3 Never-Fail Cold Calling Techniques

This week’s episode of Stay Paid features Cody Askins whose cold calling strategy has made him the #1 insurance sales trainer in the world. In his interview, he shares cold calling examples, best practices, plus three cold calling techniques he teaches his students to close on the first call.

1. The 12-Step Follow Up
2. The Triple Dial
3. Close on the Phone

The 12-step follow-up system

An incredible 92% of sales professionals fail to make it in the insurance industry. Similarly, depending on the source, between 80-90% of real estate agents fail within their first two years. Why such high rates?

A significant reason sales professionals fail is they don’t commit to sufficient follow up.

Approximately 80% of all lead conversions happen sometime between the fifth and twelfth contact. When you consider more than 50% of  sales professionals don’t make it to a second attempt, the failure rate becomes predictable . . . and inevitable.

What explains the low rate of follow up?

A likely reason is your lack of a follow-up system—a repeatable, scalable model that becomes a routine part of your sales process.

The first of Cody’s cold calling techniques is his 12-step follow-up system. It involves making 12 attempts in 72 hours to contact a lead:

• On Day 1: You make three calls, send one text, and send one email.
• On Day 2: You make two calls, send one text, and send one email.
• On Day 3: You make one call, send one text, and send one email.

Do not let yourself fall victim to the notion that you are bothering your leads.

When you believe that you are sincerely trying to help someone by providing them with a product or service that will improve their lives, “bothering them” is the furthest thought from your mind.

Here’s a few extra tips for following up:

Hire an independent sales agent

It’s possible you don’t have sufficient time for all the follow-up work you should be doing. If that’s the case, you might consider delegating the task and bringing in an independent sales agent (ISA).

An ISA can be a person in your office or a virtual service you purchase for the purpose of qualifying and following up on leads. Episode 175 with Ravi Abuvala explains ISAs and how they can turn all those missed leads into new business.

Get a good sales script and learn how to use it

There are sales scripts available for every stage of a sale. For example, you can easily find:

• a cold call script to get an appointment or meeting;
• a sales pitch script, including sales role play scripts;
• an objection handling script;
• the perfect closing script.

There are also scripts available that are specific to different industries. You can search the internet for “cold calling scripts for insurance” or “real estate cold calling scripts” and find some help.

However, you could have the best cold call script available, but if you don’t practice it so that it becomes your own and can be delivered like a natural conversation, it won’t help.

The triple dial

With his second cold calling technique, Cody teaches his students to use the triple dial.

You’ve likely heard of the double dial technique: dial a lead, hang up, wait 30 seconds, dial again. It’s a strategy that works. In his blog post, Brandon Steiner reports that 85% of the time, someone will pick up on the second call (“The Art of the Double-Dial,” May 1, 2016).

Cody takes the double dial one step further and advocates calling three times. And he doesn’t wait in between.

When you dial three times in quick succession, the person on the other end knows something is up, and that you are seriously trying to get in touch with then. The aggressive ringing is a sign that you’ve got something important to talk about.

And you do have something important to talk about. Get into the proper mindset and once again, don’t let a misguided notion of etiquette prevent you from making these calls.

The trial close

Once you’ve overcome any objections, it’s time to begin the process of closing the deal, and when you get to this part of the episode, listen to how Cody delivers a “trial close.” He makes it so natural, so seamless, and so unavoidable that his lead is compelled to respond in a way that moves the sale forward.

In this third of the cold calling techniques, you take the opportunity to review at least 10 benefits of the product or service you are selling. In the process, you discover the ones to which your lead most responds, and then you use those self-selected benefits to pitch your options.

There is more to Cody’s interview than these three cold calling techniques, so even if you don’t use cold calling, you can still walk away with some useful information, including:

• what to say in a follow-up text or email;
• how not to start a phone conversation;
• where you should invest your budget to generate the most leads;
• why doing something you don’t want to do every day prepares you to succeed.

Key Points

• You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Take the advice and follow the lead of those who have come before you and succeeded.
• There is no such thing as following up too much. Stop using the idea that you are bothering someone as an excuse not to follow up.
• Invest in SEO and video. They are long-term branding strategies that pay off.
• To close on the phone, follow this winning formula: Agree. Answer. Ask.

Action Item

For your next cold call, try the triple dial. Remember—you are helping, not selling.

Connect | Resources

YouTube: @CodyAskins

Instagram: @Cody.Askins