Here is a cold call example from a call I received from a financial advisor, with analysis of what went well and what he could have done better.
What Went Well
I think the guy in this cold call example did a pretty good job with tone and the overall impression 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 in this cold call example is to have a stronger sales process. His clear goal was to drive me to a free portfolio review, which is a good step in his sales process. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to try to close on that during a cold call.
In almost all of our sales training videos, we show a slide with three early sales process steps: initial contact (cold call), appointment (conversation), and 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 by asking me to send him 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, it will probably only lead him to waste time and money sending me something I throw away.
He could have asked questions about the types of investing I have done in the past, then used my answers as a reason to move to step 2 in the sales process: 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!
