COLD

Cold-calling is the art of reaching out to potential customers – via the telephone – who haven’t expressed any interest in the offered products or services. They may never have even heard of your company before. Cold calling sounds rather risky and has gained itself something of a poor reputation in some circles over the years. And yet in the right hands, it can still be one of the most effective methods of lead generation – and sales – available to any company today.

No, making a call to a person who has never solicited your services or contacted your company is not illegal, in the UK or the US. However, in both countries, there are strict laws and regulations that cover when and to whom they can be placed.One of the biggest ways that businesses inexperienced in cold calling get into trouble is when they violate – even if the violation is unintentional – these standards, resulting in damage to their business’ image and even potentially leading to fines. It’s for this reason that it’s imperative that cold calls are made within the legal guidelines. The team at Pearl Lemon knows these rules and inside out and can ensure that every cold call made won’t get you and your business into trouble.

Top salesmen have been using cold calling effectively for decades, even with the bad reputation it sometimes has. These people take the time to learn the art of proper cold calling – it really is an art – and to continue to learn and adjust their techniques – and their scripts – as their cold calling campaigns progress.Great cold callers know how to handle objections – and even insults – and how to engage the person they are calling rather than offend or upset them. Cold calling is not easy but some people are cut out for it. And for those who are not there are outsourced cold calling options like Pearl Lemon Leads.

Even though it is one of the oldest marketing methods out there – people have been making them since long before the Internet was even dreamt of – for some companies cold calling is indeed still very effective. There is no one single key to success though. An effective cold calling campaign depends on the people making the calls, the scripts they are using and their abilities to engage prospects in a real conversation that demonstrates the benefits they will gain by continuing to listen.Robocalls – which have increased in popularity and usage recently because they are cheap and easy – are not effective. They are not engaging and since they are most commonly used by scammers most people’s reaction is to immediately hang up. For cold calling to be effective it has to be conducted by humans, and humans who are skilled in the arts of sales and communication, not just people reading blindly from a script.

A bit of both is probably the best way. It’s important to have a script to give you confidence and keep the conversation on track, but a good cold caller will also be able to respond to unexpected questions and comments from the person they are talking to without getting flustered. Our team at Pearl Lemon Leads is full of cold-calling experts with years of experience handling all kinds of call scenarios.

We can help you create a targeted list of prospect leads with the right needs and authority to respond to your offering and move forward with the relationship. It is vital to go through this process of qualifying leads before you even speak so that you don’t waste time – either yours or someone else’s!

Before you even make the call, have your script in front of you and keep a clear picture in your head of the aim of the call – for example, booking an appointment or getting the prospect’s details for future marketing outreach?

Yes, absolutely, but make sure you have a voicemail script prepared in advance. Think of your voicemail as an opportunity to get your message across – be clear, be concise, and speak in a cheerful, professional tone of voice.