Five Easy Steps
“Cold-calling isn’t rocket science.” That’s the title of a recent article by Colleen Francis, founder and president of Engage Selling Solutions. While it may not be rocket science per se, one could argue that there is a particular science to making the perfect cold call. Francis has whittled down cold-call prep to five steps:
1.) Make a good first impression
2.) Be honest and upfront
3.) Build rapport with a story
4.) Find out what matters
5.) Secure the action
In her article, Francis carefully lays out the logic behind each of the steps, noting that each builds the foundation for the following step [check out the full article here]. Overall, the call should last approximately five minutes, and even if it doesn’t lead to success each and every time, you are becoming more comfortable with the process.
Geeze, thanks for posting this. Good read.
I found this article which is actually pretty relevant to the subject. You ...
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work! 
funny, Tony Santos wrote about this topic exactly the other day. 
I read a simliar post just the other day by Sandra Kosineck but yours is much better. 
I believe IT is included in the technology group listed in my blog post. 
when Ernst and young says this i do not have any thing to say but i need to know what ...
I also enjoyed reading this post and a few other posts. Thanks for sharing. 
Concierge medicine is indeed a rapidly growing model of medical care. It is largely consumer-driven. I opened one ...
Hesso - I agree with you... The only modification I would make is that I ask for a "time frame". ...
I feel your approach in cold calling has too many negatives as an opener. I would never tell a prospect ...
Comment by Hesso Bellem on 17 July 2008:
I feel your approach in cold calling has too many negatives as an opener. I would never tell a prospect that this is a sales call and they can hang up now, nor would I ask them if they are busy and if this is a bad time, because it always is, why coach the prospect to put an early end to a conversation.
I have been successfully cold calling for years and the only thing I see working is letting the prospect know up front that if they give me 5 minutes I may be able to help their business or improve market share. NOTHING else works…They want to hear what you can do for them, period!
Hesso Bellem
Comment by A.J. Fox on 17 July 2008:
Hesso - I agree with you… The only modification I would make is that I ask for a “time frame”. If you ask for 5 minutes and go over, you’ve broken a promise on the very first call.
I usually ask for a realistic “window” of their time. I read a, article once, a long time ago, that said people have been trained (by salespeople) that 5 minutes NEVER really means 5 minutes… It’s ALWAYS l o n g e r. If I recall correctly, the writer said salespeople get the same reaction to all the traditional time hacks (5, 10, 20 minutes).
However, when you give a prospect a “window” of time, say, 6 to 8 minutes, they will perform a quick calculation and (most of the time) be honest with their response. Give the prospect a unique time frame that forces them to think about how little time you are truly asking for. If they have a meeting in 3 minutes, they may ask you to call back.
I can’t tell you how many people have unconscientiously looked at their watch to see if they really have 7 to 9 minutes to listen to what I have to say.
Of course, regardless of the window, make sure you are finished when you say you will finish. I even point it out to them, “Well, that’s it. And we’ve only talked for 8 minutes!”