How to Cold Call Canadians

When cold calling Canadians, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind. Just as diverse as Canadians Alex Trebek, Shania Twain, Mike Myers and Celine Dion are, so too are the Canadian people. Canada is a polite, resilient multicultural nation. We thrive on our individuality and respect the customs of our indigenous people, and our French and British cultures. Our unique open-mindedness makes us a lot less intimidating to cold call than other nationalities.

Confidant cold calling is all about preparation and attitude. If you know your product, your customer and your approach, cold calling is a breeze. The first thing you need to do is to define your product. What exactly are you selling? Why would a Canadian want to purchase your product or service? What makes your product or service better than your competitors? You need to know why a Canadian would benefit from purchasing your product or service.

The next step in the cold calling process is to identify your potential customer. Conduct research to find out who exactly makes the purchase decision in that company. Be sure you reach the correct person. Canadians do expect you to be accurate and respect their positions.You can use the internet to investigate the company (Trigger Events!) or call the company itself and ask who in their company makes those purchase decisions. If possible, contact that person via email or by sending them an introductory letter and sales brochure telling them you would like to speak with them about your product. Increase the postage on your material to Canadians and in the letter or email, tell them when you will be calling them. Allow a few extra days when sending material out of the country (from US for example), then call them a couple of days after you believe they have received the initial contact information.

Have a prepared script ready when you make the initial cold call taking into account the benefits of your product to Canadians. Remember that Canadians are extremely polite and expect you to be. We buy differently. We want to be heard. So, when calling be sure to ask if it is a convenient time for them to talk to you. If it isn’t, immediately ask to re-schedule at a better time. Canadians value honest, forthright communications. Be extremely straight-forward and helpful. Remember that the initial call is not necessarily to make a sale but to begin building a relationship with the client. We need relationship, rapport, and empathy. With that attitude, sales will follow.

Oh, and by the way, we don`t live in igloos.