Hello, Thanks for your post, pretty good reading. I’ll be looking forward for next article of yours….

I cold call Realtors and direct clients. If I am calling a realtor, I might take a minute to research. Why? There are a finite amount of Realtors in the area, so butchering a call or not being prepared can be costly. Maybe they like cats, and that comes up.

Everyone needs a mortgage though, so I am not going to waste my time on leads that are plenty or if I am not sure how hot (how likely the lead is to convert)- just pick up the phone. They are interested or not, and you pretending to like cats probably won’t effect the outcome much.

Here are a few guidelines that I have found that constantly ring true and seem to consistently produce higher conversion:

1) call 5 times before you leave a voice mail. Messages suck, they are less personal, and more like a blast advertisement. If you have a “hot lead”- make every effort to get in touch with this person live.

2) Call late and on weekends. Most professionals are busy with what they have to do all day. They are stressed, distracted, and generally not in the mood to be interrupted by an uninvited solicitation.

3) If you are calling a cell phone, always leave a message. Image you get a call from an unknown number, and you let it roll over to voicemail because you are busy or don’t know who is calling. And they don’t leave a message, but they call you 4 more times in the next week. What does that feel like? Creepy? Pestering? Unprofessional? Desperate? I don’t know but it’s not good. Leave a voicemail the first time.

4) Never leave more than 2 messages in a month. Period. At that point, they have your name and number. If they want to call back, they will.

5) Get real with people. Your script is very polished, professional, and crisp. You know what else it is? Cookie cutter. It probable sounds like the other 12 B2B solicitors that called and left messages that day. DELEEETE.

How about “Hi, this is Jun…”(long, almost awkward pause that builds suspense… this will get there attention because it’s not crisp, professional, and NORMAL. Then let them know how serious you are about wanting to get in touch. End the call with “if I don’t hear back from you I’ll call you Tuesday at 2″ and do it.

1 of 2 things will happen: a) they call you back because they are interested, or because they believe that you really will call them back and they want to avoid this. Either way you have them on the phone- mission accomplished. b) they are impressed that you actually called back when you said you would- it says all the right things: serious, organized, reliable. Make sure if you leave a message this time you reference that you called them back at 2, on Tuesday.

6) Make cold calls with other people on your team. It creates energy and makes an otherwise banal activity fun; maybe even competitive. Make a game out of it.

7) Read books, listen to others, take advice- but only do what you feel works. If you feel awkward saying it, then chances are it sounds awkward. I had a district manager who always wanted me to be peppy and high energy on the phones- but that’s just not me. I am serious, direct, and take a no bullshit approach. It doesn’t always work, but go with your style.

schedule a time to make calls, and make sure this is all you are doing. If you don’t, you will easily let yourself get distracted or find excuses not too- because let’s face it, cold calling is like taking vitamins or working out when you are in bad shape. It’s a chore. But a necessary one.

Hope this helps- I’m sure you guys will rock it, 65% pull through is stellar!

Gene
Western Dental

Develop a thick skin and keep on going until you hear a ‘No.” If you don’t hear a “no” the answer is “yes!”

I am currently cold calling accountants, travel agents, printing companies and the like. This post really helps.

I’ll be testing it out and report back in a couple of weeks