There’s a lot of preparation you need to do to get the most out of warm calling opportunities. To help boost your chance of success, we’ve outlined our essential tips to help you prepare for your next warm call.
1. Pre-Call Research: Prep Before you Connect
Before you even think about picking up the phone, you need to dive deep into research. This is one of the most important steps of a typical warm call framework because it will help focus your entire conversation.
This isn’t just about knowing the name of the lead or their company; you also need to find out more about:
- Their company: What do they do? What are their recent news or achievements? What are their challenges or industry trends affecting them? This detailed research will help you personalize your conversation.
- Their role: What is their position within the company? What are their responsibilities and priorities likely to be? How does their role connect to what you offer? This insight will help you think about their challenges and how you can solve them.
- Your existing connection: How do you know them? Did you meet at an event? Were you referred by a mutual connection? Did they engage with your content online? Understanding the nature of your warm connection provides a natural starting point for the conversation.
- Their online presence: What is their LinkedIn profile like? Are they active and if so, what do they engage with? What does their company website focus on? What else are they sharing publicly online? This can give you clues about their interests, recent projects or pain points to help you adapt your messaging.
Thorough research shows the prospect that you’ve taken the time to understand them and their situation. This immediately sets you apart from generic outreach and makes them more receptive to what you have to say. It allows you to tailor your conversation and demonstrate relevance from the outset.
2. Define Your Objective: Know Your Desired Outcome
Before making the call, clearly define what you want to achieve. Is it to schedule a meeting, provide more information, understand their needs better, or something else?
Having a clear objective will help you:
- Structure your conversation: Knowing your goal keeps the call focused and guide it towards your desired outcome.
- Measure your success: Defining your objective will help you measure whether you achieved what you set out to do.
- Avoid aimless conversations: Keeping the conversation focused on your goal ensures you’re using both your time and the prospect’s time effectively.
3. Personalize Your Warm Call Script: Avoid Sounding Robotic
You’ll need a warm call script to make sure you stay on-topic and mention all the important points that you need to, but this is just a starting point. You’ll need to personalize it each time using your pre-call research.
You can make the conversation feel personal by changing a few key elements:
- Reference your connection: Start by mentioning how you know them or the mutual contact. This immediately establishes the “warmth” of the call.
- Tailor your warm call opener: Based on your research, mention something specific that resonates with their company, their role, or their recent activity.
- Focus on their potential needs: Connect what you offer to the challenges or goals you’ve identified through your research and the discovery part of your call. Make sure you explain exactly how you can help them.
- Use their language: If you’ve seen your prospect speak or write online, try to mirror their communication style (within professional boundaries).
Personalization shows that you’re not just making a random call as you work down a list of numbers; it shows that you’ve paid attention and understand their unique context. This builds rapport, increases engagement, and makes it more likely they’ll see value in continuing the conversation.
4. Prepare Stimulating Questions: Encourage Engagement
Don’t just plan what you want to say; think about the questions you want to ask. Open-ended questions that encourage the prospect to share their thoughts and challenges are invaluable. This helps you:
- Understand their perspective: Gain deeper insights into their needs and pain points.
- Facilitate a two-way conversation: Make it a dialogue, not just a monologue.
- Identify opportunities: Uncover areas where your offering can provide a solution.
5. Practice Your Delivery: Confidence Builds Connection
Even with a personalized approach, a hesitant or unsure delivery can undermine your message. Practice your opening, key talking points, and how you’ll handle potential objections. This doesn’t mean memorizing a script, but rather:
- Familiarizing yourself with your talking points: Ensure a natural flow to your conversation.
- Projecting confidence and enthusiasm: Your tone can significantly impact how your message is received.
- Practicing active listening: Be prepared to truly hear what the prospect is saying and respond thoughtfully.
6. Have Your Resources Ready: Be Prepared to Provide Value
If you plan to share any documents, links or case studies during or after the call, have them readily accessible. Being organized with resources at your fingertips shows professionalism and makes it easier for the prospect to engage with relevant information.
7. Follow Up Strategically: Don’t Let Warm Leads Go Cold
A sales call is rarely a one-and-done situation. That’s why an effective warm call follow-up is crucial for nurturing interest and moving the conversation forward.
- Summarize key takeaways: After the call, send a brief follow-up email summarizing what you discussed and any agreed-upon next steps.
- Provide promised information: If you said you’d send a resource or link, do it promptly.
- Respect their timeline: If they’re not ready to take the next step immediately, schedule a follow-up for a more appropriate time.
- Vary your follow-up methods: Don’t just rely on email. Consider a LinkedIn message or even a relevant piece of content you think they’d find valuable.
- Track your follow-up: Use a CRM or system to keep track of your follow-up schedule and ensure no warm lead slips through the cracks.
Consistent and strategic follow-up shows professionalism and reinforces your interest. It keeps you top-of-mind and ensures that the momentum from the initial warm call isn’t lost. It also respects their time and allows them to engage further when they are ready.
