Cold Call Confessions: What You Need To Do Before, During, and After

Alright, listen up! If you're not already doing these things with your cold calling game, you're basically shooting yourself in the foot. So allow me to make life a tad-bit easier and break it down for you...

Here's what you need to do before, during, and after your calls. Pay attention, this is gonna be good.

Before we dive into the magical world of cold calling, let's get one thing straight: the whole point (and main goal) of cold calling is to have MEANINGFUL conversations. Yup, that's all we're aiming for, so let's not overcomplicate things.

The reality is, there are 5 potential positive outcomes for a cold call:

You booked the meeting.
You agreed on a follow up call to discuss further and potentially book a meeting.
The prospect feels a little better about you and/or the company you’re representing.
You found out the prospect isn’t a good fit for you’re offering and now can move on to other leads
You get a referral (rare, but yes, this can definitely happen on a cold call)

With that being said, let's dive into what you should be doing before, during, and after your calls.

First things first, block off some time on your calendar for those important calls. Give yourself a nice 20-30 minute window to work with.

Next, make sure you have a list of high-priority and qualified contacts ready to go. We don't want to waste time blindly calling every and anybody.

Now, this may sound obvious, but minimize distractions, people! We need to focus on those calls and nothing else. No multitasking allowed (seriously, stop that shit).

When it's call time, don't get stuck overthinking. JUST DO IT! Call that prospect and be confident they'll pick up. Not to get all "woo-woo" here, but you gotta kinda wish it into existence. At the very least, you need to anticipate that they'll pick-up.

Now, let's talk about what happens during the call. Your mindset should be: "It's showtime, baby!"

Get in the zone and anticipate that they'll be picking up the phone. You need to bring your A-game when exchanging with your prospect. Tone, pace, and cadence matter. Don't sound robotic, rigid, or salesly - keep it conversational.

And here's a little secret to success...activate "Level 3 Listening." This means you're fully tuned in to your prospect. You're picking up on their body language, the way they speak, and those juicy pauses and hesitations. Consume every piece of verbal and non-verbal data they're giving you, and adjust your talk tracks accordingly.

When objections come your way (and trust me, they will), follow these three steps: acknowledge, handle, and push that call forward (typically you do this by asking a question).

Don't let those objections stop you! If they're not ready for a meeting, no problem. Establish a next step to keep the ball rolling. But if they say yes to a meeting, woo hoo! Set some expectations and send out that calendar invite like a boss.

After the call, if they don't pick up, leave a voicemail. Then, hang up and quickly move on to the next call. DO NOT WASTE TIME. If there's ever an appropriate moment to be "robotic" in sales, then that moment happens in between calls. You want to shrink down the amount of time in between dials as much as possible. Embrace your mechanical side and power through with maximum efficiency. That's how you build momentum during your cold calling bursts.

Overall, when it comes to cold calling, your mentality should be:

Celebrate the "no's". Every time someone says no, you're getting closer to a big fat YES!
Practice resiliency. Expect some defeats, failures, and disappointments along the way.
Trust the process. It's all part of the journey. So hang in there and keep pushing forward.

So there you have it, my friends. Cold calling might not be everyone's idea of a good time, but with these best practices you'll be filling up your calendar in no time.

Comment a gif or an emoji below if any of these resonated with you. And if you have any questions, let me know.

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