I changed careers recently. I went from being a Product Manager for a technology company to a Marketing Manager for a professional services company. One of the immediate "benefits" of my new role was a massive increase in the number of cold calls I receive. Seriously, we are talking a 5x increase. As you would expect, some salespeople I hear from are good, some poor and some rage inducing.
I thought I might share how to effectively get my attention when you cold call.
Please Don't:
- Say "following up" within the first 10 words in your VM. Your message will be deleted with extreme prejudice. If I wanted to talk to you, I would be "following up" with you.
- Say "calling regarding your interest in the CompanyName whitepaper, webinar, etc." Believe it or not I don't remember the company name of everything I research. I remember what I was searching for. Reference the subject matter of interest to me and then you have my interest.
- Call with your ID blocked. I will never pick up the phone. I mean you know who I am, return the favor.
- Call me repeatedly without leaving a message. I have caller ID, it tells me you phoned me 4 times this AM. When the Red Cross does this, it drives me crazy. And I really like them.
- Leave me a voicemail and then email me immediately. I know you think it is "great, persistent follow-up". I used to do it when I was in Inside Sales and let me tell you, from the other side of the coin, it is annoying.
Please Do:
- Spend a few minutes reviewing my website. This is gold. I appreciate that you have a basic understanding of what I do.
- LinkedIn me. Strong play! Yes I used to work with Tom. He is a customer of yours? Small world!
- Send succinct emails. Translation: short & direct. I've read War & Peace. Trust me, you're no Tolstoy.
- Ask me what prompted my interest. When I do take your call and give you permission to start a conversation, ask me why. Don't assume you know my job, needs and challenges. Maybe you have the perfect solution, maybe not. You can't fix what you don't know is broken.
Thanks for listening. Let me know your thoughts on effective cold calling.
UPDATE: Check out Trish's post on cold calling: Cold Calling - How To Make It Work