People ask me what makes for a good cold calling script or as what some closet cold callers like to call “talk track”. Frankly both are the same, the important thing is to have one, and use it as part of your engagement process. Allowing for the differences between industries, products and other broad factors, there are some key elements that make for an effective script (talk track, methods, whatever).
We present five steps in our approach, and that is what I will refer to it as moving forward. The important thing is less what you say, there are no magic words; what is important is the flow, the sequence and purpose, that make for a successful call. While words are important, they are secondary to flow and delivery. Think of it as when a baseball player hits a home run, no one tells them how they should run around the bases; they can do it calmly, with great flash, the key is no matter how they choose to do it, they must touch all the bases in the process and in sequence, or it won’t count.
So it is with the five steps we follow, you can bring a lot of yourself to it, in fact you should, it is one way to avoid sounding scripted. However, you also need to remember that you are trying to move the process and the potential buyer, from point A to point B, hopefully to C then D and to where ever your close is. To do that you can be yourself (or whoever you want to be if it helps you sell better), but you need to map out and follow the flow, without skipping steps (bases).
One of the pivotal points in the call, the second of the five referenced, is where you need to fully engage with the person you are calling, and at the same time have them engaged in the call. One analogy we use that has helped people get comfortable a bit quicker is getting them to think of the initial call as a good movie trailer.
The key is to speak directly to your audience, in the movies they need to speak to the group and the individual, in a cold call you need to speak to the person both as an individual, but also as part of a collective, specifically their company, address both and all needs in between. The trailer needs to be compelling, specifically speak to what’s in it for them, what they will get out of coming to the meeting, and as you would expect in any good sale, what they will get out of the experience.
Sounds easy but is not, it requires work, often more work than many sales people are willing to take on. Some will take half measures, and suffer the risk of not seeing a return. Think of how many times you sat in the theatre, watched a trailer, and turned to you partner and said either, “ah, we’ll wait for the DVD (download); or “wait till that comes on demand for free”; vs. “man, we got to come and see that when it opens”.
Beyond the requirement for having a good (great) movie, just like the need for a good product, it takes a lot of work to make a great trailer. At the heart of it is knowing your audience, what turns them on, what turns them off; what their priorities are, and what they will ignore till it easier to consume (DVD), or not be bothered at all (I wouldn’t even DVR that sucker). There is an understanding of not only what aspects of the story to highlight, but how, in order to get the right reaction from the audience. Producers sink a lot of time, money and effort into the trailer and related promotion. Just look at some of the trends over the last few years in using alternate media to support the trailer, and the additional production effort. You need to not just research, but fully understanding the target audience, then communicating that understanding without preaching or sounding scripted. Exploring why you had success in the past, and avoiding messaging that missed. Again, all requiring direct, hard, and hands on effort, not just an afterthought.
Not that different from a cold call, you have to do your work well in advance, put in the time and effort. Understanding what your audience will respond to, and avoid what will come across as just another schlock feature that wastes their time, effort, and brain cells. You want to be that call that stands out above the dozens they got that morning. You want to be the trailer they remember after sitting through a half dozen before the movie, and still be remembered after a good movie. That’s the one you’ll go back to see; that’s the one that will get you the appointment. It always has to do with content and length and flash; and you already know the content, because it is there in all you previous wins, and absent in your losses.
Just remember, the trailer, the cold call just gets you in, make sure you deliver; we have all seen great trailers for movies only to find the movie itself was a bomb and the only good parts were in the trailer. You don’t want that to be your sales experience, the plot, the theme, the whole thing has to hold up throughout if you are going to get the sales in the end.
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