Traditional Cold Calling Sucks, Try This Instead! | Armand Farrokh and Nick Cegelski - 1819

The Sales Evangelist

Cold calling is becoming increasingly difficult for sellers. The old methods aren't working, and you have no clue what the new cold outreach techniques are.

Don't worry, I got you covered. In this episode, I'm joined by Armand Farrokh and Nick Cegelski, co-authors of the book "Cold Calling Sucks, That's Why It Works." Together, we discuss the challenges of cold calling and share proven strategies to improve success rates based on their extensive experience and data analysis.

Data-Driven Strategies for Success

• Nick shares data on the success rates of different call openers. He recommends using well-researched and context-based openers to increase success.
• My guests also discuss the effectiveness of describing a problem with dangerous specificity to establish credibility and capture the prospect's attention.

The Power of Personalized Openers

• Armand and Nick emphasize the importance of using personalized, context-based openers to stand out from the typical cold caller approach.
• You can establish a friendly rapport and credibility with prospects by conducting moderate research and focusing on relevance.

Handling Objections with Empathy and Humor

• My guests stress the need for cold callers to recognize objections as interruptions and respond with understanding and humor, rather than being defensive.
• They recommend isolating and practicing core talk tracks, such as openers and objections, to improve the overall sales conversation.

Problem-Centric Approach and Storytelling

• Armand underscores the value of leading with a problem-centric approach.
• By pinpointing a specific problem that resonates with the prospect, you can create a visceral reaction and position yourself as a strategic partner in solving their issues.

Armand and Nick’s Book: Cold Calling Sucks, That’s Why It Works

• Armand and Nick challenge the common perception that cold calling is an ineffective sales strategy in their book.
• Drawing from their extensive experience and data analysis of over 300 million cold calls, the authors present a compelling case for the power of cold calling when done correctly.
• The book offers practical strategies and insights for crafting personalized, context-based openers to set sellers apart from the typical cold caller approach.

“We recommend finding the top five triggers that would make you believe someone could be a good customer. When you're looking for those five triggers in order and find one, that's your reason for calling them. You don't need to keep researching, so you can start operationalizing this stuff and become far more efficient.” - Nick Cegelski.

“It should take 30 seconds to disqualify, 30 seconds to research. Find one thing. That's what you put in your opener.” - Armand Farrokh.

Resources

order.30 mpc.com/book

30 Minutes to President’s Club

Sponsorship Offers

1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

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Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.