There are always going to be times in a salesperson’s life when we just have to make pure cold calls – those calls where you’re prospect doesn’t know you or is not expecting your call. Many sales people find cold calling hard.
Now, while we might not be able to warm up a cold call, we can soften it. By 
soften, I mean take some of the pressure out of the approach.
Two things prospects are concerned about when they’re approached by a salesperson is that they’re going to be “sold” something and that the salesperson will take up too much of their time. One way to avoid creating this impression is to take a more conversational approach in the opening and remove their time concerns.
Here are two sentences to include in your opening to help soften up a cold call:
• ”I know you weren’t expecting my call, so I won’t take up much of your time.”
• “The purpose of my call is to…”.
Let’s use the Specialty Opening to illustrate this approach. The specialty component is simply the benefit to the prospect re-stated as something that your company specializes in providing.
Here’s the format:
1. Introduce your company and yourself.
2. “We specialize in… (a benefit of interest to the prospect).”
3. “I know you weren’t expecting my…”
4. “The purpose of my call…”
5. Ask permission to ask questions.
The Specialty Opening is ideal for helping receptionists direct you to the right person. Remember the basic rule for effective openings: Have a reason for the call…a reason that is important to the prospect!
For more information on sales training and coaching, please refer to The Right Skills.
Salesforce Training & Consulting is a professional sales training firm and registered Salesforce.com Consulting Partner based in Toronto, with offices in Boston and Chicago, providing sales coaching, sales management consulting, salesforce implementation, sales training and sales personnel assessments.
by
