by Gerald G. Mannikarote, MBBS MBA
Cold calling seems to be a topic that many gets a lot of opinions. There a number of books, articles, videos, etc out there on this topic. I’ll leave that to the experts. This article will focus on the digital side of cold calling.
What is a Digital Cold Call?
So, what is cold calling? According to investopedia.com, “Cold-calling is the solicitation of a potential customer who had no prior interaction with a salesperson.” This is like picking up the phone and calling a random number with the intent of selling the person on the other end of the line your product or service. The digital version of this is very similar.
You all may have received a LinkedIn request at one time or another from someone you haven’t met before that tried to sell you something as soon as you connected. This is a form of the digital cold call. Often times, the result is you simply just ignore the pitch.
The reason why most of us ignore such pitches is generally there is no relationship between the connection and you. Such a connection seems to be inauthentic. When there is no authenticity or no relationship, what reason would one have to engage in a buying relationship with another person? So, how would one do a digital cold call?
Building an authentic relationship online
Freddy Goerges, Houston’s #1 LinkedIn Expert and Influencer, talks of a better way to make a digital cold call on digitalsellingconference.com (check out their social media pages for the video). He explains that instead of simply connecting and then trying to make a pitch, you ought to build an authentic relationship with your prospect. Freddy emphasizes providing value to your prospect as opposed to trying to sell them a product.
So how do you build an authentic relationship with someone you just connected with online? It’s similar to a networking event. Start with an introduction. Introduce yourself. Be authentic with your posts. Engage with your prospects through the posts they’ve shared on LinkedIn or other platforms. Understand them better. Understand their strengths. Understand their needs.
After some time, you would have built a relationship with your prospect. As Freddy Goerges says, this is a long term strategy.
Engaging your prospect
Engaging with your prospect is simple. If you come across an interesting post that your prospect shared, ‘like’ it or comment on it. If you find an article that may be of value to your prospect, share it with them; either by tagging them on the post or article, or sharing the link via direct message.
In the worst case scenario, your prospect will ignore your engagement. In the best case scenario, your prospect will respond positively about the engagement. Often times, your prospect will thank you but wonder why you are showing interest in them.
Once you have built a relationship with your prospect and understood their needs, you can begin offering your solution. I believe the key here is the understanding your prospect’s needs.
Understanding your prospect’s needs
You can’t offer a tailored solution to your customer if you don’t know their needs. I was once prospected on a social networking platform for a specific opportunity. In this platform, my profile specifically stated that I was not interested such opportunities. Despite this, the connection tried to sell me ‘an opportunity’ until I asked them specifically if this was something I stated in my profile that I wasn’t interested in. They said it was and I informed them that I appreciated the thought, but I was not interested.
In this case, the person wasted both of our times. They did not take the time to learn my needs. They did not take the effort to even read my profile. This goes against being authentic. As a result, it was a great example of a very poor cold call. So, take time to understand your connection’s needs.
Offer a solution
After you’ve understood your connection’s needs, you will be able to determine if you can offer a solution with your connection. If you can offer a solution, then great! Engage your customer and see where it will take you.
If your solutions don’t match the needs of your connection, that’s okay. Continue to provide them with value. However, let them know of your solutions offerings. They may know someone that could use what you have to offer. And most likely, they will be happy to refer you as you are someone that provides value.
In conclusion, you may have realized that a digital cold call is more like a warm call. Engage your prospect. Provide value. Offer your solution. Be authentic.
Thanks for taking the time to read this article. Do you feel these steps would help you make a good digital sales call? What else would you add? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. If you feel this was helpful, please share this article with others. For a free digital sales process infographic, contact me at jerrydmann@dmanntraining.com and enter ‘Digital Sales Process Infographic’ in the subject line.
You can find Freddy Goerges on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddygoerges/
Source:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/coldcalling.asp
https://www.digitalsellingconference.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-selling-conference/
