How to Make a Cold Call and Find New Clients
As a freelancer, you’re constantly looking for new ways to grow your company. Unfortunately, it can sometimes seem like you have no time to grow. If this sounds familiar, you might be searching for a way to make more contacts in your field without having to do an hour of cold calling every day.
That is where cold calls come in.
Cold calling is a tactic used by salespeople to establish contact with either prospects or leads and eventually generate revenue. As such, cold calling is typically conducted after the prospect has been identified through other research methods such as networking or social media outreach. Cold calling is also known as outbound marketing and should always be done with care to avoid wasting anyone’s time.
This article will teach you how to make a cold call and present yourself in a way that will make the person on the other end want to speak with you more than once.
Table of Contents [Show]
Before The Call
Be Prepared
Before you make your cold call, it’s important to know what you’re selling. Before calling someone, you should have a clear understanding of what they need and how this service could help them.
You should think about your goals. What do you want to achieve from this call? Do you want to schedule a meeting? Get more information about their needs? Sell them a service? Knowing what your goal is for each call will help you to stay focused and make the most of your time.
Collect Information
Cold calling is uncomfortable, but it’s not impossible to make a successful call. To start with, you need to know what your potential customer wants. Is your goal to find out more about their needs? If so, you need to be prepared to ask them questions about their situation and then relate your services or products in a way that makes sense for them.
Needs can also be identified by identifying the type of client they are.
For example, someone who is a business owner might want to find the best accounting software for their company, whereas someone who is a student might just want to look for tutors nearby. By knowing what your contact’s needs are, you can better frame your conversation with them and make it easier for them to share information with you.
It is important to note that you need to be able to help the client. While you may have a great service, if you can’t help the client, then there’s no point in continuing the conversation.
Get To Know Your Prospect
It is also important to know that cold calling can take time and be a difficult process to get through. Studies show that on average it takes 6 phone calls to convert a prospect into a lead.
When building rapport with potential customers, it is important to use the information that you have collected about them. This can be anything from what they do for a living to what their interests are. When you are able to personalize the conversation, it will make it easier for the other person to feel comfortable speaking with you and warm up the call.
We highly recommend using a customer relationship management system, or CRM, which can help you keep track of everything related to your cold calls. This will include the people you’ve called, the date of the call, what was discussed, and any notes you might have about the lead. Having this information organized and at your fingertips will make future cold calls easier and more productive.
You can also use this information to determine what type of product or service would be best for them. It’s also helpful to have the email address of your prospect so you can warm them up to your service with an email funnel. This is a series of automated emails that are sent to a prospect in order to get them interested in your product or service. By providing valuable content in your emails, you can increase the chances that the prospect will eventually become a customer. It also gives you a reason to follow up with a lukewarm phone call.
While it is important to be prepared for a cold call, it’s also important to be realistic about the chances of being rejected. In most cases, there will be some resistance from the person you are speaking to. They may not be interested in what you have to say, they may be busy, or they may just not want to speak with you.
In order to increase your chances of success, it’s important to have a plan B in case things don’t go as planned. This could mean having a list of questions prepared so you can still get information from the prospect.
During The Call
Be Friendly
When opening a conversation on a cold call, it’s important to be polite and respectful. Remember, you are asking for their time, so be respectful of that. Start by politely introducing yourself and your company. After that, ask them how they are doing today. This can help break the ice and make them more comfortable talking with you.
Break the Ice
One of the best ways to break the ice when cold calling is to name-drop. If you can mention that you know someone who works at the company you are calling, it can help them feel more comfortable talking with you. It can also help to name-drop a competitor. This shows the person you are already involved in the industry and creates curiosity or FOMO from their side.
Introduce yourself
Hi, my name is _______ and I’m _____. I am calling because _____.
Keep it short and simple. Follow with open questions.
Collect Information
If you can, find out what their goals are and how you can help them reach those goals. This information can be used later on in the conversation to show them how you are the best option for them!
Make sure to listen carefully to what they are saying and take notes so you can remember their needs. Be prepared to answer any questions they may have about your product or service, and be sure to have a few solutions ready to go.
If they don’t seem interested in talking with you, don’t be afraid to end the conversation politely. Thank them for their time and take notes to follow up if you know they have a need for your services. As mentioned previously, studies have shown that it takes 6 or more calls to generate a lead from a prospect, don’t get discouraged.
If you were able to collect the information you needed during the call, you have already achieved your goal for that cold call.
Most importantly, don’t take rejection personally.
After The Call
After every call, it’s important to take some time to reflect on what happened. This will help you improve your skills for the next call. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
✅ Did the person seem interested in talking with you?
✅ Did you listen carefully to what they had to say?
✅ Did you take notes?
✅ What were their goals?
✅ What solutions did you offer?
✅ How could you have been better prepared for the call?
Bonus
On a side note, speaking most of the call may make you feel more in control, it can actually have a negative effect on the prospect. When you’re speaking most of the call, it can come across as if you’re not interested in what they have to say or that you’re trying to sell them something. It can also make it difficult for them to ask questions or share information with you.
Try to keep the conversation balanced by allowing the prospect to share information as well. This will help you build a relationship with them and show that you’re interested in their needs.
