Introduction

Alright, let me just say – that title is clickbait. Might as well get that out of the way.

Yes, I will help you with your cold call conversational effectiveness. But the problem is I know that cold calls no longer work like they used to. I don’t believe its a viable, long term strategy for any sales professional.

Why Cold Calls No Longer Work

First, everyone is doing it – so it causes the person receiving all these cold calls to put their walls up which keeps them from being effective.

Second, no one has to answer their phone like they used to. When businesspeople worked in an office and had a desk phone they would always answer it – because you never knew who it was.

After the world went remote during the pandemic, even if people went back into the office the odds of them having an office/desk phone is low. Definitely not enough to bank on for your success with cold calls (or even warm calls).

So, with that being said, why would I write this article? Because the key to succeeding in cold calls is the same as succeeding in your semi-warm-but-still-coldish calls and the same in your coldish face to face strategy (door to door, tradeshow booth, retail inbound traffic, etc.).

The Prospect's Perspective

The reason is partly what I mentioned above. Because there are so many people in sales trying to get new clients there is a lot of pressure on prospects.

Think about it in the natural world in a wildlife management area. When there are too many predators (wolves) then their prey population (deer) decline. Sometimes the government will open up the area for hunters to help control the predator population. That will get things back in balance, let the prey population grow.

Yes, I did just use an analogy about predators and prey. That is what it feels like from the prospects end. They are being preyed on constantly – social media, phone calls, texts, emails, direct mail, digital display ads. Anything, everything.

How to Stand Out as a Salesperson

What does that cause them to do? Tune it out. And predict what will happen when they do end up on a call with a salesperson. All this defensive effort by prospects will make sales difficult, which will then thin the herd of weak salespeople who will go off in search of a new career or an “easier” thing to sell.

Your main focus is to be different.

This is one of my only “one size fits all” sales advice: Do the opposite of what you think a salesperson is supposed to.

Not sure how or why, but most salespeople want to start every call and every email the same. Like there is some universal unstated playbook about how you are supposed to act and what you are supposed to say.

When in doubt – do the opposite! Be real, be original, be authentic.

Cold Call Example: The Transparent, Authentic Approach

What does that look like? When you call someone, if it is a cold, unexpected call, start off in a different way.

I train a lot of people on the transparent authentic approach – “Hi Mr. Jones – this is Jason from ABC SaaS Corp. You aren’t expecting this call, not sure if you have heard of us, but If its okay I would love 60 seconds of your time to find out if it makes sense to speak further. Would that be okay?”

That is a great upfront contract. It sets the stage that this is a cold call and the expectation that you are just asking for one minute. Most people will agree to this (note: if they don’t agree to it, they are so closed minded or the timing is so bad on their end that it would have never gone anywhere. So don’t worry about those) and be okay with listening.

There is also a really good chance that no one else is calling them and saying that – at least until this becomes the standard…but I know from teaching this to a lot of groups that the old school sales playbook group of salespeople don’t think it will work and think they know best – which means this becomes a pattern interrupt.

That is what you want – to interrupt the pattern of what they are expecting from a “salesperson”. And yes, this will work for other cold/intro interactions.

Applying the Strategy in Different Scenarios

From the tradeshow booth, I always love to switch it up on people when they come up to the booth. Most booth visitors will ask “What do you do?” And then the person in the booth will go on their elevator pitch monologue.

Instead, I respond with “I can explain what we do, but before I get into that – I would love to learn more about what you do and what you are looking for at this conference. No reason to waste your time talking about our product if it doesn’t even make sense.”

I will also usually throw in a joke “I don’t get paid to go through my elevator pitch.”

Pattern interrupted.

What can you do in your door to door interactions? What about retail, when someone walks into your store/dealership?

How can you show them:

• You are different, not the typical salesperson
• You respect their time
• You care about them
• You want to find out the reason they would even speak with you
• And you aren’t like everyone else

Conclusion

I know I already said that last point…but seriously – if you focus on that one aspect you will stand out. Standing out combined with empathy and good intentions will put you ahead of most of your peers/competitors.