Don’t Forget To Breathe
The SDR Team @ demandDrive
Cold calling is boring. There is no way to sugarcoat it — repeatedly being either rejected or leaving a voicemail takes its toll. The repetitive nature of the job can lull anyone, even the most motivated SDR, into a catatonic state.
As you begin dialing your way through the list, you’re lucky if you remember the prospect’s title and company name while leaving your voicemail. Then suddenly an actual person picks up and shows the slightest interest in what you’re saying. You freeze, your brain searches for something to say, and you revert back to your training. Suddenly, you find your self regurgitating the terrible scripts that you came up with when you first started as a SDR. Even if you have the voice of Morgan Freeman, reading from a script immediately turns prospects off. No one wants to hear you rattle off a canned list of features and benefits. No matter how great you think your product is, a prospect isn’t going to want to talk to someone who sounds like a robot. If you have the opportunity to speak with someone, even if its only for a couple of minutes, try not to sound like every other sales call they get throughout the week.
For a cold call to be effective, you have to make it at least somewhat warm. Combing through press releases and company websites prior to your call is good, but it takes time and will limit the number of calls you can make in a day. Instead, before you dial, take a deep breath and think about the call you’re about to make. Look at the prospects title and have a game plan in your head of how your product or service will help them do their job.
Also think about the ultimate goal of your call. This will help you avoid getting stuck halfway through the call thinking “now what?”. Taking a few seconds before the call to think about your game plan isn’t going to get more people to pick up the phone, but it will help you avoid throwing up on yourself when someone does.
This blog was originally published on July 11th, 2013.
