Nobody looks forward to cold calling prospective leads, but any good agent knows that it is an integral part of building their network. Creating a sense of camaraderie with your prospective lead will make him or her more interested in listening to what you have to say. Fortunately, there are a few easy ways to make sure that your phone call comes off as friendly, personable, and helpful rather than cold and intrusive.
Doing your homework ahead of time can help to drastically increase the success rate of your cold calls.
Strategy #1: Find the Right People
Make sure you are talking to the right people. Most companies have dozens if not hundreds of employees. A little advanced planning can help to ensure that you are calling the right employees at the right time. Creating a targeted list of employees can help to limit the amount of time you will spend following up on dead ends within a company.
Strategy #2: Explore the Records
Exploring your prospective lead’s property ownership records can be another easy way to get inside their head. Past performance is typically a very good indicator of future behavior, so learning about their past and current commercial real estate purchases can help you to predict the types of property they might be interested in during future interactions.
Strategy #3: Review Past Communications
Take a look at your list of past clients. Are any of them similar to the business that you are planning to cold call? Consider what steps you took in order to seal the deal with your previous customer. While every business and every employee is different, it is worth thinking about how your successful interactions played out with similar clients in the past. Consider how you might be able to apply these strategies to a future cold call with another company.
Strategy #4: Research
Do your research ahead of time. In this day and age, most companies and high powered individuals have a strong online presence. LinkedIn and other social media networks can be a great resource for learning more about the company or business that you will be calling. Before you even think about picking up the phone, you should read up on the individual you are calling and the business that they work for.
Strategy #5: Consider Concerns and Needs
Try to get a sense of what your prospective client’s immediate concerns and long term needs might be. Figuring out what your client wants to accomplish and how you can help them get there is the first step to setting up a successful long term partnership. If the lead that you are cold calling feels like you understand their needs and their problems, they are more likely to stay on the phone with you long enough to start discussing solutions.
While none of these strategies will guarantee you a new client on their own, taken together they can help to make your cold calls a pleasant, successful interaction rather than a short, awkward phone call. The key to success is to gather as much information as possible before you ever pick up the phone.