Sure you don’t want to cold call but sometimes it’s simply a necessity such as when your sales pipeline is empty and not enough leads are coming in or your networking isn’t generating enough activity.

Most people approach cold calling with a certain degree of fear and loathing but with a small amount of preparation and a good amount of confidence your cold calling efforts can generate positive results.

Here are the top 5 things for you to take into consideration when preparing to cold call:

Pick your list with care

It’s pretty apparent that the success of your program will be impacted based upon the quality of your target list. The more time you take in evaluating and selecting your list the better results you will have. It only stands to reason that if you are reaching out to the wrong market then your results will be dismal.

Develop a call guide that is solutions oriented and reflects your personality

Even the most seasoned sales reps can benefit from having a key point talk guide that helps them with the flow of the dialogue. Certainly the call guide is not anything that should be read; instead it helps you with the “landmarks” of the conversation and helps to keep you on track.

Create an outstanding voice mail

Many or actually most of your calls will wind up with you leaving a voicemail message. Don’t hang up on voicemail as it presents you with a good opportunity to leave a message with the person you’re trying to reach. Once again it’s important to not sound like you are reading and to insert your personality into the message.

Formulate probing questions

Discovery is a key component of any sales call and that’s certainly true with cold calls. Create a list of questions that you can insert into the calls and remember to lead with questions that do not make the prospect feel that they are disclosing too much before they feel a sense of trust.

Be prepared

Attempting to “wing it” is just plain wrong. You must prepare what you want to say and how you want to say it as well as knowing how to respond to objections and challenges that are thrown your way.

Cold calling is not for everyone but with some preparation and work it can be a successful business development endeavor.

In the best of all worlds you will utilize “demand generation” tools to get your prospects to COME TO YOU but if those tactics aren’t yielding enough results then a concerted outreach program might be the answer.