New clients are the lifeblood of any business. Here are a few tips to consider before making that important prospecting telephone call.

Develop a Targeted Telephone List

One of the most important steps is to prepare a targeted telephone list. As the best prospects are the referrals you obtain from your existing clients, canvas them to see if they have associates who could benefit from your products or services. Look for potential prospects in the directories for industry or trade association and chambers of commerce as well as the yellow pages. And don't forget the prospects you may have met at networking events, seminars, alumni events and so on. Perhaps these generated a stack of business cards that need to be followed up.

Gather Information

The more information you can gather on your prospects and their organizations, the better you will be able to plan and execute your telephone pitch when you make the call. Consider:

• What are their current needs in view of the services or products I am offering?
• What position does the contact have and does he or she make the purchasing decisions for your product or service?
• What does the prospect have in common with my current clients?
• What do you want to accomplish with each call? Do you want to set up a meeting, send literature or provide a quote?

Plan Your Approach

Once you have answered these and other relevant questions, you should then prepare an outline or script that will help you achieve your goal. Certainly you do not want to sound as though you are reading a script, but having prepared notes will keep you on track and make every word count. Keep in mind that the impression you make during the first 20 to 30 seconds can make or break your first contact by phone. Do not waste the prospect's time with meaningless attempts at familiarity such as “how are you today”. Get to the point and avoid chitchat.

The first thing you need to do when you make the call is to introduce yourself by stating your first and last name and your company name. “My name is John Smith and I am the owner/manager of ABC, a local moving company that specializes in company moves.”

Focus on the Purpose of your Call

The next step is to use what you know about the prospect to state the purpose of your call. It is usually most effective when you can relate what you know about the prospect's activities or business interests to the service or product that you intend to talk about. For example: “I was reading an article on local businesses that are planning to relocate to the new industrial park and noticed that your company was mentioned. The reason I am calling is that I understand you're the person who's in charge of this project.”

Make sure you have prepared a clear, simple statement that indicates what the benefits might be if they do business with you. A brief case study can help convince the person to ask for more detail. For example, “We were able to move XYZ to their new location over the course of one weekend so that there was minimal disruption to their business.” But make sure your clients agree to your mentioning their names before you start name dropping.

Overall, prepare a script that is polite, informative and direct. If you are going to train others in your company to make the calls, this preparation will help ensure consistency of your message. If you prepare frequently asked questions and answers, these are handy for quick reference when placing the calls. Callers should also be prepared for times when they do not know the answer, including jotting down the question, indicating they will call back with the answer and making sure they follow up as soon as possible.

Making the Call

Be very attentive for signs that suggest the prospect is distracted, rushed or annoyed. Since the last thing you want to do is to appear insensitive or inconsiderate, acknowledge the importance of their time. A comment such as: “You seem to be very busy so I won't take up much of your time” can help make this point. Depending on how the prospect responds, it may be appropriate to reschedule the telephone call to a more convenient time. Alternatively, if the prospect agrees to give you a few minutes, then you should proceed with the call.

Focus on the Prospect's Needs

At this point, you should be able to sense whether the prospect is interested in speaking to you. If you've made it to this point, it is a good indication that the prospect has some interest in what you have to say. Still, before you go on any further, it is important to ask: “This will only take a few minutes. Is this a good time?” If there is some hesitation, you might ask for a more convenient time to call or even suggest a meeting.

Even if the prospect wants to continue the conversation, a face-to-face meeting is still your ultimate goal. Before you hang up the telephone, try to arrange an on site meeting with the prospect.

Be Flexible

As events rarely happen in the order that you expect, do not try to make your phone call conform exactly to the order outlined above. The best approach is to have as much information as possible about the prospect on hand along with a general plan of how you want the conversation to unfold, but with the flexibility to adjust to a change in direction should it occur.

And if you get voice mail? Avoid leaving voice mail messages the first two times you call. If you still cannot reach the person after the third call, then leave a voice mail message. But make sure your message includes a compelling reason for the person to return your call.

Timing and Follow-up

Keep in mind that prospects may not have an immediate need the first time around. If they express any interest, be sure to keep this information on file and follow up appropriately.