How to successfully close cold leads?

Imagine you are calling a bunch of cold leads. Just after you start talking, they end your call or do not consider lifting your call. You are saddened by this incident and lose your temper. You go to the next lead, and the same thing happens again. Neither the caller nor the callee indeed enjoys engaging in cold calls. Because you are talking to someone who doesn’t express any interest in your company or the services you offer. But cold calls are a part of many sales teams. It’s still an effective way to connect with your prospects only if there is some preparation beforehand. Below you can find some practical tips to successfully close a cold lead.

1. Target your leads
Do not start contacting anyone randomly. Setup a criterion or a benchmark for identifying your leads. Spend time to check out each prospect’s social media profiles. Recognize their work and prepare a schedule to call them. You don’t want your lead to yell at you for calling him/her at the inappropriate time. Therefore, make sure you call your lead at the correct time. It’s considered a good practice to call a lead during their business hours, instead of their leisure time.

2. Plan in advance
Once you make a list of target leads, plan about the information that you will provide to the lead. Planning is always a necessary task. That way you will be effective to provide more information to the prospect and it can lead to more sales. Logically organize your questions and information. Start with the most standard questions followed by the questions tailored for that particular lead. Find some points about your prospect’s company, position, and how they are doing in the market. These points will assist you at a later stage.

3. Practice your script
Make sure you rehearse carefully before the actual call so that you don’t sound robotic. Avoid completely depending on the script. Make sure you handle the questions for which you haven’t planned for. It’s crucial that you consider a lead as an individual and focus on his/her own needs. Consider each call as a practice for the subsequent call and therefore perform your best.

4. Grab your lead’s attention
The first impression is considered the best one. Establish a good rapport with your prospect. Avoid bombarding them with lots of questions at the beginning. Those points which you prepared about the prospect’s company will now come handily. For example, congratulating on their promotion. This will capture your lead’s attention and help you to keep the conversation going. After this, you can slowly land into the main talk. Be an active listener; respond to all of their queries professionally. Avoid asking them yes/no type of questions instead ask open-ended questions, this will help the conversation going.

5. Provide your lead with useful information
Once you gain your lead’s attention, there’s still a lot to do. Avoid losing your track and getting lost in unrelated talks. Remind yourself of the primary goal. Explain to them your offerings clearly. Compare your company with your competitors. Let your prospect recognize why your company is appropriate. Stay up to date with the current happenings in your industry and tell them to your prospects. Show them success stories and testimonials of past clients and case studies of your organization.

6. Don’t try to sell right away
Imagine you are talking to a cold lead and you start telling them about your services and products right away, without knowing more about the prospect. They will surely find it disgusting, and that might cause them to disconnect your call. In the first call, focus on getting the most information from the prospect. Make sure you analyze whether the product is suitable for the prospect or not. Understand their pain points and note it down for further reference.

7. Let them experience your service.
If your prospect shows interest in your company, offer them a free trial of your services. Allow them to experience your product and have a better understanding. You can schedule a free demo. Before that, ask them a convenient time.

8. Stay in touch
After you have contacted your lead and asked about their goals and problems. It is not over yet. To make an enduring relationship with your prospect, it’s crucial that you stay in touch with them. They may even forget you because you are not the only one who might be cold calling them. Make sure you keep them warm. You can follow their professional networking accounts, send them emails, newsletters, and share content that is related to them.

The process of closing a cold lead indeed requires lots of patience. You have to consider each of the prospects as a distinct entity and provide solutions accordingly. You absolutely cannot force them to buy your service if it is unrelated to them. Make sure you don’t deviate from the topic and your goal. Keeping these tips glued into your mind will improve your chance of closing your next cold lead.