Q. I cold call people on the phone at home in the evenings and my contact rate is terrible. I constantly hear, sorry, they're not in right now. What can I do?A. There is a very slim possibility, very slim, that the people you're calling really aren't home, but assuming you are calling a residential list, at night, when most people in that area are home, we're guessing that they know you're a salesperson and thus you're hearing, "Sorry, they're not home."
This may be due to that delay, many of us experience when being called by a telemarketer, that occurs between when the prospect picks up the phone and the telemarketer speaks. This you can't help because it is caused by your phone system. What you can control is how you ask for the prospect. DO NOT ask for Mr., Mrs., Ms. Last Name. This is an instant tip off that you don't know the person and are a salesperson. Also, it is easy to mispronounce many last names. Instead, ask for the person by his or her first name. For example, If you're calling Gloria Smith and a woman answers the phone say, "Hi, Gloria?" If a man answers, say, "Hi, is Gloria there?" When they ask who it is, simply say your name, don't add in your company. Likewise, if you're calling Keith Smith and a man answers, say, "Hi, Keith?" A woman, "Hi, is Keith there?"
By the way, assuming you are trying to reach as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time, when you run into names like James, Richard, Michael, and the like, play the odds. Simply ask for Jim, Rich, Mike, etc. Occasionally you'll tick off a James, Dick, or Michael, but if you asked for Mr. Last Name, that person would have said, "Sorry, he's not in right now." the one case you want to ask for a person by his or her last name is if you have a difficult first name. For example, if the first name was: Theasaurdonitasonite - slight exaggeration, then ask for the last name.
Your objective here is to sound like a friend calling. If you're calling a prospect named James Johnson, act as though you're calling your friend James Johnson and speak that way when someone picks up the phone.
