Want to generate more business? Cold calling is a great way to get started.
In fact, in a recent survey, 82% of respondents noted they have accepted meetings with business reps who first introduced themselves during a cold call.
But minor mistakes can limit the effectiveness of cold calling.
Below, we cover five common cold calling mistakes you need to avoid to engage new prospects in productive conversations that generate more deals.
Before reaching out to a new prospect, it’s a good idea to do a bit of homework.
You want to understand who you’re reaching out to and how you can help them.
According to the balance careers, “When it comes to cold calling, Google is your friend. So are Facebook and (for B2B salespeople particularly) LinkedIn. These tools can give you amazingly useful information about the person you plan to call next. Finding out that a particular lead went to the same college you did or is friends with someone you happen to know can give you a huge advantage.”
Need help getting started? Download The Ultimate Guide to Successful Prospecting to learn how you can gather actionable intelligence on new prospects.
Let’s face it: Cold calling is a tedious process. You spend hours making dials, and most of your calls end in rejection.
But many brokers make this process more difficult than it has to be.
According to RingDNA, a company that offers an intelligent dialer tool that helps users quickly connect with prospects, “Sales teams can save a massive amount of time through the elimination of tedious, time-consuming tasks related to cold calling. These tasks not only waste time, but make cold calling a poor experience.”
Rethink CRM—Buildout’s CRM purpose-built for commercial real estate—offers tools that streamline the cold calling process by empowering you to
Rethink CRM also integrates with other tools that make brokers’ lives easier—such as dialers like RingDNA—to provide even greater efficiencies.
This allows brokers to automate the most time-consuming, cumbersome aspects of cold calling, so they can focus on fostering engaging conversations that drive deals.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of talking about yourself, your brokerage, or your services and credentials too much.
After all, you need to sell your value, right?
But first and foremost, you need to focus on the prospect and their needs.
As Brian Tracy, a sales training, personal success consultant, and best-selling author, stated, “In your initial contact with the prospect, focus all your attention and your questions on the prospect.”
“Remember, it is about them, not about you,” he continued. “Client-centered selling is professional selling. You are only selling professionally when you are talking to your client about his or her wants and needs.”
Most people aren’t going to pick up the first time you call them.
They don’t know who you are or what you want, and they most likely have their own priorities they’re reluctant to put on hold to answer every call that comes their way.
That’s where a solid voicemail comes into play.
You can use voicemail to pique your prospect’s interest and demonstrate value. It’s unlikely that you’ll convince them to call you back, but you can make it more likely they’ll respond to your next call, email, or text.
An article from Masterclass—which offers courses taught by experts in a variety of topics—encourages voicemails that are “simple and to the point.”
They go on to explain that “the maximum length message should be about 20 seconds long. It should be energetic, polite, and direct.”
One of the worst mistakes you can make when cold calling is to ignore the importance of following up.
Few people will be ready to work with you on the first call, but over time, you can develop relationships that lead to more deals.
In fact, research shows that 80% of sales are made between the fifth and twelfth contact, but 49% of salespeople never follow up with a prospect.
That means meaningful follow-up can help you stand out from your competition and get the deals most brokers let fall through the cracks.
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