What is a cold call? - Pros and cons and should you use it? (2023)

Ah, the cold calling. One of thethree typesofoutgoing calls. One of the oldest sales tactics in the game, one that many of us have developed a sense of skepticism about.

But consider this.69% of buyersaccept a cold callof a business AND82% of buyershe would beaccept a meetingwith a representative after speaking with them via cold calling.

Actually, there's moreoutgoing call statisticsout there that show that cold calling is far from 'dead'.

However, the fact that cold calling is often misinterpreted and confused with spam calls shows how little people really know about cold calling.

YIn factIs it cold calling what you ask? Is it as bad as people make it out to be? Should you use it?

Well, you came to the right place. We are going to answer everything you are wondering about cold calling in this article. Let's dig into that.

Many people probably confuse spam calls with unwanted calls.

To clear the air, cold calling isNosimply picking up the phone and dialing a random number renders the sales pitch ineffective. no, that would bea bad call.

This is spam, failed and yes, dead.

On the other hand, cold calling is one of themore effectiveways to improve your sales if you do it right.

After all, according to a study, companies that don't cold call42% less growththan those who do.

So what is a cold call?

A cold call is a call to youdo for potential customersthat you selected based on previous searches. but you hadno prior contactwith them and they have not yet appearedprevious intention.

This means that the potential customer:

• You have not completed your web form.
• He expressed no interest in the product.
• It was not a contact purchased from a major vendor.
• I did not call you

Simply put, the prospect is not interested in you. Still.

The call is considered "cold" because you have not yet established a "warm" relationship with the prospects.

The purpose of this call isto generate intention. Sales reps may want to avoid focusing on selling the product or service on the first call, as it may appear inauthentic. You don't want to come across as a company that doesn't really care about the business problems of its potential customers.

Cold calling may be an old strategy, but it hasn't outlived its usefulness yet. In fact, it is still widely used by many industries.

B2C and B2B companies use them as an integral part of their sales strategies. This is because cold calling, when done correctly, can generate a lot of high-quality leads.

Let's take a look at some of the industries that use cold calling.

SafeBusinesses greatly benefit from the use of cold calling strategies. They use it to help with sales.

Insurance call centers use their highly experienced and licensed agents to sell policies like life insurance, health insurance, car insurance and much more!

Selling banking products and services typically requires you to be proactive when it comes to generating leads.

This is where cold calling comes in.

Along with other strategies, cold calling helps reps build and maintain a connection and relationship with their prospects.

Travel and hospitality companies use cold calling strategies to connect quickly and cheaply with clients, hotels, local tourism businesses, etc., spread all over the world.

They typically target travelers during peak travel periods and offer discounts and deals.

Also, through cold calling, they seek to connect with companies that praise their services and build a better relationship with them.

Also, using outbound calling software helps keep them connected with reduced international calling bills.

The interesting thing about cold calling is that it is usually done by companies with good outbound calling software. Basically, an outbound calling software connects all your systems (phone, mobile, online platforms) and collects and manages data from all of them.

In short, successful companies tend to have outbound calling software. Companies with the software tend to use it for cold calling.

But it can be used for much more than that: this type of software increases the effectiveness of all customer-facing teams, from salespeople to customer service staff.

If you want to see how it works, you can refer to some of thetop rated outbound calling softwareout there.

Once on the phone, you can learn more about your prospect's business needs.

There is so much you can discover through your preliminary research. As short as the conversation is, you can gain more insight into what is important to the prospect.

You can use this information to tailor a sales pitch at a later time that acknowledges specific pain points. You can offer a value proposition that can be hard to resist.

By showing genuine interest in prospects and your business from the very beginning of the call, you allow business conversations to flow naturally without pushing them to commit to buying your product.

Other cold communication methods, such as emails, tend to be less effective. In a mini-survey ofhubspot, more than 37% of respondents have between 11 and more than 50 unread emails.

That means yououtreach emailsyour prospects are much less likely to notice them than your phone calls. I mean, how can anyone not notice a vibrating or ringing phone?

This, in turn, makes your prospect more likely to strike up a conversation with you.

Cold calling is a great way to get feedback from your prospects.

