March 22, 2022

Here's How You Can Learn and Fix A Bad Cold Call

Did you have a bad cold call recently? Let’s find out why you’re making bad cold calls and how you can fix them!

Benard Kiplangat

Content Writer

Reading time: 5 minutes

Cold calling isn’t easy in the world of sales. Whether you’re a newbie, an introvert (or extrovert), or even a seasoned cold caller, you’re bound to make bad cold calls.

A ‘bad cold call’ can have different meanings to different reps, such as being rejected multiple times, feeling under the weather, or not closing the sale.

Whatever the reason is for having a bad cold call, it all comes down to your cold calling goals and how you learn from each bad cold call (so you make the next one even better).

That said, let’s find out how you can fix a bad cold call!

Why you’re making bad cold calls

As we mentioned, there are many reasons for a bad cold call. Here are three common reasons for bad cold calls.

Poor sales approach

Selling is a skill that demands mastery. From handling objections to closing the sale, every little thing counts.

Knowing too little about your prospect’s problems is a sure-fire way to have a bad cold call. If you do not understand your solutions to their problems, pitching your product or service is going to be very tough.

Understanding your prospects is one part of the equation. It’s hard to sell a solution to a prospect who doesn’t have a problem — just like it is hard to sell to a prospect if you do not have a sound strategy to explain your solutions to them clearly.

Complex problems that require thoughtful decisions should have a different approach than simple purchases that can be made immediately over the phone. Thus, the sales process for both scenarios will differ significantly.

High expectations

Many cold callers just pick phone numbers randomly, make a few calls, and expect massive success.

Many others have unrealistic expectations for their conversion rates. If you start cold calling with the expectation that all your calls will convert, you’ll end up becoming extremely frustrated with each call.

In fact, sales reps make an average of 45 cold calls per day, but the number of daily quality conversations is 5.1 calls.

So, having high expectations of your cold calls will only lead to disappointment. If you push yourself too much and set unrealistic goals, you will end up resenting cold calling.

Rude prospects

Although this isn’t within your control, rude prospects can dampen your enthusiasm and affect your mood for the rest of the call and even subsequent cold calls.

Such prospects are those who become sarcastic, give you challenging objections, or make unnecessary remarks. It’s important to remain calm and try to understand why they’re reacting this way.

And always remember that you’re representing your company, so hold back on your words because one wrong word can taint your reputation.

How to fix bad cold calling

Rethink your goals

If you’re setting unrealistic goals and still trying to meet them, chances are you’ll just be rushing through your cold calls with minimal effort.

With cold calling, even a professional will find it challenging achieve a 100% conversion rate. Remember, a rep only makes around 5 quality cold calls a day.

So, instead of focusing on converting your prospect into a sale (which is also extremely unlikely on the initial call), switch up your goals a little. Making a follow-up call, scheduling an appointment, or even getting your prospect interested in your product are all valid metrics to measure.

Of course, many other factors do influence the success of your campaign, but setting the right goals will let you work towards more attainable goals.

Use a script

A script will save you a lot of time figuring out what and how to move forward in your conversation with your prospect. Include important things like common objections, how to go about presenting your value proposition, and other must-have points that can lead your conversation to a close.

Cold call scripts should have powerful opening lines because the beginning is the most important part of your call! You only have a few seconds to capture your prospect’s attention, so use a solid opening line.

Also, keep in mind that your script shouldn’t be rigid. Use it as a checklist to ensure you cover all your points during the call, but flow with the conversation, and don’t force your points as it’ll make you sound robotic and unnatural.

Find a schedule that works

Sometimes, bad cold calls stem from a bad cold calling schedule.

In a comparative analysis we did on the best times to cold call, it is evident that there are certain times and days that result in better cold calls.

The best days of the week to cold call are on Wednesdays and Thursdays, while the best times of the day to call are between 10 AM and 11 AM and 4 PM to 5 PM.

So if you are struggling to connect with prospects, then your schedule could be wrong. Do your research to find when it is ideal for you to make cold calls that get your results.

Do note that this is a study conducted mainly on B2B companies, hence it might differ depending on your industry and product or service.

Use technology

Constantly doing repetitive and time-consuming tasks can reduce your productivity. Imagine having to dial numbers and wait for your prospect to pick up over and over again?

Sounds pretty draining to us.

That’s why many people turn to cold calling tools to save time and increase the productivity of their reps.

Many cold calling software have auto-dialers to automatically ring your prospects. You also get a better view of your cold calling metrics, which gives you powerful insights that you could use to measure and improve your performance.

Many tools also provide call recording features to help you record and playback your calls to look for blind spots and points you may have overlooked during the conversation. This makes it much easier to improve your future cold calls.

Keep learning

If you make learning a priority over immediate sales, you will soon achieve outstanding sales success. If you set your sights on more learning opportunities, you can master the art of cold calling.

Have an awesome sales script? Don’t just stop there. Find out why it works, how well it’s worked, and what else you can do to make it even better.

Have been getting many closes for your cold call? Don’t just celebrate it. Find out the factors that are contributing to this success. Is it because of the time of day you’re calling? Is it because you’re using a different tone? Are you finding more qualified prospects?

Always look for opportunities for improvement in every part of your cold calling efforts. If every aspect of your cold calls keeps improving in performance, you will soon attain your wildest sales goals and you can say goodbye to bad cold calls!

It’s a bad cold call, not a bad life

Cold calling sometimes really sucks, but it remains one of the most rewarding outbound lead generation methods.

A cold call can turn bad easily, when you least expect it, and even if you’re a pro. But remember, one bad cold call doesn’t determine your whole cold calling strategy. Don’t be discouraged and keep on moving!

If you’re looking to automate your cold calling, give Novocall a try today!

Benard Kiplangat

Ben is a content writer at Novocall.

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