How many outbound dials do you make in a week? 10? 50? 250+? I remember my jaw dropping the first time I was expected to make 50 calls a day. I had visons of pacing back and forth, sporting a headset and slaving away for hours on end. The fact is, it doesn’t have to be that way, and these simple tips will help you knock out the daunting dialing chore in 60 minutes flat.
# 1 Stop chasing scraps!
On the day before your calling spree, compile a barebones list of the people you intend to contact. Add key words about your personal interactions with each prospect so the details will be fresh in your mind. This time-saving ritual jogs your memory and spares you from frantically searching for business cards and scraps of paper you’ve been tucking away for weeks.
Modern Client Relationship Management (CRM) software consolidates this information into one place, and usually includes a scheduling template. Most organizations already have CRM software on hand, but a quick Google search can help you decide which program is best suited to your needs. (If you are making less than 10 dials a week, you can probably track your data with a spread sheet of your own design.)
# 2 Warm up first.
For most people, dialing is not considered fun, and you are likely to procrastinate getting started; for this reason, a warm-up can be very useful. When I was recruiter and tackling 40-50 dials a day, I’d often start with a two-minute personal call just to get myself in the flow of conversing. I had a short list of friends and family members who’d already agreed to be available for this purpose. Inevitably, my warm-up conversations put me in a jovial mood which was exactly what I needed to take the plunge and dive into the pile of contacts staring at me.
# 3 Get some momentum.
The practice of arranging your calls in a particular order can be a huge help—especially when facing an intimidating prospect like a bigwig CEO. You need to gain dialing momentum, and the key is to first call a few people you’re genuinely excited about speaking with (such as a perfect-fit prospect or an already-existing client ready for a follow-up)—and then move on to a few of the harder calls. Once you’ve tackled those, go back to making a few easy calls, and then make a few more difficult ones. This easy-hard-easy-hard approach will create momentum for the entire calling process.
#4 Schedule an appointment with yourself.
If you’ve been following my time management strategies, you already know I’m a huge fan of blocking time for single tasks. A designated start and stop time for dialing is, hands-down, one of the most effective ways to get through your dials faster. I recommend blocking exactly one hour for dialing, and scheduling other important tasks (like a client meeting or an interview) on either end of the dialing hour which adds focus and a sense of urgency.
Schedule a daily recurring timeslot for dialing. (Think of it as a standing appointment with yourself.) You’ll need to determine what timeframe works best, but I recommend 9-10am because it gives your prospects a full day to get back to you, if need be.
#5 Pick your number.
This is, by far, the easiest tip to implement. Before you start dialing, decide how many dials you want to make during the hour. Pick a number that seems challenging-but-doable. If 40 dials customarily take half of your day, set a goal of 25 dials for your designated hour. Keep shooting for 25 until you consistently hit the goal three days in a row—then increase the goal to 30 dials. Keep ratcheting up your target in increments of 5 until you reach the maximum dials you can consistently tackle in 60 minutes.
#6 Don’t lose your marbles.
Sometimes it can seem like you’re not making any headway with your dialing. A simple tool for tracking your progress is to use marbles and two cups. Label one cup “to go” and the other “completed.” Fill your “to go” cup with the amount of dials you wish to accomplish for the day. Every time you finish a call, take one marble out of the “to go” cup and drop it in the “completed” cup. This provides a simple visual of your progress, and can keep you on task if you’re getting bogged down or too chatty. (If you don’t like marbles, poker chips work just as well—or you can go with old fashioned tick marks on a piece of paper.)
#7 Just script it.
Take time to develop a simple, personable, straightforward, not-pushy script so you can quickly get to the point of your call. The #1 purpose of a prospect call is to determine if the person on the other end of the line is interested in learning more about what you do. That’s it! If the answer is yes, great! Set up a convenient time for a follow-up. If the answer is no, simply note it and move on to your next call.
Unless you are a telemarketer by profession, do NOT try to sell anything or attempt to manipulate the person into meeting with you on your initial call. You’ll only wind up exasperated, and more than likely—your prospect will hang up on you.
Crafting an effective script requires some skill and finesse, and there is, absolutely, a honing process involved that will take some time, but it is time well-spent. I’ll be writing more on this topic in the upcoming weeks.
#8 Keep track.
Part of being successful in sales is keeping track of what you do every day, taking note of areas in need of improvement, and assessing your progress. Here are some cornerstone dialing metrics used for determining the effectiveness of your phone script, and should be tracked on a daily basis:
- How many outbound dials did you make?
- How many messages did you leave?
- How many people actually picked up and talked with you?
- How many new appointments did you schedule?
It’s equally important to track the number of attempts to reach each prospect. Generally speaking, it makes sense to dead-file any prospects you failed to contact after three attempts; you don’t want to gain a reputation for being a stalker.
General heads-up about cold calling: Be careful to not call anyone whose name appears on a Do Not Call list. https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov
Bonus: Get Competitive
If you are driving revenue, chances are there is a competitive streak in you somewhere. Why not tap into it when approaching your dials. Here is how it works. Find a colleague (or friend) who also has a bunch of calls to make. Select an appropriate start and stop time to do your dials and see who can accomplished the most amount of dials within the allotted amount of time. The loser buys lunch!
During lunch, discuss what transpired during your dialing time. It’s a great way to not only knock out those dials but also an opportunity to share best practices with someone you trust.
Outbound prospect calls are the lifeblood of any revenue driver; conversely, they can unnecessarily devour countless hours of your time that could otherwise be spent on activities such as meeting with clients or putting together proposals.
If you’ve acquired some dialing techniques with a proven track record of getting results and saving time, please share them in the comments section below!
Chris
Great article. Some excellent ideas here. Let’s see if I can make 25-30 in the first hour. That will be the goal. Good advice on the number of calls at 3 before you walk away. I know some of the “persistent”types will keep calling but I think 3 is the perfect number.
Use of the CRM is essential for tracking and follow up. Use it all the time.
All good stuff.
Pat
Glad you liked them Pat. Shoot for 27 🙂