Is Cold Calling DEAD?
Is Cold Calling a dead sales art or does it still have a role to play?
Cold calling, often looked down upon and viewed as a throwback to an earlier era of less cultured sales, still maintains a place within 21st-century sales teams, albeit in an evolved form. I am a great believer in a professional cold calling outreach process, however, one that still works ethically within our modern era. In today’s sales landscape, it fits into a broader, multi-channel strategy that can include social selling, email outreach, and digital marketing. Here’s how cold calling is utilised effectively by modern sales teams:
Targeted Approach
Gone are the days of random dialling and smashing out the telephone directories. Now, sales teams use data analytics and customer relationship management (CRM) tools to target their calls more effectively. They focus on prospects with a higher likelihood of interest based on their online behaviour, industry, role, or previous interactions with the company. It’s more efficient this way IF you do this correctly. Which is where sales training comes in, of course.
Integration with Digital Tools
Cold calling is often preceded by other forms of contact, such as LinkedIn connections or email introductions. This multi-touch approach ensures that a cold call isn't truly "cold" but is part of a sequence of touchpoints. Perhaps we could say it’s the era on tepid calling? Warm calling? Room temperature calling?
Value-First Approach
Modern salespeople are trained to provide value on the first call. Rather than pushing a product, they focus on understanding the prospect's challenges and offering solutions, thus positioning themselves as consultants rather than just sellers. This is where having the ability to ask the right questions, acknowledge the customers response and follow up with further relevant questions.
Combining with Social Selling
Social selling allows salespeople to engage with potential customers on social media platforms, building relationships and gaining valuable insights into their interests and needs. When a call is eventually made, it's informed by these interactions, making it warmer and more personalised. But the engagement on social itself shouldn’t be ‘selling’ or too ‘pushy’.
Enhanced Training and Scripts
My sales training now emphasises emotional intelligence, active listening, and problem-solving. I train salespeople to think independently to move towards using scripts as guides rather than rigid templates, allowing for more natural and engaging conversations. Understanding the Assertive sales model is a key element to becoming a ‘natural sounding salesperson’.
Leveraging CRM Systems
Modern CRMs allow sales teams to document each interaction, helping to refine tactics and strategies based on past successes or failures. The insight gathered during calls is also valuable for marketing and product development. Having ‘cold calling skills’ is very beneficial for all customer interactions as it’ll help open more sales opportunities when talking to customers, enhancing results.
Respect for Time and Boundaries
21st-century salespeople are more conscious of prospects’ time. Calls are shorter, to the point, and often scheduled via email or social media interactions, however, the use of open-ended questioning will allow customers to dictate how long the calls will be and this is where training can assist salespeople in the latter end of the conversation, learning how and when to close the deal. Too soon and it’ll fail as if you talk for too long and you lose the client through time constraints.
Regulatory Compliance
With regulations like GDPR, modern sales teams are more careful about cold calling to ensure compliance with privacy laws. They make sure to call within legal parameters and maintain high ethical standards. However, you can make calls to ask ‘what’s the best way to introduce the business’ and use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to find the relevant contact, saving even more time and making life easier all round.
Measuring ROI and Effectiveness
Sales teams now have access to advanced analytics to measure the success of cold calling efforts. They can track metrics such as conversion rates, call length, and sales closed from calls to determine the ROI, technology on telephone systems that are often VOIP mean it’s never been easier to track results, and track improvements from training as well.
Personalisation
Using available data, calls are tailored to address the potential client's specific business case, industry trends, and personal role within the company, which can dramatically increase success rates whilst reducing the combative elements of having to deal with the ubiquitous gatekeepers.
For example, I teach a process whereby you add a step in the process, with the first call, being an introductory call, that respectfully asks to make an appointment to have the first sales call, which delivers superb results.
In summary, while cold calling may seem antiquated, when updated with new strategies and technologies, it remains a viable tool for 21st-century sales teams. It's all about making smart, researched, and respectful introduction calls that provide value and build relationships, rather than making sales on the spot.
If you’d like to know how my strategic coaching, training, and consulting can get your teams making effective cold calls that deliver results, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you.