Break the Ice Before Making Cold Calls

Cold calls have become bad words in the circle of most salespeople. It’s a big mistake to completely write off cold calls. Just because a prospect is cold doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable to you.  With the right strategy, you can learn to break the ice when making cold calls. Here are four ways to break the ice when making cold calls:

Nurture

Most cold prospects are not ready to make a purchase. For that reason, focus on helping and education before you begin cold calling. Nurture your prospects with a quality email campaign. Your email campaign should include blogs, infographics, customer testimonials and case studies. A series of well-timed emails will keep your company name in front of the prospects.

Socialize

Email isn’t the only way to break the ice with cold prospects. Personalized LinkedIn messages are another way to capture the attention of cold prospects. Another channel is snail mail. Think of the last time you received mail that was personally addressed to you. You probably set everything aside to open it. Send clippings from trade journals, especially ones that mention your prospect’s name. Include a personalized note letting them know that you think you could be a resource for them.

Personalize

While email is a great way to nurture cold prospects, you don’t want to send an email with a generic copy and paste message. Personalize the emails to your prospect by talking about their industry and their market. Before you craft your email, do your research. Send personalized emails with relevant content to keep your email from being deleted, or worse, blacklisted.

Network

Break the ice with cold prospects by getting introduced through a mutual connection. Browse LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google+ to find mutual connections. Cold prospects are more open to communicating and find your more trustworthy when introduced by someone they already know.

If you want to gain market share and grow sales, don’t give up on making cold calls. Keep them as part of you plan. It may be challenging, however if done the right way, it can be incredibly rewarding. Doing it the right way means you focus on breaking the ice when making cold calls.

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