 5-minutes preparing for each dial you make, you’re not going to get much done and it’s going to frustrate you.
Schedule a dedicated number of slots each day or week to get your lead preparation done.
And when I say lead preparation, I mean the tedious things such as adding and updating the data in your CRM for the companies and contacts you will call.
In an ideal world, you will have the company name, contact name and phone number as a minimum.
You should complete your lead preparation during the off-peak parts of your day and not during peak calling hours.
By completing your lead preparation in advance, you will be able to get in the zone when cold calling, which will improve your flow, volume, confidence and conversations.
3. Pick a Script and Stick to It
You might not need a physical cold calling script, but you do need a script.
A script is what you will say when you reach your desired contact person.
If you don’t prepare for what to say, you won’t be able to create consistency in your calls, resulting in random outcomes.
I experience far too many salespeople winging it on every call because they’re confident enough to think on the spot, and although it can work, it’s not scalable.
You need to test your call scripts at volume, so you can measure which works best, and then you should keep tweaking and testing it to see if you can get even better results.
4. Remember to Breathe
One of the main reasons many salespeople talk so fast and mess up when they reach a prospect is because they forget to breathe.
No matter how experienced and brilliant you get at sales, your heart rate and anxiety always increase when that phone starts ringing.
So, remember to take a deep breath before dialling and another just after your pattern interrupt.
I would also recommend listening to music before and, if possible, during the call until you reach the prospect.
Feel free to use my B2B Sales Playlist – Don’t judge me. I’m an 80s kid š
5. Focus on the Outcome, Not the Call Volume
I recorded a podcast with Casey Carnevale from SellX recently and asked; what was the main reason she felt was behind her success in cold calling.
She replied, “I always begin with the end in mind. So, to me, it didn’t matter if I needed to make 200 calls or 2 calls. I just focused on getting the meeting.”
This stuck out for me as it’s been quite some time since I’ve been measured on call volumes, but I remembered that’s exactly how I always worked.
You shouldn’t be in a rush feeling stressed about doing as many dials as possible. You should be on a mission to achieve your desired outcome.
So, screw your boss if they’re a micro-manager and demand you do 200 dials a day and focus on the one goal that counts.
Do you have any great ideas for improving cold call success rates or want to ask any questions about this post? Let me know in the comments.