Does your business do cold calling?
Having trouble making it effective?
In 2007 it took on average 3.68 attempts to reach a prospect, today it takes 8 attempts to reach a prospect.
This is why most sales people give up when they cannot reach their prospects.
If your work is in sales then I’m sure you know the pitfalls of cold calling. I know myself as when we first started in business I did some of this kind of calling, but now, although we still do a lot of calling, they aren’t so cold anymore.
I will go back to that in a minute but first I would like to discuss the problems of cold calling. No one wants to cold call, we all want better ways to reach our prospects.
The problem with cold calling
If you have ever done any kind of cold calling for a period of time then you will know that it takes a lot of calls to get one interested prospect. You will also know that when you call you do not know if you’re going to be able to reach the person you are calling, never mind if they are interested in what you are selling.
People don’t want to be sold to anymore.
The rate of response for cold calling is very low, only 2% of cold calls result in an appointment. I reckon this is a lot of wasted telephone calls.
Could you and your sales team be spending your time better?
Not only is it time consuming and results in low response rate, cold calling could also harm your brand.
If the first contact you make with a prospect is interrupting them with a sales call this is not a great start to your relationship. Some prospects will take a major dislike to you interrupting their busy day and they may not be open to what you have to say.
How inbound marketing brings leads to you
If people don’t want to be interrupted then how do you reach them?
Your prospects want to do their own research to discover who and what are the best products and services to use.
Inbound marketing was designed to draw your prospects to you. If you create the content they are looking for, then when they do their research and you are helpful, these prospects will come to you.
By nurturing your cold prospects to warm ones, with helpful content via email, content marketing and social media, you will create prospects who know and trust you.
So when you do reach out to contact them, they are no longer cold because they have already shown an interest in your company as you have consistently helped them in their buying decision.
They will also see you as a trusted brand and expert within your industry.
Cold calling Warm calling in an inbound world
The way to approach a prospect via inbound is different. The prospect may have already downloaded your expert information on their particular problem.
They may also have downloaded some content that is specific to your unique positioning and already have an idea of what it will be like to work with you.
So they know you.
Already a huge advantage over cold calling.
Not only this but the average cost per lead from inbound is 60% less than outbound.
But before you make this call you need to first research your prospect, find out all you can about them to discover if they are a good fit for your business.
Take a look at their LinkedIn profile to see what their position within the company is as perhaps they are not the decision maker and they may be able to make an introduction to the right person.
Look at their interests and try to get an understanding of who they are. Look at their website and read their about us page. There is nothing worse than getting a call from someone who knows nothing about you or your business.
Go the extra mile to personalise the call to them.
Be consistent, if you cannot reach them send them an email explaining who you are and how it will benefit them to speak to you. Don’t talk about what specifically you sell, offer them some free tips or help.
Remember it takes 8 attempts to reach a prospect but don’t harass them. Let a good time to lapse before calling them again.
Key take aways
Cold calling is very time consuming and the response rate is low. So why not spend that time creating content that attracts your prospects to you. When you do reach out to them they are more aware of who you are and have already shown an interest in doing business with you.
Do your research before contacting them, be consistent and make sure you are speaking to the right person.
Now it’s your turn
What’s your thoughts on cold calling? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.