The Mistakes a Cold Caller Must Avoid

This month my goal was to learn everything I could about how to succeed in sales. I read books, listened to podcasts, did a ton of research, and put what I learned into practice. This is one part of my project; check out my entire project here.

I have spent a lot of time actively finding many different viewpoints on the best approach to a cold call. So, now that I have read and listened to a ton of different perspectives, I will put together a little summary of the best practices I learned from various methodologies.

I will be going through an example cold call script, and I will be using a SAAS company called Drift as an example. Drift uses a chat box to qualify incoming leads faster & more efficiently.

Before I get into my example of how I would construct my cold call script, I will go over my definite don’t do’s for a cold call.

Don’t talk about your product/ service before describing the value.

When it comes to a cold call, prospects want to know the absolute essentials as soon as possible. They want to know if the call will be worth their time within minutes because time is their most valuable asset. Talking about what the product/ service does isn’t providing any value to them because they first need to know there is a reason to listen. So, don’t talk about how good the product is or what it does until you state the problem you can solve.

Don’t ask them about previous emails.

If you mention previous emails that they haven’t seen, it will lead the conversation nowhere. Even if they did read it, they probably wouldn’t remember much of what they read, and you will have to explain it again anyways. You also don’t want to make the person feel like they were supposed to do something. Asking a question like “Have you seen my previous emails” is a useless tactic that makes the call sound even more like a sales call.

Don’t say, “I’m confident that we can get you this result” before they have a chance to speak.

Talking about previous results with similar companies can be an excellent way to pique their interest, but never say a definite statement like “I guarantee I can get you x result” before hearing them talk about their problem. Even if you already know how you can provide value to them, listening to what they have to say about their business first is essential. It makes them feel like you listened to them, and then because of what they said, you were able to see the connection of how your product can serve them.

Starting the call talking about the result you can make seems like you are just saying the same script that you say to everyone. That’s like trying to sell food to someone and saying they are 100% going to like it before knowing what their preferences are or if they have any allergies. Here is an example. Something like “I noticed that you were talking about your struggle to lose weight; we have a solution to help you with that” is a lot more compelling than “Buy me, I’ll make you lose weight.”

After you have done your research, it’s okay to make an educated guess about the problem you can solve and ask them about it, but never guarantee results before hearing them talk about their situation.

Don’t apologize for calling or say thank you for answering.

If what you are selling is valuable, the time a prospect spends on the call with you could be the best use of their time and most ROI positive. Saying sorry for potentially helping someone increase efficiency or sales is absurd. Cold callers need to be so confident that they will provide an excellent product/service that they should be getting thanked for their time. Diminishing your value by saying something like “I’m sorry for interrupting” makes it seem like you don’t believe in the value that you can provide.

The same goes for saying “thank you.” It makes it seem like the person did you a favor just by answering the call. Saying “thank you” simply diminishes the importance of the call. Don’t do it!

Don’t make them feel like just another customer.

Saying anything that makes them feel like they are just another person on your list is a killer mistake. For example, saying something like, “I was going through my records and came across your name.”

Another example of this is the failure to be prepared. Asking them questions that you could have found online is the death of a sales call. The prospect needs to know you understand them and their business.

Don’t ask questions like “How are you doing today?”

When a cold caller asks a question like “how are you doing today,” the prospect can smell how disingenuous it is from a mile away. The person on the opposite side of the call not only knows that you don’t care but also doesn’t have time for small talk.

Although this approach isn’t something I would use, I have come across some people that use this technique. They try to build a connection and find a commonality between them and the prospect before diving into the sale. This approach might work for some, but I think it’s best to get the most out of someone’s time by talking about how I can solve their problem ASAP.

Don’t say anything irrelevant.

I would recommend that a cold caller avoids saying:

• “You and I have not spoken before.”
• “Just wanted to reach out to you.”
• “I thought I would give you a call to see how it’s going.”

All of these questions have almost no relevance and leave so much up for interpretation. Saying something like “just wanted to reach out to you” still leaves the question of “why.” Or when a cold call starts with something like “I thought I would see how it’s going,” it still leaves a lot of unknown. How is what going? Their day or their business?

People want to know why someone is calling them as soon as possible. A cold caller has to be deliberate with why they are calling, and these types of questions aren’t how to achieve that.

Thanks for reading; check out part two!

I have noticed in my research that there isn’t one set in stone way to do a cold call. There are lots of differences of opinions on this subject. Cold call tactics also vary based on the industry a company is in, the product/service, and various other factors.

Now that I went through all the don’t do’s, I will be going through what I would do by writing a cold call script. The example company I will be writing this cold call script for is for a SAAS company called Drift. Drift uses a chat box to qualify incoming leads faster & more efficiently. I will be focusing on selling its ability to help companies book demos effortlessly without any sales rep. Check it out here!