Top Five Things Not To Do When Cold Call Selling

Written by Sandy O Dell

Getting on the phone to sell cold is sort of like exploring a very large and somewhat intimidating city for the first time: Initially, it can be more important to know where not to venture in order for your experience to be a rewarding one.

On the phone, I have earned more than a few lumps stumbling into pitfalls in this tricky landscape. While I continue to learn new ways to navigate an organization in order to reach my prospect, I know at least five routes to avoid:

1. Don't pick up the phone until you know what you're going to say. Recently, a client told me how disappointed he was in the outcome of his cold call campaign. When I asked him what he wanted to accomplish, he replied, “I don't really know. It depends on the conversation.”

While some improvisational room is necessary for each call, the objective should be clear at the outset. It can be to schedule a meeting, to announce a special offer, or simply to introduce yourself prior to sending company information. Without having a clear goal and outcome for your call you won't know how to direct the conversation, your prospect won't know why you're calling, and in the end, your outreach efforts will founder.

The old adage is true… “If you don't know where you're going, you won't know when you get there.”

2. Don't sell to the Administrative Assistant. An important part of the Administrative Assistant's job is to determine which calls do and which calls do not get routed to the boss. The more you reveal about why you are calling, the slimmer your chances of being connected. The AA does not care how much money can be made or saved using your service, and can recognize a pitch however it's disguised.

So, when the AA asks you why you're calling, don't say “to introduce the exclusive, cost-effective benefits of XYZ Financial Services”, or even “to introduce our financial services.” Instead, focus on one compelling component of your services and say, for example, “new tax regulations.” Or, instead of “I'm calling to discuss a special training offer for your IT staff,” try “IT certification requirements.”

The secret here is not to sell to the assistant, but to communicate to him or her the authority and specificity that hallmark those calls the AA does put through to the boss.

3.Don't leave voicemail messages…unless you absolutely have to. Short of leaving a message at the exact same time your prospects are looking for professional services like yours (and what are the odds of that happening?), leaving a message will only serve to telegraph the fact that you have targeted them in your cold call campaign. As a result – and by virtue of caller ID - you may find prospects even harder to get a hold of than they otherwise might have been.

However, there are those occasions when, having tried to reach your prospect unsuccessfully six or seven times, your only option is to leave a voicemail. When that's the case, the same rules apply as those for leaving messages with the Administrative Assistant:

Be commanding and be compelling, but be brief. Your prospects will probably know that you are selling, but their curiosity can sometimes outweigh their reluctance to return your call.

4. Don't ask “is this a good time?” The rules of good behavior dictate that we should always attempt to discover whether the call we have made comes at a good (or at least not at a bad) time for the person on the other end. This is undoubtedly the right thing to do in most situations.

But if you want to talk to your prospect, it is almost always the wrong thing to do. Ninety nine times out of one hundred, your prospect is looking for any pretext to get off the phone. To hand them a ready excuse along with your name and your company will abruptly end the call and likely consign future attempts to failure.

This does not mean you should hold the prospect hostage with a long-winded sales pitch. You may not ask for permission, but you should show consideration by being brief (once again), to the point, and engaging.

5. Don't take more than 25 seconds, preferably less, to introduce yourself and state the reason for your call. This is actually an extension of #4. Your introduction should include your name and company, what the company does, and why you're calling. That's it. No long list of benefits. No blue-chip client roster. Reserve the puffery for promotions and your written correspondence.
When moving cold prospects forward in the sales cycle, you're likely to bump into a number road blocks and blind alleys. But if you follow these five signposts, you will find detours that represent a shorter distance between you and a new customer.

Sandy O Dell -
	Sandy O'Dell is a senior consultant with the Wellesley Hills Group (www.whillsgroup.com). She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it. Read More >>
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