Cold Calling: How to Establish Interest?

Your goal in the first few seconds is to make a connection and get them to interact with you.  Contrary to what you might think, it’s not to rush into your pitch.

Acknowledge that your prospect gets a lot of calls - because they do. This will immediately help you establish a connection because you will be saying exactly what they’re thinking and feeling.

“Hi ______, this is (your name) with (your company). Great. ______, I know you probably get a ton of calls so I’ll make this brief.”

Quickly state your value proposition and ask a qualifying question.

“______, we provide (your local marketing service) to companies like yours (ideally state the specific business), helping them (state a big benefit: broaden their reach / increase sales, etc.).”

Use an up-front contract to reduce perceived risk. Your prospect is afraid you are going to waste their time, so reduce this fear.

“Let me ask you a quick question. If I promise to keep your time invested to no more than 5 minutes today...”

-or-

“I know I interrupted you and I don’t want to take any more of your time right now...”

Ask for what you want.

“... would you be interested in a brief conversation to learn how you can (state a big benefit: broaden their reach / increase sales, etc.) at your business?”

-or-

“I’d like to get time on your calendar for a half-hour follow up call to share them with you. What looks good on your calendar in the next week or two.