You’ve probably heard that cold calling is dead. It’s been usurped by social selling, content and outbound email as a way of driving business. No self-respecting startup would stoop as low as to cold call, right?
Wrong. Cold calling is important! And should be done by sales professionals. Here are eight reasons why.
1. Cold calling is simple
What could be easier than picking up the phone and talking?
To skilled sales development reps, it comes naturally. You don’t need to spend hours crafting an email, or days putting together a piece of content. Just pick up the phone and dial.
Once you’re actually through to the prospect, they can’t ignore you. You will very quickly find out if they are interested or not. It’s immediate. You can’t say that about an email.
2. It’s the start of a relationship
In an age where so much prospecting is done virtually with intent data, a phone call gives you an opportunity to make a human connection.
Your call is your chance to make a great first impression, build rapport and help your B2B prospect.
3. You can put out a consistent message
When you do cold calling correctly, you have a tried and tested sales script that promotes your product the way you want it to.
You also have standardised remarks for dealing with sales objections. When these words are delivered by a knowledgeable, enthusiastic salesperson, you have a chance for success.
4. Cold calling makes you learn
No other B2B sales or marketing method gives you the opportunity to learn more than cold calling.
During sales prospecting, you can find out the challenges they’re facing. You can find out what other suppliers they’re using and what they think of them. You can find out what they think of your product. You can find out anything you want to know.
The information you gather during cold calling is important to understand the market. It helps you adapt your product to better serve your prospects’ needs. It helps you get a handle on your competition.
What other sales targeting method can do that?
5. You can get the edge over your competitors
When cold calling is done by professional salespeople, it can be very effective. However, so many businesses that don't care about sales diversity and training, don’t see success.
Companies are using inaccurate B2B data to compile their cold calling lists. Their salespeople aren’t trained well enough to get past gatekeepers, to read a script without sounding like a robot, or to ask for the next action.
They could even be going into it aiming for the wrong target, looking to sell when the best course of action is a face-to-face meeting.
Cognism Prospector helps ensure the data on your list is as accurate as it can be. When you know who you’re talking to, you can hit them with the right messages at the right time.
If you can put more thought into where you find your list data and how your salespeople talk to your prospects, you can win. You can be one of the rare businesses doing B2B cold calling well.
6. Cold calling is measurable
All cold calling activity is immediately measurable.
Outbound sales software can tell you exactly how many calls your salespeople are making, as well as how many prospects they are speaking to. You can measure how many calls are leading to appointments.
You can listen in on calls to find out which lines are working and which aren’t. You can use recordings to coach your salespeople for higher cold calling success rates.
Learn about the importance of direct dials in increasing cold calling efficiency stats.
7. It’s cost-effective
Sure, it doesn’t cost much at all to send an email, but that’s not a conversation.
Face-to-face meetings lead to better quality engagement, but you need to pay for travel, lunch, and everything else. They also take time. You can’t do 50 meetings a day.
It's where the importance of outbound cold calling is noticeable. It gives you the best of both worlds. A conversation where you can build rapport, learn and sell, for the price of a phone call.
8. You can make your cold calls warmer
Cold calling doesn’t mean phoning up a total stranger. Not anymore.
In fact, there’s no excuse for calling up a prospect without finding out a bit about them first.
LinkedIn makes it simple to find out exactly who you’re talking to. You can find out what exactly they do and where they have worked before. You can search for ways you can help them or connect on a more personal level.
It’s not stalking. It’s B2B prospecting!
You can use LinkedIn messaging templates or use automated email lists to warm calls up, so when you call them, they might already know something about your product.
Cognism provides email automation that helps you reach your ideal prospects when they’re at their most receptive.
💡 Tip! If you're looking for more cold calling insight, you might enjoy these articles on objection handling and cold email templates.
Become a cold calling champion
If you’d like to see more resources on how to master the art of cold calling, follow Cognism on LinkedIn 👇
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