Here is a cold call example from a call that I received from a financial advisor with some analysis of what went well and what he could have done better.

 

What Went Well

I think the guy on this cold call example did a pretty good job in the area of tone and the overall impression that he made. These are the qualities that I would say he gave off in terms of impression:

  • He sounded good in terms of tone
  • He sounded comfortable, confident, and experienced
  • He sounded friendly
  • He did not sound like a pushy salesperson

 

What Could Have Been Better

One thing I think this guy could have done better on this cold call example is to have a better sales process. His clear goal was to drive me to some sort of free portfolio review, which is a good step to have in his sales process. But I think it is not great to try to close for that on a cold call.

In just about all of our sales training videos, we show a slide with three early sales process steps, with the first being initial contact (cold call), the second being appointment (conversation), and the third being presentation. I feel his portfolio review should be the third step, and he is skipping the second step of simply starting the conversation on this cold call, which makes the call clunky and lowers the probability of a successful cold call.

 

What Objections Came Up

On this cold call example, I gave him two objections, with the first being “I am not investing right now.” He responded to that by asking to send me some stuff in the mail. I guess the logic there is to send me some stuff that he hopes I hang on to so that if I start investing again, I will think of him. But from our brief conversation before that particular objection, that will probably only lead to him wasting time and money sending me something that I throw away.

He could have responded to this with some questions asking about what type of investing I have done in the past and then used my answers as a reason to close for step 2 in the sales process of having a conversation.

I also gave this guy an objection of “I already work with an advisor,” and he ended the call abruptly after that objection. This is the equivalent of the “we already use somebody” objection and there is no reason to freak out when you hear that, especially when you sell something very common like financial advisory services.

You have to be ready for this objection and have a good response that keeps the call going. The response does not need to make the prospect switch as that is not your goal – your goal is to simply start a conversation. With that, you can respond with what we call “Current Environment Questions,” and here are some examples of those:

  • Who are you currently using today?
  • How long have you been with them?
  • How is everything going?
  • What are some of the things you like about what they provide?
  • What are some things that you think could be better?
  • If you could change one thing about their product/service, what would it be?

We hope this cold call example gives you some ideas for how to improve your sales efforts!