Here’s how the typical B2B cold call goes: “Hi, I’m so-and-so from XYZ Co., the leader in [insert undifferentiated and buzzword-filled boilerplate here]. I’d like to schedule a meeting with you to learn about your organization’s plans and challenges and discuss how our solution can help you optimize/leverage your [whatever].”
How successful are you with this approach? I’m guessing not very. Theoretically, this approach should work – you’re being consultative, wanting to learn all about the prospect so you can tailor your message to her specific requirements – but it doesn’t. Why?
Why Your Cold Calls Get the Cold Shoulder
Years ago there was a study done by AT&T that showed that, when you are cold calling, you’ve got 10 seconds to get a prospect’s attention from the time she says, “Hello.” By kicking off with your generic boilerplate and then requesting time so that you can ask questions to educate yourself about her company and then turn around and sell to her, you’ve given her something she’s heard a thousand times before and good reason to resent you for taking up her time.
Grabbing Their Attention
You need “Grabbers.” People are most attentive right out of the gate, so you’ve got to hit them with a hot opening – insights that would make it feel almost criminal not to engage in the next five minutes of conversation.
Grabbers break the pattern that your prospect is programmed to expect. They give the Old Brain something different than what it thinks is coming. Grabbers give you a way to break the pattern and create a hot and compelling opening along with spiking attention during your call.
Grabbers get your prospect emotionally involved and leaning into the conversation – they are the WOW of your message. Here are three types of Grabber techniques:
- What-if-you questions
There are two common reactions by prospects when asked “what if you”: 1) excitement imagining the “what if you” scenario you’ve described, or 2) skepticism that the “what if you” is even possible. Either way your prospect is looking for how and proof, which translate into interest. Your Grabber did its job as a hot opening. - Number plays
You can prompt immediate attention by delivering numbers in an interesting story as part of your message. When you lay out a series of distinct and mysterious numbers and then tell a compelling story that brings those numbers to life, it will grab your prospect’s attention and linger in your prospect’s memory after you hang up the phone. - Customer stories with contrast
Sharing your customer stories well works for getting attention. Memorable stories can help your messages be remembered and be very persuasive. But you need to tell the story of your customers’ situations before they implemented your solution. It’s through the before story that your prospect will start to see her own company’s similar struggles and the need to consider doing something different.
By using Grabbers to heat up your call opener and punctuate the rest of your call, you can turn an ice cold call into a hot prospect. You’ve changed the customer conversation.
For more information on Grabbers or for examples of successful Grabber techniques, check out my book “Conversations that Win the Complex Sale.”
The Messaging Feed 