Cold Call Selling Tips Using an AI Parallel Dialer

Introduction

You’ve invested in a AI Parallel Dialer platform so that your sales team has the technology to compete in this tough B2B selling environment. You’ve sorted your team into SDRs and Account Reps, created “mini-teams” within that, and had them do the work to create an ABM (Account Based Marketing) strategy of specific companies and Ideal Customer Profiles to target

You’ve set up your reports and dashboards to track not just dials made by each team member but the length of conversations once they’ve connected. You’ve coordinated with the marketing department so that as inbound leads come in, the right SDR will be notified immediately and a sales process can begin.

Now what?👀

Cold Calls Are Often – At Least A Little - Warm 

The calls made using an ABM program are usually – at least to some degree – warm already. Even if the prospect has not made an appointment for a call, they may be expecting it. That’s because in today’s world, by the time a prospect is on an ABM list, they’ve already begun the buyer’s journey (to use a marketing expression). In B2B, you’re calling professionals to sell them a solution that fits their business model. People are sophisticated enough consumers today that they know once they begin to research a solution, they are going to hear from purveyors of that good.   

Even top-of-the-funnel prospects who are just starting to look around on the internet will be exposing their interest to the many outlets, such as Google, LinkedIn, and ZoomInfo, that track such things.   

So, any B2B company that has begun an ABM program to find customers who are ideal for their solution and would most appreciate its features, and could afford its cost, is going to jump on the data that shows any customer interest. Are they expecting your cold call? Likely.  

Be Prepared for that Live Voice

Be ready to have a great conversation with your prospect as soon as you have a dial connect. Your B2B auto dialer platform should have some basic features, including a Call Disposition window, or popup, that appears as soon as a live human being says “hello.” The dialer will pause its function, and the salesperson will see the information from the CRM that has been associated with that phone number. Of course, you’ll want to confirm that if Joe Smith is the person in your Call Disposition window information, it’s actually Joe Smith on the line. But, particularly if you’re calling mobile numbers, it is most likely to be – and your conversation can start immediately.

Besides giving you pre-researched information about your call recipient, you should have the ability to make notes on the fly.  

In your Dialer Call Disposition window: 

• CRM notes 
• CRM fields
• Call Comments  

Before Your Dialing Session Begins: Prep Your CRM Entries 

Those notes in your CRM should be immediately helpful to you, not scattered or obsolete. Before starting a dialing session – especially with a powerful AI parallel dialer that will reach out to your ABM prospect list quickly, spend the necessary time getting to know your prospects.

Prepare 3-5 triggers of information per prospect that you should be able to find by looking at the prospect’s company LinkedIn profile. Add those to your notes within your CRM entry on that person. This will help you personalize your calls – before they are ever dialed.

Examples of “trigger” information you can find on prospects before your dialing session starts:

• Insights on the technology they currently use (including, do they use a competitor) 
• Are they hiring new people
• Adding new products 
• Opening an office in a new territory 
• Who are their competitors are 
• Current clients 
• What's going on in their industry in general
• Informed of their technology options 
• Promoted into a new position 

Know Your Cold Call Script (Don’t Read It) 

We have all received calls that make us hang up immediately: the human ear can tell when someone is reading a script to us over the line. Don’t be that person.

Know your script, and know it well enough to be able to riff from it. Show the person who was kind enough to answer the phone that you appreciate their valuable time. Know your company’s key selling points by heart and completely enough that you can speak comfortably about them.

Get the Prospect’s Attention

As mentioned above, B2B professionals will not generally be surprised by a cold call. Don’t hesitate to acknowledge that you are cold-calling them. There is no negative connotation as long as you show that you understand their situation and are calling in order to help them with a problem you can both recognize.

Also, prospects want to feel like your solution is specialized to their industry.  Even if your product is agnostic, the sales rep should discuss it like it is specialized to the prospect's industry. 

Examples:

• “I just finished checking out the website of your job openings, and by the way, this is John Smith from ABC company.”  Lead with the trigger, while acknowledging that it's a cold call. 
• “Joe, I'm calling because I just finished reading the (initiative).  My name is John Smith from ABC Company.  Do you mind if I take a minute for me to tell you why I called you specifically?  And then you can let me know if you want to keep chatting.”  

Be Ready With Answers

Here’s where knowing your own company’s story is crucial. No “script” can answer these questions and the prospect will know immediately if you’re someone they want to keep talking to. In order to have that all-important 30-Second Plus conversation in a cold call, a salesperson must be ready to answer the following about your own company’s solution:

• How are your customers using your product or service
• Where are your clients getting the most value
• How is the adoption
• Where you can focus on insight and value of your product or service
• What problems is your product or service solving

Be Ready for Voicemail 

Your Dialer should have the ability to drop pre-recorded voicemails and you should have more than one ready to choose from, depending on the cadence strategy and the campaign that is being conducted through this particular dialing session. Here are some basic voicemail tips:

• Lead with a trigger and “I'm about to email you with...
  ” OR: 
• Point the prospect to something you sent or are going to send
  THEN: 
• Leave your phone number  
• And by the way, this is who I am 

Important Note: Do not sell via voicemail. We all know how annoying that is. If you are using Local Caller ID with your dialer (which we recommend), know that with Koncert’s functionality, prospects can dial back the same number they received, to reach the salesperson who left the voicemail.

Power Up Your Cold Calling with Koncert AI Power Dialers

Effective cold calling techniques are crucial when using a powerful AI parallel dialing technology that is going to vastly increase outreach to prospects. Be ready to use it effectively! Make sure that any AI dialing technology that your company invests in includes a cadence function (such as Koncert’s Cadence, which is included in Koncert Dialers) and a strong Customer Support and Customer Success team that is dedicated to assisting your team through onboarding, engagement, and continued success. Koncert makes sure our clients’ teams are comfortable with how to use the Call Disposition Popup Window, the call script feature, voicemail, and all Cadence capabilities.