In this video, we discuss how to prepare for cold calling. We outline three extremely simple things you can do that will make you prepared for all of the different ways a cold call can go.

 

Create a list of questions to ask

One of the best things you can do for how to prepare for cold calling is to simply create a list of questions to ask. Cold calls are fast and can go in a lot of different directions. That can make it difficult to always have something to say.

But if you have a list of questions to ask, not only will you always have something to say, but questions get the prospect talking and make the call more about them than about you and your product. Questions also help you to learn more about the prospect, and that will help you to find opportunities and generate leads.

 

Have responses to objections

The second step for how to prepare for cold calling is to simply have responses for the objections that you can anticipate coming up. There are seven objections that will come up again and again:

  • What is this in regards to?
  • Is this a sales call?
  • I am not interested.
  • We do not have budget/money right now.
  • We already use somebody for that.
  • We are not looking to make any changes right now.
  • Just send me your information.

That is a pretty short list, making it very easy and practical to have responses ready to go for each of those. This will help with how to prepare for cold calling by giving you what to say for the majority of the directions a cold call will go. That will not only improve your results, but it will drastically decrease the amount you get beat up and the amount of anxiety that you feel.

 

Practice your pitch

The third step for how to prepare for cold calling is to practice your pitch. It is not a revolutionary thought that we should practice what we are going to say before we end up on the phone with a live prospect. But the majority of salespeople never practice and role play.

In my experience as a salesperson working for different companies, I can count on one hand the number of times I role-played sales scenarios, and most of those were when I was interviewing for a new sales job. It can be difficult to find people to practice with because we are all busy working on our own stuff. And it can also be very uncomfortable and intimidating to role-play because it can expose weaknesses and areas that need to improvement.

We try to solve those challenges by creating an AI version of a prospect that salespeople can practice with. Our Sales Simulator provides three scenarios to practice:

  1. Cold call being answered by a prospect
  2. Cold call being answered by a gatekeeper
  3. Objections drill for common objections

With the Sales Simulator, salespeople can practice their pitch whenever they want and as much as they want.