The right way to do cold calling (scripts included)

In today’s edition of marketing head-scratchers, we present the Nike x Tiffany & Co. “toothbrush.” A play on words, or a surprise move into the dental hygiene industry? The internet isn’t sure.

Hot off the SMB press this week:

• Why your business needs a centralized knowledge base.
• Mastering the art of cold calling (with example scripts).

But first, here are some headlines that caught our attention this week.

TL; DR

This week's highlight reel

• Free money alert! Barclays Bank is hosting a small business contest, and they're giving away 60 cash prizes, ranging from $2K to $60K. All you have to do is tell your SMB story — what makes your business unique and how you’re making it happen every day. You have until Feb. 27 to apply!
• January job jolt. Despite mass layoffs from Amazon, Meta, and Google — and continued spikes in interest rates — the U.S. job market added 517K jobs last month. This is more than double the number analysts had projected. Let’s hope this month gives us some love and continues the trend.
• Skrt, skrt. NYC is fighting the good fight against folks who try and overcompensate with obnoxiously loud cars. The Big Apple is installing traffic cameras that detect and ticket vehicles with illegally modified mufflers and tailpipes. The best part? Nobody knows where they are. 
• Operationalize your biz. How do you make business success predictable and consistent? Path for Growth founder Alex Judd is hosting a free webinar with the answers. Join us Feb. 13 and learn how to maintain quality through process delegation, practice healthy growth, and make a sustainable impact.

I GOT A LIFETIME OF KNOWLEDGE

Make sure your knowledge base has these 5 things

What’s a knowledge base?
A knowledge base is an easy-to-access collection of all your organization’s most need-to-know information.

Why do you need one?
Think of those processes or procedures that only you can execute to a tee. Now be honest — how many work calls do you take during PTO to explain them?

A knowledge base can turn all of that around. After all, smooth operations run on shared information. And with a central hub that has all the answers, your team can stay productive even when experts aren’t around to answer questions.

Here are five things you need to include in your small business knowledge base:

1. A company directory.
Over half of employees say they’d trade some compensation for more meaningful relationships with colleagues — that’s how valuable team connection is. But when your company composition is constantly changing (via hiring, promotions, role changes, and so on) how can you help your team members keep it all straight?

The company directory is a collection of team member names and information — like job title, contact info, department, and more. And it’s the resource that helps everyone stay connected and informed.

2. Org and role charts.
Your org chart shows team members’ names and information, too. But it shows who reports to who in a simple snapshot. Similarly, your role chart maps out the current (and future) reporting structure of your team by role. That way, there’s a perfect place for everyone — no matter how many departments they have their hands in.

Tip: Easily keep your company directory, org chart, and role chart up to date as you transition, scale, and add more players to your team with Trainual.

👉 See the last 3 knowledge base must-haves.

ICE COLD

The do’s and don’ts of successful cold calling (with free scripts!)

Ah, the cold call.
Cold calling — AKA, contacting potential customers you’ve never interacted with before — has been a popular sales method for many years. It can play an important part in any business' sales funnel — but it isn't exactly the most well-loved amongst potential customers.

We'll be blunt: A lot of people hate being cold called, especially in this day and age of robotic spam (and scam) calls. So, why is it still so popular amongst businesses?

It's a numbers game.
The success rate of cold calls ranges between 1% to 3% — pretty low. But if your business is making thousands of calls every week, you're still bringing in a steady flow of new customers.

Plus, there are a number of benefits that can explain why cold calling has remained such a viable method for prospecting:

• You reach new audiences who may not have heard of your products or services.
• It helps you refine your sales pitch.
• The responses you receive can provide valuable market research.

And cold calling is easy to introduce into your marketing strategy — all you need is a list of prospects and the right script to pitch your business.

But don’t just start dialing.
Cold calling is tough enough, and the last thing you want to do is make an already challenging task even harder. So, before you pick up a phone, go through these four steps:

1. Identify the industries you want to target. Which industries need your products or services? If you need a hint, take a look at your current customers and look for industry patterns.
2. Find the right customers. Find companies within your target industries and use LinkedIn to find the decision-makers within those businesses.
3. Collect information about your prospects. To personalize your script, you’ll want to gather info about your prospects and their companies. Look out for details like what the company does or how long your prospect has been with the company.
4. Write your script. You’ll want an introduction, a question to get your prospect engaged, your pitch, and a follow-up. To get you started, check out these example cold call scripts.

👉 More on cold calling (including the best time to call).

LOOK MA, WE MADE A PODCAST

This week on Organize Chaos

Quick, you only have 10 minutes before a hoard of football fanatics arrives for the Super Bowl party you completely forgot about. Do you:

1. Assemble a Chiefs versus Eagles-themed charcuterie board.
2. Mix together a sideline cooler of touchdown punch.
3. Listen to the latest episode of Organize Chaos.

As much as we love a good cheese selection, we wouldn’t blame you for choosing option 3. Because throughout the week, founder and CEO of Trainual, Chris Ronzio, offers up free entrepreneurial and small business leadership advice on the podcast, covering everything from people to processes to productivity — and how to organize your life around it all. The best part? Each bite-sized episode is less than 10 minutes.

Check out some of our most recent episodes:

• Advice for the next generation of entrepreneurs.‍
• What IRONMAN races can teach you about building a business.