I see a lot of cold outreach mistakes from salespeople who call and email me every day. And almost all of these salespeople make the same four mistakes. Not only are these mistakes negatively impacting sales results, but they are also likely making the job of selling more difficult. The good news is that these are extremely easy to fix and avoid, and I explain how in this video and blog post.
1. Sounding Like a Salesperson
The first cold outreach mistake almost all of these salespeople make is that they communicate in a way that flags them as a salesperson who is trying to sell something. Almost every cold call, cold email, and LinkedIn DM I get will sound something like this:
Hi Michael,
This is the company I am with.
This is the product I sell.
Do you need or are you interested in the product I sell?
Can we schedule a meeting to discuss my product?
While that might sound like a logical approach for a salesperson who is trying to sell a product, the problem is that prospects are bombarded with sales outreach every day. So when you communicate in this way, you are just lumping yourself as part of this daily barrage and making yourself look like the next salesperson who is reaching out to try to sell their product. This will usually trigger the prospect’s guardedness, leading to emails getting instantly deleted and calls being received with objections, rejection, and resistance.
We are not saying that you need to misrepresent who you are or hide the fact that you are a salesperson. But what you can do is modify your approach so that you sound more like an advisor or consultant. This can not only help to avoid the immediate shutdown, but it can also help to improve the impression you make, leading to better rapport and relationships.
2. Talking Too Much About the Product
One of the main ways that salespeople flag themselves as a salesperson who is trying to sell something in their cold outreach is that they talk too much about the product they sell. While it sounds normal for a salesperson to talk about their product, there are a few issues with this during cold outreach.
- Sounds like a salesperson trying to sell
- Triggers guardedness
- Increases the delete and objections
- All about me
- Prospect is not in buying mode
You might think, “If I don’t talk about my product, what am I going to say when reaching out?” Here is a trick: instead of talking about your product and all of its different features, talk about the improvements your product has delivered to other customers of yours. You are still technically talking about the product, but by making this small change, you will not only sound more like a consultant than an annoying salesperson, but you will also be focusing more on what they care most about, which is “What is in it for me?”
3. Trying to Close for the Purchase
Another mistake these salespeople make when reaching out is that they are always trying to close for the purchase. Even though they can’t take the order right then in a cold call or cold email, they still try to sell the product by asking prospects if they need or are interested in the product being sold.
While that also sounds like a normal or good thing for a salesperson to do, there are a few problems with doing this; First, when performing cold outreach, the prospect is likely not sitting there thinking about buying your product. So when you try to see if there is a want or a need, you are more than likely going to face objections like:
No, thank you.
I am not interested.
We are doing okay.
We already use someone.
We are not making any changes.
But a bigger issue with selling the product during cold outreach is that the purchase is actually not the next step in the sales process. In most cases, the next step is to simply talk more and have a conversation. You can modify what you say in your cold outreach to shift from selling the product and focus more on simply selling the conversation. Not only is this an easier step to close, but it is more difficult for the prospect to object to.
4. Don’t Pick Up the Phone
One of the biggest mistakes the salespeople make that send me messages is that they never pick up the phone to call me. Of the cold emails and DMs I receive, I would say about 1% or less of the salespeople actually pick up the phone to call me. If your cold outreach strategy does not include calling prospects, you will be missing a lot of opportunities..
And I am not saying that making cold calls is easy and by itself extremely effective, but when you pair it with a cold email campaign, you can perform very targeted cold calling to prospects you warmed up with cold emails.
For example, you can use email automation software to automate the delivery of your emails. That software will most likely provide you with email open and link click data, which you can then use to make warm calls to prospects who are signalling that they might be interested in what you have to say.
We hope this helps you to fix and avoid many of the common cold outreach mistakes!
