Don't Talk Like a Telemarketer! Top Cold Calling Tips from Jason Bay, Blissful Prospecting
Outbound Sales Coach and Trainer for B2B reps & sales teams at Blissful Prospecting, Jason Bay says that outbound sales reps must not reach out like telemarketers.
Cold calling is challenging for sales reps, and there are a couple of reasons why it tends to be tough. Within the first 30 to 60 seconds, the sales rep has to make an impact and keep their prospect on the line. If we put ourselves in the prospect's shoes when they decided to pick up their phone and answer a call from an unknown number, we can all agree that they probably didn't pick it up knowing that it was going to be a sales call.
“We have to put ourselves in the shoes of the person on the receiving end of this. We need to give them what they need in that first 30 to 60 seconds to want to continue for the rest of the call,” notes Bay. “Within that first few seconds, you will want to cover the basic stuff such as who are you? Why are you calling? Is this relevant to me?”
Stop Sounding Like a Telemarketer
When cold calling, sales reps want to sound less like a telemarketer and more like a peer.
“A telemarketer is someone that sells something to people over the phone. That would be someone usually calling from like an AT&T, Verizon, an XFINITY or car insurance, car warranty, or whatever. As a B2B sales rep, you're not telemarketing. Dead giveaways to people that sound like telemarketing are: ‘Hi is this Jason? Yeah. Jason, how's your day?’ You sound like a telemarketer when you talk like that. Try to use your human voice and sound like you would talk if you were talking to someone who is a business peer of yours,” Jason explained.
Jason says that it is firstly essential not to be overly excited.
“I'm not going to use all of these weird tones. I'm going to introduce myself real quick and do what's called a permission-based opener. I know I have got you in the middle of something, but do you have a minute for me to tell you why I'm calling you? Let me know if you want to keep chatting,” explains Bay.
A permission-based opener allows the prospect to opt into the call. It will enable them to hand you the mic to allow you to talk for 20 to 30 seconds. They've opted in, so they're paying attention. You have addressed all of the questions that they probably subconsciously have. Who are you? Why are you calling?
“If I'm reaching out to a company that sells software to K-12 school districts, the sales rep might say, ‘Hey, I was looking at your 2022 and 2023 initiatives, and I noticed that student engagement is a really big priority right now. You have a goal to reach X percentage of students and get them into colleges in Texas. I'm going to start with something about you right away. Now. It's like, oh, Jason, he researched me. He knows a little bit about my industry. This is really contextual, etc. Then instead of pitching and saying, Hey, at XYZ company, we do this, I'm going to do what's called a priority drop,” explains Bay.
A priority drop is when the sales rep introduces a topic that addresses the priorities or concerns of their prospect, it is also a form of personalization.
Jason explains that for the education example, he would focus on one of these two priorities: student engagement and the specific goal they are trying to address, or student safety, where they are trying to keep students from looking at things they shouldn't do online.
He then follows up with a question that resonates and shows interest, for example, ‘Are either of those two things something that resonates with what you're working on right now, or am I way off here?’
Tips To Cold Call Better:
Introduce yourself with a permission-based opener
Get an opt-in from your prospect
Add something immediately relevant to them from your research in a sentence or two.
Talk about what people like them tend to be focused on in those situations
Ask them if it relates at all to them. That allows you to filter the conversation.
Cold calling is not about talking less than the prospect. It's about talking more about them instead. You might speak 60% of the time, but just don't make the topic of conversation about you; make it about them.
Here are three ways Jason helps reps and sales teams with their prospecting:
Blissful Prospecting Podcast. Tune in for conversations with top reps, sales leaders, and other experts to teach you how to turn complete strangers into paying customers.
Outbound Squad. A program for reps who crave accountability, structure, and results over theory. If you hate hitting plateaus in your sales career, check it out.
Accelerator. Give your team hands-on training and coaching to overcome call reluctance, build meaningful relationships with prospects, and land more meetings from their cold outreach.
