By RainToday.com
So you're responsible for building up new relationships with potential clients, and you've identified your “Client Wish List”. If you could just secure a meeting with the right people, you'd be through that first step towards a bona fide “sales call” opportunity. But how do you connect over the phone with people you don't know, what's it like to try, and how do you make sure it's successful?
Sandy O'Dell, a senior consultant at the Wellesley Hills Group in Framingham, MA, knows the answers to these questions. She is an expert at dialing a number, establishing a genuine connection, and securing very targeted, potentially valuable meetings with prospective clients. Through this interview, she shares useful, hands-on tips for preparing yourself to conduct truly successful cold calls that help you get your foot in the door of the clients you want to serve.
RainToday: How long have you been “on the phones” in your career, talking to potential clients?
Sandy O'Dell: I have been on the phones about five years making cold calls as a regular part of my job, but I've actually been on the phones, in general, for closer to 30 years. Most of my background is in marketing, closely connected to sales.
So, as my career evolved, I found myself having to get on the phones more and more, and often to try to get through to people who were difficult to access. I had to learn the tricks of the trade that way. Through many years of learning what worked and what didn't work, I've come to my own approach for reaching people and securing meetings, and selling on the phone.
RainToday: How do you prepare to make a call to someone you've never met… when you may not even know the name of the person who you're trying to reach?
Sandy O'Dell: Well, that's an interesting question. I make calls out to Wellesley Hills Group prospects, but I also work with our professional services clients to generate leads for their services through targeting and contacting potential clients for them. So there's a slightly different process in each case… but it leads to the same point: you should never try to give a new contact too much information on the first call.
For Wellesley Hills Group, I know what it is that we do. I don't have to do any preparation on the services we offer, the titles that we need to reach, or the approach that's going to be most effective. I've been working here long enough to know, and to feel comfortable with my own style, which I think is a big part of connecting with people.
When I'm calling for a client, interestingly, what I don't need (nor want) is a lot of information about the service that the client provides. People end up giving too much information. It's human nature - when you're not comfortable on the phone, the tendency is to babble on about it to prove what you know.
Ultimately, what a prospect wants to know is, “How's that going to help me?” So, I try to find out what the hot buttons are. I ask our clients, how does your service help, and who do you typically sell to? This is what you want to focus on before you reach for that phone, within your own firm.
I learn a lot by trial and error. Everything I try to sell, if it is different, and if I'm selling it to a different person, has a different approach. So, the real key is just to get on the phone and make calls. Just make calls.
RainToday: Do you have any tips for getting through to C-level people?
Sandy O'Dell: To find the right people, I will ask the operator. And if they won't tell me, I will ask the president's assistant, who is a kind of repository for all information. What the operator may not feel comfortable telling you, the president's assistant almost always will.
And to be clear, I use the president's assistant to get names of people that aren't the president. The assistant's job is to insulate the president, so I would never go to him or her to get through.
What I do to reach C-Level people: Never use their last name or say “Mr. So and So”. Always use their first name. But know how to pronounce their last name! If it's a tough name, get the pronunciation from the operator.
Call very early, at 7am (sometimes even before that), or after 6pm. Try holidays, right before a holiday. A lot of administrative assistants don't work on Fridays, and the C-Level executive will pick up the phone themselves. Try lunchtime.
Try all different times, because if you connect once at a certain time, the chances are good that person will be there again. I generally have the best luck before a holiday, or a Friday afternoon.
Read more of RainToday's interview with Sandy O'Dell, including her expert advice on:
- How to prepare to make a call to someone you've never met
- How to get through to C-level people
- How to write a cold call script
- How to stay organized and follow up with prospects
- Dealing with the pitfalls of making cold calls
- How to react to rudeness or miscommunication
- How to stay motivated to make cold calls
- Much more