The Art of the Cold Call

Last night I went to my first Skillshare class, the Art of the Cold Call.

I’ve been a cold caller for a while. My first cold calling gig was giving away tickets to a design expo. My next was cold calling motorcycle dealers for Vmoto. Then entrepreneurial speakers for the Hive.

More recently I’ve cold called for entrepreneurs for the used it to find trainers for Sessions in Melbourne and New York.

Cold calling isn’t about harassing people about their mobile phone plan – at least not for me – it’s about getting in touch with people who you would otherwise have no personal connection with.

The teacher was a recruiter for tech startups and the other people in the class were in mergers and acquisitions, the founder of a travel-based film festival and an art dealer.

A great class for anyone working on a startup, particularly around customer development.

Here are my notes:

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Prepare your call sheet the day before
- reduce the barriers that stop you making the calls
- separate the task of gathering information (an easy task) on who to call from actually making the calls (a not so easy task)
- include name of lead, company and a talking point for the intro

Seek rejection.

Aim low
- start with making 1 call a day
- don’t try to start with 20 calls a day, you’ll suck and then burn out
- build slowly as your confidence and ability increase

Mark success
- but not by the outcomes of the calls
- mark it by the volume or other factors
- rejection is par for the course, embrace it

Find a cold calling partner
- lock yourself away somewhere together for an hour and commit to making 5 calls
- remove ego from the equation by doing it with someone else
- helps to let your guard down and relax you
- increases accountability through the social contract
- introduce game elements “I’m going to keep this call going for at least 2 minutes”
- make it competitive

Cold calling is like asking someone out
- you don’t start with what you really want – a long and loving relationship
- start with something small – like time (a meeting or a follow up call)
- then shoot for something bigger
- then shoot for the close

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The Anatomy of the Call

1. Intro

- always script it. Remove any doubt around what you need to do to get on that call
- Once you’ve done the intro throw the script away and have a conversation
- The opening line ensures you get past any trip wires, make it personable and relevant and demonstrate that you’ve done your research.
- “I thought I’d give you a call because noticed that you do x, y and z”
- Reduce ability for rejection

Respect their time
- acknowledge that you’re interupting their day and this might not be a great time
- Let caller decide if now is a good time or not
- If now not a good time, setup a time when it would be appropriate
- Once you’ve got that commitment you’re at second base.

2. The Middle

- always freeform
- focus on getting the lead to talk to keep the conversation going
- ask “how” and “why” questions versus questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no” which will halt the conversation
- drive energy and enthusiasm in the conversation, build it to a crescendo
- switch to the ask

3. The Ask

Be direct
- be clear about what you want and why
- it could be a meeting, another call or to send an email with more information

When unsuccessful
- have a plan B, C and D
- if you can’t get the meeting ask to send something via email, ask for a meeting at a later date, ask for a referral to the right person etc
- get something out of the call

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Gatekeepers

Start by calling as high as possible
- like the VP of Marketing
- you’re seeking the Director of Online, ask who that is and you have a referral
- people love to help, helping is easy
- can be then used as an internal reference
- helps to navigate larger organisations

Call the Sales Department
- they always pickup
- they love to talk
- they’re usually incredibly helpful
- they know a lot about how the company works
- use it as an exploratory call to scope out the target organisation

Overall it was a great class and I thoroughly recommend it. Check it out here: http://www.skillshare.com/The-Art-of-the-Cold-Call/192294509