Pulling off an effective cold call begins well before a number has even been dialed.
Learning about the prospect and their industry, formulating responses to possible objections and massaging the messaging is just some of the work Tray.io’s Troy D’Amico puts in prior to picking up the phone.
That preparation helps result in communication relevant to the prospect, versus leaning on cookie-cutter outreach.
“We approach a potential conversation with a business development professional differently than we would a conversation with a CEO, product manager or an engineering leader,” the strategic account development rep said.
Nor should successfully reaching the prospect over the phone be used as an opportunity to simply extol the virtues of a product or service. Ingesting customer questions or concerns, D’Amico said, is necessary as he gets potential sales opportunities going for the San Francisco-based automation service.
“As we engage in conversation, I try to answer any initial product or technical questions that arise, without immediately trying to get them to the next step immediately. That way, we can establish rapport,” D’Amico said.
While there might not be an exact science to the technique, for D’Amico, thorough prep work combined with intentional on-phone tact is crucial for cold calling success.
How do you prepare ahead for a cold call?
We prepare for cold calls ahead of time by researching the industry, account and prospect: for example, reading articles, blog posts, Twitter and their LinkedIn. This way, we know about the prospect's role and day-to-day before the call, so we can use a persona-specific targeted talk track.
It’s important to use the right messaging when prospecting. We approach a potential conversation with a business development professional differently than we would a conversation with a CEO, product manager or an engineering leader. When it comes to handling objections, our team works together to come up with responses to common ones so that we are prepared and ready to go when they inevitably arise.
We prepare for cold calls ahead of time by researching the industry, account and prospect.”
What strategies do you employ to ensure you’re getting in touch with the right person and you’re actually able to get them on the phone?
There are several different types of personas across an organization that can benefit from our solutions, whether they’re in product, engineering, marketing ops, or IT, among many others. To ensure we’re reaching out to the right person, we focus on professionals that are at the director, VP or C-Suite level.
By researching our prospects ahead of time, we get a pretty good idea about their roles and responsibilities. When we connect with a prospect over the phone — leveraging sales intelligence tools like ZoomInfo and Lusha to improve our connection rates — and someone says that they’re not the right person, we always ask who is, and if we could be connected to them.
Once you’ve got someone on the phone, what strategies have you found to be most effective for keeping the conversation going?
When I personally reach out to a prospect over the phone, I’ll pull up the email that I’ll have sent ahead of the cold call. That way, when I do connect with the prospect, I have a point of reference and can personalize the conversation based on my research.
In sales and business development, it’s important to make a good first impression by being clear about intentions upfront. That’s why I mention that a call is a business development call, and I ask the person I am calling if they have a minute to speak. As we engage in conversation, I try to answer any initial product or technical questions that arise, without immediately trying to get them to the next step with us. That way, we can establish rapport.
Once we get to that next step, we loop in the appropriate folks here internally, ensuring that they have everything they need to solve the prospect’s challenges and turn them into a happy customer.
