Cold calling is form of marketing and sales which has been used for decades by writers looking for clients. It can often be seen as a dreaded method in gaining customers and sales, but is still one of the main tools used by freelance businesses today.

If you are considering adding cold calling to your client hunt, here are some of the things you will need to do to make it work effectively for you.

1) Focus on the goal

The first thing you need to think about is the aim of your call. It is not simply about making a sale immediately, it is about getting the trust of the customer and in turn having THE CHANCE to make a sale further down the line. Think of it like laying down the foundations for your relationship with the customer.

2) Research your market

You need to make sure that you fully research your potential markets and target your calls to the right people. It might take some time to conduct your research, but it means that you will be able to find out more about the people you are calling and make friendly conversation with them when you call. You can then use call analytics tracking to see how successful each call was for your purpose.

3) Use social media

Find people who are in the same LinkedIn group as you to call. It will give you both something to talk about and will mean you have a much better chance of getting a sale out of them due to your common bond, rather than just picking someone from the air.

4) Prepare an opening statement

You don’t want to sound like you're reading from a script (even if you are) because the person on the other end of the phone will likely hang up on you. Make sure that you can sound as personable and casual as you can, and be polite. Your opening statement could be something like ‘is this a good time?’ You are showing the person that you care about their time and you only want to have a chat.

5) What should be in the opening statement?

When you are coming up with an opening statement for your call you will need to add a few different things:

An introduction
A reference point (i.e what the call is about)
The benefit of your product or service
Transition into conversation

6) Prepare a script

Like I said earlier, the last thing you want to do is come across sounding like a robot, but in the same breathe you need to have a clear direction for your call so that you can meet your goals.

Writing a script with questions and statements will help guide the conversation in the way that you want and give you a better chance of a sale. Make sure you have detailed information about your company and products on hand because you will likely be asked a ton of questions.