In phone selling, telemarketing or cold calls, prospects decide to continue it or not, in the very first moment after receiving. It only takes almost 3 seconds to make up their mind whether to continue or not.
If the opening is right, the chance to have a longer conversation and probably conversion increases. And if not, then you lose another prospect.
This blog describes how the first 3 seconds determines your calling success. It will also explain the psychology behind this and strategy to make it work.
Prospects Decide to Continue or Hang Up the Call Within the First 3 Seconds
All the successful cold calling companies maintain one key and common strategy. That is, the opening 3 seconds of the call has to be clean and top-notch. Let’s be honest, no one adores a cold call. And according to LinkedIn user Lea, contacts decide almost immediately whether to continue or hang up the call.
In some cases they don’t even bother to hear the offer! Their subconscious mind influenced by callers’ tone pushes them to hear more.
Cold Calls Triggers Contact Into a Defense Mode
Most of the people’s views on cold calls are generally negative. Increasing fraud calls, workflow interruption, poor value, time waste and company policy leads decision-makers to avoid calls. This works as a psychological barrier and creates a defense mechanism.
So when a prospect gets a cold call, it activates their amygdala (part of the brain that deals with emotion). It then discharges adrenaline so much that brain stops thinking logically and makes intuitive decisions. This is why cold calls trigger most of the prospects. For this same reason, conversion rate through cold calls can become as low as 1-2%.
Prospects Takes You as a Salesperson Almost Immediately
In a reddit discussion cold callers from around the world shared their personal experiences. The discussion summarizes one key fact, to make successful cold calls, opening is the most crucial part. And an impactful opening never starts with a salesy approach. Because it instantly shifts prospects’ perspective to a negative one.
User Hunting_and_other_stuff explains that, rather stating the reason first, he starts with a statement like ‘Hey, Mike, This is X calling, how are you doing!’.
This type of statement has some key benefits. First rather than pushing prospects to defence mood, it naturally engages them into the conversation. Which significantly improves conversation duration.
Second, you don’t appear as a sales rep in the beginning, which makes a positive impact in their subconscious mind.
Lastly, The discussion also points out that, cold callers need to sound like a consultant not SDR (sales development representative). When you use mirroring and consultative nature, you can successfully influence the conversation. Which helps you to enter the contacts in the conversion funnel.
The First 3 Seconds Are Dominated by Tone and Pace
Tone and pace are the most impactful factors of psychology behind phone selling and cold calling. Within the opening 3 seconds, leads usually make up their minds subconsciously. In such a short time, brain process the tonal approach, not words.
Tone Indicates Callers Intent Way Before Pitching the Offer and Content
Decision makers of a business always have time scarcity due to their busy work nature. When connected with a cold caller, they instantly done a screening on topics like:
- Authenticity of the call
- What value it offers
- Is it a waste of time or not
- Is there any need for it
All these questions normally first assessed by the callers approach first, then with the contents of the calls.
Inconsistency, voice fry or jargon like ‘umm’, ‘hmm’ indicates lack of preparation, confidence and authority. For any decision maker, these factors are key to assess authenticity.
An experienced sales personnel Josh Braun shared his similar experience in a linkedin post. He describes that successful conversations require confidence and consistency in tone. A confident and calm rep can influence the toughest contacts.
Pace Determines Whether You Sound Safe or Not
Pace and tone both are key determiners that influence callers tone and receivers perspective. Tone determines authority and pace indicates authenticity. But an alignment between these two is also needed. A balanced tone and pace finally makes a caller sound engaging and believable to talk to.
Decision makers notice every detail including callers approach. Because during negotiation, every single aspect helps with argument. Inconsistent pace indicates that the employer has lacking in offering or any unethical motive.
According to Naumann’s research on reptilian brain, in the first 3 seconds, prospects remain in a fight mode. To break this barrier, callers need a soothing, calm, engaging tone with appropriate pace.
In the First 3 Seconds, Prospects Decide if You’re Worth Their Attention
After getting the call, prospects first evaluate whether the call will be worth continuing or not. This is also known as attention cost. If your opening is good, the chance of a detailed conversation increases.
Prospect Assess the Time Value Against Your Call
After reaching the 3 second barrier, contact starts focusing on your content more. But the first impression still plays a crucial factor while making decision.
Decision makers may not need what you’re offering now. But your call provides them key insights about market trends, pricing to other important and needed aspects.
If the opening feels good, they often ask for further queries. And sometimes helps to generate interest. This type of meaningful conversation help shifting a simple contact to the middle of the funnel of your marketing process.
Prospect Search For Relevance in The Opening
Almost every contact you are able to connect asks one simple question in their mind, “Is this call relevant for me?” This circulates in the very first 3 seconds after the connection. That’s why appearing solid at this time is vital.
Generic openings like, ‘HI, I’m Calling from this’… or ‘Hey, do you have 30 seconds’ signals a poor impression immediately.
Permission Based Openings Receives Better Responses
Call trainer Hyperbound describes in one of their articles that permission based openings usually get way better responses than generic ones. The reason is simple;
- Permission shows respect and autonomy to the prospect
- It strategically pauses immediate rejection
Normally cold calls target high value targets and their decision makers. These types of contacts are highly professional individuals who value every minor detail. When you ask their permission for 20-30 seconds, often due to courtesy they don’t reject you immediately.
On the contrary, get an opportunity to optimize them gradually from MQLs to SQLs.
Besides, permission based opening is also a rejection mitigating technique for cold, telemarketing or telesales calls. Current cold calling follows a cunning method. Scripts strategically avoids question that has shorter answer in either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’
Rather they develop questions that need longer sentences to respond.
As an example, for this question: “Just so I don’t waste your time, what usually happens after someone shows interest on your website?” The caller needs an explanation to answer.
Final Thoughts
Business calls like telemarketing, phone selling or cold call success fairly depend on the first 3 seconds. Within this, your prospects make a decision whether the call will be worth continuing or not.
If you can break this barrier with your balanced tone and conveying approach, the opportunity to see a conversion automatically increase.
