Practical Advice for Creating Leads with Cold Calling
Craig Warren
http://www.onlineworkingfromhome.com

One of the best strategies to obtain quality leads is to do cold calls.

You can have a great knowledge of the requirements and influences of the gatekeepers and stakeholders by speaking with them.

Making cold calls, however, requires creativity.

You have to make a good first impression, and it’s always a lot of work and daunting at times.

So, it needs to be done right. Here are some tips to help you accomplish that.

Make notes about everything.

Make sure to document every part of your phone calls.

Make a note of any names or titles you encounter.

Not merely the name of the person you’re trying to contact.

Receptionists often act as gatekeepers; thus, it can be helpful to commit their names to memory.

Take note of when you called and when you said you would call back.

Make use of a database or spreadsheet to keep track of everything.

Excel spreadsheets are not user-friendly over the long term, and hand administration is not practicable.

If you’re prepared to invest in a real CRM (customer relationship management) application, that’s a great idea.

Otherwise, there is a less costly choice.

Always return calls when you promise to.

Don’t let them down.

They might not even remember that you promised to give them a call back.

However, you will lose a lot of trust and respect if they do and you fail to keep your word.

Additionally, do your best to work around their schedule.

Your goal is to help them, not to make things more difficult.

Ask to talk with the marketing manager if you write copy for websites or ads.

If the person on the phone says they don’t have a marketing manager, ask to talk to “the person who looks after your advertising and website.”

That individual, who is typically one of the owners, is present in most businesses.

Always try to get along with the gatekeepers.

Personal assistants and receptionists often make more decisions than the person you are trying to reach when it comes to making choices and having real influence!

If you become friends with them, you will have access.

(But don’t waste their time or crawl; they get plenty of that.)

Don’t be too long or too short.

If you do have the opportunity to speak with someone, don’t be afraid to keep it concise and to the point, unless they are very interested in talking.

The purpose of calling someone is to get their attention, alert them that you are accessible, get their name and contact details, and assess whether they require your assistance.

You may have heard about creating brochures before discovering that they also require online writing if you create content for websites or ads.

Steer clear of forceful selling!

Don’t force someone to end the call or make it difficult for them to do so.

Tell them about your services and that you would want to send them an email (or an attachment with samples) that includes a link to your website with samples and testimonials.

Let them handle it after that.

Send a follow-up email.

If you have permission, always send an email as a follow-up, and do it as soon as possible.

Be specific in your topic line.

If you write text for websites or ads, use “website copywriting” or “advertising copywriting” in the subject line.

It will stand out and probably avoid being overlooked by spam filters, if they exist, because this is not a typical subject line for emails.

“Hi Joe” is a good way to start an email, and it should be quick and friendly.

Make it easy to read and conversational, bold any important terms or phrases, and only include information that is really required because they will most likely just skim it.

Names you learned (e.g., the name of the receptionist, especially if you were given an email address but were unable to speak with the decision maker), mention the time and date of your phone conversation (and thank them for their time), include a link to your website, and let them know you would like to follow up in a few weeks (assuming the conversation suggested doing so).

Give someone a call back.

Be careful to follow up on the lead if it seems interesting.

When you do, remember to include the email you wrote along with the time and date of the first call.

Give a brief overview of who you are and what you do, then let them know you’re reaching out to make sure they saw the email.

Usually, the lead will talk to you about your services, even if it’s simply to remind them of what you have to offer!

There won’t be many calls from you.

I had a great day, making 80 cold calls.

However, you should be quite content with an average of roughly forty on the majority of days.

You will spend a lot of time playing telephone tag.

Do not leave a message.

Unless it’s very essential or you’ve completely given up on the lead, don’t leave messages.

People normally find it difficult to return calls from people they know and like; they usually don’t prioritize answering calls from salespeople.

Don’t expect to qualify many leads.

Depending on your industry, you’re probably doing rather well if you get one quality lead every day.

Don’t expect a conversion to happen quickly.

Unfortunately, most leads don’t turn into anything for up to two years.

You must therefore be prepared to be patient.

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