broski profile picture
broski profile picture

broski

Business Development Executive

Fire Starter
Good Citizen

Does getting buy in from the prospect to take the cold call work?

I have been experimenting with gaining buy the prospect's buy in before i dive into the cold call and I can't decide if I like it or if it works. I am interested to see the responses and recommendations.


Example:

  • John, good morning. Adam ____, I know I am catching you out of the blue; do you have 2-3 minutes?
  • Julie, good afternoon. I half expected to leave you a voicemail and follow up with email! Do you have 3-minutes now?


So far it's been about 50-50 and about half of the people, so 25% of the calls that answer and say "no" they don't have time are willing to receive a call back at a later time of which those 2nd calls have had a higher rate of connection because they know I am calling.


Part of me feels like I am just having dumb luck but the other part of me wonders if anyone else has success seeking buy in from the prospect before they dive into their cold phone pitch.

Does getting buy in from the prospect to take the cold call work?

Attached poll
*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.
🔎 Prospecting
📞 Cold Calling
☁️ Software Tech
8

16 comments

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funcoupons
WR Officer
6
👑
I never ask for a set amount of time. Always just "did I catch you at a bad time" 

If they say no they're good I say "great, well the reason for my call is..../30 second pitch."

If they say it is a bad time they also usually volunteer that they can give me 1-2 minutes and that's where I tell them I was actually trying to set up a call for later this week and ask my disqualifiers...generally the "I only have a minute" is a bluff on their end so they can quickly get you off the phone if you suck. Once they know I'm not some schlub they're almost always willing to have a quick chat.

If they say it's a bad time and they have absolutely zero time I respect that and ask when would be a better time to call back and follow up then.
youKNOW
Politicker
1
Sales Manager
I'm with Coup on this one. I use "Catch you at a bad time..."...even for ACTUAL customers sometimes. If they are willing to talk then, even for just a couple of minutes, more than likely the call goes a little longer and will be a good enough basis to have a longer talk at a later point. 

Ultimately I don't think there's any ONE strategy or set of words to use that will work 100% of the time. But what does HELP 100% of the time is your confidence, and your commitment to the call once you get them on the phone. 
funcoupons
WR Officer
1
👑
Agreed. 

I use "bad time" vs "is this a good time" because every other salesperson asks about good times...the bad time is a pattern interrupter for sure. I thank Jordan Belfort for teaching me that one.
youKNOW
Politicker
1
Sales Manager
Out of all the "sales movies"...I have to say that Belfort's delivery is always one that give me pause and makes me think...that sh*t might work. 
funcoupons
WR Officer
1
👑
I took his actual sales course - Straight Line Persuasion haha, not sure if he said it in Wolf.
youKNOW
Politicker
0
Sales Manager
No sh*t....I didn't even know he had one. I'll have to check it out. Good stuff. 
broski
Fire Starter
1
Business Development Executive
Agreed on the bluff because we all know if you really only have 1-minute you're probably not picking up the phone to a number that you have never seen before. At least I can say when I am in the zone and busy I am not answering my phone.

How often do you get the response, "yes it is a bad time" compared to, "it's okay i have a minute"
funcoupons
WR Officer
0
👑
I'd say 90% of the time people will give me the go ahead...it's very rare that someone straight up says "no it's a bad time, gotta go." In those cases it's either the person thought I was someone else and picked up by accident or hates sales calls and will never pick up my call again lol. It's rare tho.
Adored
Executive
3
Sales Director
My team has noticed more success with slightly more direct pattern interrupts than your examples above.

i.e. Hi Julie. MonsieurCB here, this is an ice cold call but a very well chosen one. Do you have 2 minutes and 30 seconds right now?

Can definitely work but tbh it depends on delivery, culture, personalities etc. 

I've also had luck with someone saying 'No' in response to the initially proposed amount of time and then following up with incrementally shorter amounts of time. To the point where I got down to saying, 'Do you have 30 seconds?'

Learned that in a Grant Cardone video a few years ago and was surprised at how well it worked. 
broski
Fire Starter
0
Business Development Executive
Grant Cardone is great! The time asked for is variable by type of call, prospect, etc. I like the overall approach. TY 
Adored
Executive
0
Sales Director
You got it! Corp Cardone (@GeneralCorp) is better than the real thing IMO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-g6y2NTBT8
Kinonez
Celebrated Contributor
1
War Room Enthusiast
Never ask for permission, just explain the reason for your call and the value your call will bring to their lives! Don't give them permission to leave the call. 
CaneWolf
Politicker
0
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
I just get right to the point with something along the lines "Hey Julie, this is CaneWolf calling as I noticed X and there's a distinct possibility my team at Y can help you out with that. Do you have a second?" If you show you did your research and prove that immediately, you'll normally get at least a few extra seconds.
broski
Fire Starter
0
Business Development Executive
Yes! I like that approach, and you're example still looks for buy in with, "Do you have a second?" as the transitioning question.

How often are you getting approval to continue after you ask, "do you have a second?"
CuriousFox
WR Officer
0
🦊
I say "Hello this is Fox with Company Name and I'm calling about your blah blah blah..." I go right into it.
SmallySmalls
Opinionated
0
Caffeine Queen
Okay now being on the other side of this for the first time (receiving cold calls as well as making them), cold calls are WEIRD to receive. They're usually super out of context, not relevant or even trying to be, and almost always interrupting something. 

Idk how you react when your mom comes downstairs to give you grilled cheese sandwiches and remind you to do your laundry while you're in the middle of a Fortnite brawl, but I'd have a guess.

So acknowledging the whole situation and asking for a second diffuses that and builds rapport pretty quickly. 

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