Cold Calling

You purchased a list, and John Smith is now in your database. He has not, however, expressed to your company any interest in your products or services. As such, he falls into the category of “suspect.”

A call to John is cold.

And, understandably, whether they are the initiator or recipient of such a call, most people prefer not to engage in this activity. Luckily, today you can use LinkedIn to warm up the call and make the experience more pleasant and fruitful to both parties. Here are some tips to get started. 

When you’re managing business-to-business telemarketing representatives, you can record their conversations and use them as learning opportunities. If one agent is particularly productive, you can listen to recordings of her phone calls to determine what sets her apart from the others. Also, if another is having difficulty meeting their goals, you can re-live their conversations and learn where they go off track.

Before doing anything, however, become aware oflocal and federal laws related to recording calls and ensure that you abide by them.

What to Listen For

When you’re listening to recordings to find out why some representatives are successful and others struggle, pay attention to these areas.

“The only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it,” said Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People. Since business development is all about influence, that’s a statement worth etching into your mind.

But first, how do you know what other people want to talk about? Ask questions and listen.

So, listening is a critical skill for all business-to-business telemarketers. It enables them to understand a prospect’s situation and respond with relevant questions and insightful answers. And because we lose the ability to use body language on the phone, listening is even more important on the phone than during an in-person sales call. When you listen, you can more easily empathize with a prospect. Also, when you listen, you demonstrate respect, enhancing the chances for business collaboration, problem solving and developing a win-win situation.