Inside Sales Training in India | Cold Calling Techniques

Inside Sales Training in India | Cold Calling Techniques:

Inside Sales Training in India

To become a successful inside sales reps one must muster the cold calling techniques. For inside sales reps in India, cold calling is not an optional skill. Cold calling is a must-have skill. 
I would like to share a few cold calling techniques that will help all inside sales reps to generate more leads, more business and to be appreciated by the organization. In today's competitive scenario it's very important to know the cold calling techniques to create a robust pipeline and assist your field sales team with valid high value leads. 

Cold Calling Techniques 1. Don't try to sell from your first call:

Cold calling is when you call your prospects for the first time and your prospects don't have any idea about your company and were not expecting a call from you. In this stage, I would like to recommend you to make this call very specific and avoid selling and asking for an appointment for your field sales team at this stage. Instead, first introduce yourself with your name and company name that you are calling from. Second, tell them the product that you are offering to your prospect. Third, the benefits that that product/ solution will offer to your prospects. Now, take his/her email id (if you don't have with you) and tell him/her that you are sharing the product presentation and some case studies to him/her and you will call back after one day if he has any query. 

Now, when you call him after one day it will become a "worm call" and not the cold call because your prospect is aware of you and expecting a call from you. This is the ideal stage where you can position your product/solution with full information. This is the stage where you should try to generate a meeting for your sales personnel with the prospects or sell the product on the call only. When you try to take the appointment for a meeting at this stage you will receive very less rejection from your prospects.  
In general, you should focus on the benefits of the solution to the organization. Many times we focus on the features of the solution when talking to our prospects but our prospects are only interested in a solution that can solve an existing problem within their organization. This is the reason why one should focus on the benefits of the product/solution while talking to your prospects on the call or on emails. Your prospects may ask different questions or queries if he has and you should listen to those queries properly, repeat the queries and then solve with the appropriate answer. That is why you should have a good understanding of your products. Your product is your world. Don't think that you are only an inside sales reps and it's okay not to have all the information about your product/solution. Don't depend on your organization to provide you a complete training on the product, instead learn from yourself. The self-study will boost your confidence while talking to your prospects. 

Cold Calling Techniques 2. Don't be a Seller. Be a Counsellor: 

Now, you know how to start an informative communication with your prospects but, keep in mind that not every prospect is your buyer. Don't try to sell to each and every prospect. You have to be a Counsellor, who first try to understand that if there is any need for the solution that you are offering. If your prospect doesn't need your solution you should not try to sell your solution. This need understanding can be done by asking relevant questions and at the same time listening to your prospects. There is no point on selling your product to an organization who are not going to use them. In a B2B business model, you have to be very knowledgeable about your products, its benefits to a particular organization, your competitors, your customers, and any organizational compliance that your product or solution can solve. That knowledge will develop you to become a sales Counsellor. And, you will no longer try to sell your product but, you will try to help others with the knowledge and the product that you have. This this the best sales practice. That is why many people sales that sales are easy if you do it properly. So, in this stage of cold calling, your role is to identify the need of your prospects. Now, we are very much aware that all your prospects will not have the need for your product or solution. So, don't sell to every prospect but, provide your wise counsel to each and every and every prospect. This is the must to know cold calling techniques. You can read more about this cold calling technique in my other article here: 

Step by step guide to the basics of Inside Sales Roles and Responsibilities

Cold Calling Techniques 3. Identify your Decision Makers:

In general, it is important for inside sales reps to identify the decision makers within the organization who decide on whether the organization should buy your product or not. If you are unable to identify the decision makers within the organization for your product then you are talking to a wrong person and you will ultimately face rejection only. For example, if your product is an IT (Information Technology) like, the software then your decision makers will be Head-IT, VP-IT, CTO or can be a CIO in this case. Even though your product is helpful the complete organization but, the decision makers would be Head-IT, VP-IT, CTO because your product belongs to the Information Technology (IT) category. Now, in a large organization, there are more than one decision makers for a particular product category. At that time you have to identify the Key Decision makers for your product/ solution. That can be identified by your continuous interaction with the decision makers. They may mention that they are not the concerned person for your solution that you are offering. Otherwise, you have to identify on your own. Most CTO's or CIO's are the key decision makers for your solution if you are dealing with IT related product. 
Apart from Key decision makers, there are influencers and the buyers. They may not be the decision makers of your product or solution but they play a great role in the decision-making process of your product/ solution. You have to consider their interest from time to time. The toughest part is to get the approval for your product from all this department. Once you get that your sale is through. 

Cold Calling Techniques 3. Budget Discussion:

In the last stage of my discussion, I would like to tell you that we have to clearly ask our prospects whether they have any budget for the given solution. We often reluctant to ask this type of question to our prospects but, clarifying the budget is later stage of discussion with your prospects is somewhat necessary. In a B2B industry with high volume product, the budget discussion plays a very important role. 

There are cases when an organization doesn't have any budget allocated for the same but, once they understand the need for the solution that you are offering, the management creates a budget allocation for the same. If your product is customizable and consists of high volume then you should initiate the commercial discussion as soon as possible. Once the commercial discussion is done you can start more minute or technical discussion to the project ahead. There may be a situation that your prospects are having a need but they don't have the finance with them. At this stage, you can assist the organization on where they can get the desire finance to buy the solution which is the need for the organization. 

If you can take care of all the above point during your sales process then you can close more and more sales deals and achieve the desired success with minimum effort. 

All the Best!!!

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