​BIGAIESEC
Calling the company? Oh noooo...
Yes, calling unknown people seems scary. Unknown companies - even more scary. You cannot see the person on the other side of the line, you cannot guess if the place/time is right, if they have a good mood and so on. You can't make pre-judgement based on their physical apperarance, gestures, posture and behaviour before you actually approach them. And from all the assets you have, you are also left to make them interested with your voice and the things you say only.
Seems harsh, right?
The good news are: you still have your voice and your brain. So it is vitally important that you utilise those when making a call.
Where to start?
Prepare. Make yourself comfortable. Take a cup of coffee or a friend's hand, if that helps. Browse through the company website, news about the company, history of contacts, try to imagine which kind of people are working there, what are they doing at the moment (if your thought is "having lunch" or "going home", maybe that's not the right time to call. overall, the best calls are made during the working days between 9:30 and 11 am). Take a pen and a paper, open your calendar.
1
2
It is important to remember that you are the representative of a global company with 65 years of history which has good product and many respectable clients. Try to feel like that. You're not asking for anything, you're a professional who offers a business solution for the company's needs. It is a common mistake that the person who is making a call doesn't feel confident, and has a feeling that the company is superior to him. No! That is not true.
Overall, if you have done your homework (meaning finding the potential companies), I don't see any single reason why the company should decline the offer of meeting with you.
Now take this phone and call!
-
Introduce yourself: "Good morning. This is Alexandra from AIESEC."
-
Ask if the person has time: "Do you have a minute to talk?/Am I calling at a suitable moment?"
-
Explain WHY you are calling this company AND compliment on the company: "I am calling you because I was browsing your website and saw that your company is planning to expand/run new project/needing new talents/something else. And actually I was really impressed how fast you managed to develop, since you've started only 2 years ago!/And this projects seems pretty amazing to me/And the impression I've got that is would be an honour to work in this company/something else." Research on any current news about them! They'll be happy that you mention you know about them.
-
They might talk a bit about the project you've mentioned. Or not.
-
Tell your goal: "That's why I am calling you - I would like to have a meeting to discuss if we could cooperate. Because in AIESEC, we bring young international talents (but if you call in Finnish - trainees) with the excellent professional and leadership skills to the companies like yours, and I think it would be beneficial especially for this project/expansion/etc. Do you think we could meet and discuss this or maybe other ways of cooperation?"
-
The answer is yes. "Great, so should we, let's say (look at your calendar), meet on Wednesday at 10 am or 12 pm? Excellent! Shall I come to your office? Thank you, have a nice day!"
-
The answer is that you're speaking with the wrong person. That's ok. "Thank you! Could you please tell me the phone number of the right person to talk to about that? Thank you very much, have a great day!" And then repeat the same thing with the other person.
Success! Your meeting is booked.
TIP! Always try to reach the highest person in charge, CEO would be the best.
TIP! When calling an IT company, also add that we have a network of selected best IT universities we bring the people from.