Episode 16: 10 Tips to Better Cold Calling for B2B sales professionals with Michael Hanson

Cold calling may seem like something that has been in the sales world for as long as anyone can remember, but that doesn't mean there is no new ground to be covered. Today on The Sales Samurai, we are joined by the CEO and Founder of Growth Genie, Michael Hanson, to hear his top ten tips on how to improve your team's cold calling practice and get your offers in front of more ideal customers. According to Michael, setting up qualified opportunities with strangers is the most difficult skill in sales, and is often left to the least experienced members of a sales team! It was with this in mind that he started his company, aiming to support and enable sales professionals to hit the ground running and excel in their careers. As Michael runs through his list of ten tips, with a few bonuses ideas added in, he reminds us that it is no use having the best messaging and product in the world if no one gets to hear about it or see it. So without further ado, let's jump in and hear his amazing advice!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Michael's background in the B2B space and the observations that led to founding Growth Genie.
• Unexpected hurdles in the process of starting a company; hiring and building a strong team.
• The initial impetus to get into sales and why Michael leaned into the field after other ideas.
• Changes in the world of sales; the best and worse of recent shifts in the space.
• Why cold calling is in a stronger place than ever and how to stand out from other outreach.
• Getting past obstacles around fear and ego and minimizing discomfort.
• Detachment from the outcome and allowing a call to be an exploratory exercise.
• The best times for cold calling people; going outside of office hours!
• Why sending emails on the weekend garners better response rates.
• Using trigger events as the 'why' for your outreach and opening statements.
• The power of closed and open questions when used at the correct junctures.
• Staying authentic to your own personality and introducing a lead to something real.
• Giveaways and freebies as an entry point; helpful tips and strategies.
• Telling customer stories as a way to keep the conversation and engagement flowing.
• Focusing on the needs of your customers instead of on your product.
• What to do once a meeting is booked; getting other important people involved.
• Dealing with the common reaction of requesting an email; asking questions and offering guidance.
• Michael's belief in blocking off time for calls and optimizing impact.
• The power of audio notes on LinkedIn and humanizing your message!

Tweetables:

“I like speaking with people, I like solving problems. And that's really what proper sales is about.” — Michael Hanson [0:06:35]

“You can make cold calls warm calls by using the power of the internet and research.” — Michael Hanson [0:08:40]

“Fear is the biggest thing that stops salespeople.” — Michael Hanson [0:12:59]

“Most salespeople, their ego gets in the way of their sales process.” — Michael Hanson [0:16:59]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Michael Hanson on LinkedIn

Growth Genie

Michael Hanson Email

Avoma

Chorus

Gong

Sam Capra on LinkedIn

Sales Samurai B2B Sales Podcast

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