Since you are more likely to talk to your prospects compared to other cold communication methods, you are also more likely to gather more qualitative information from your prospects.

When you're trying to build a relationship with your prospects and create intentions, you can ask them more about what they think of your product or service.

Do you think there is a great product/service fit? Do you think the price range is acceptable? Do you prefer free trials or are live demos enough?

The feedback you collect from these conversations can be used to tailor your product or service to better meet the needs and wants of your target group.

Cold calls can be made from anywhere in the world. You can easily make local and international calls at an affordable price.

Comcold calling software, you can even automate the whole process!

This allows you to expand your business across borders more easily.

While it is quite mandatory to use cold calling software these days, the price is much more affordable than you might think.

The basic plan prices of many outbound calling software range from $14 to $50 per agent per month.

Some people don't like receiving unexpected phone calls.

They may not want to take time out of their busy schedules to listen to a sales representative give an unsolicited presentation.

Also, even if the prospect answers the phone, you could catch them at a bad time or go to voicemail.

Because of this, you may alienate these potential customers. That's the risk you run when you cold call; people usually decide right away that they are not interested in hearing your presentation and do not want to be disturbed.

So make sure you know what the statistics say about a good time to cold call!

The chances of getting a lead can be low at times (depending on the industry and nature of the business).

and like any otherleading generationmethod, you will find people who are not interested in your product or service.

A sales representative can expect to receive a lot of rejection and sometimes even abusive language.

Then again, who said lead generation was an easy thing to do?

As with other sales strategies, success is not guaranteed even if you have some success.

make a cold callIt works very wellsometimes. But you can hit a rough patch very quickly and you won't be so lucky.

It can often be difficult to predict how many sales you will generate from cold calling.

Because of this, inconsistency can put your business at financial risk.

The trick is to combine cold calling with other strategies to make it work! There is never a standard sales method that you can apply to every situation.

Let's take a look at this infographic that summarizes all the advantages and disadvantages of cold calling.

Cold calling is hard.

You get a lot of negative feedback and more than a few views. Few people really like rejection. But it's part of cold calling life.

Before we dive into this life, let's look at the most common mistakes. After all, prevention is better than cure.

Sales reps should do everything they can to let their prospects know who they are long before they even make a call.

For example, how much they know about customer pain points, the industries they have served, and even their work experience.

So when they call, the prospect will be more inclined to listen to them.

A host of scammers give sales reps a bad name everywhere. This makes people skeptical of the sales calls they receive.

Sales reps can build credibility by participating in online discussions around a specific pain point. For example, they can answer questions from potential customers in online forums to show their knowledge on a specific topic.

This helps build the trust that potential customers will have in the sales reps.

Many (if not all) sales representatives have received calls at least a few times.

Ask yourself this. How did she feel when she heard the following from the sales reps?

• "Only for a limited time"
• “Special offer just for you”
• "It costs only..."

If you said you felt something like "fake," "mechanical," and/or "boring," you're not alone. However, for whatever reason, it's very common to hear sales reps utter these lines.

Prospects want real conversations from real people. Need to think more aboutscriptssales pitches to further humanize the sales conversation.

If you make 6-10 calls a day, you're not really prospecting. That's not enough to have a fair chance of success.

According to a study, sales representatives earn on average45 calls per day, and the number of daily quality conversations is5.1 calls.

For cold calling to work, you need a list of targets already vetted and60 to 80 potential customers.

Nobodythey want to receive a call at 8 a.m. m. Monday morning when they sit down to start their work week. For this reason, the probability that you will come into contact with someone who is willing to answer the phone at 8:00 am on Monday is very low.

The best time to call someone largely depends on who you're trying to contact, and more importantly, the person.personal behavior

A much-cited study says that cold calling is70% more successthe Wednesdays. The best time of the day is considered between4pm a 5pm.

To be successful, you need to generally know the best times of day to cold call, as well as understand your audience's typical workday so you can connect with them.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by cold calling, you're not alone. No two calls are the same, making for an exciting experience. Although sometimes it is scary.

While cold calling has its own shortcomings, it can stillachieve great resultswhen done correctly.

Let's take a look at some ways sales reps can improve their cold calling tactics.

You have to know who you're after. And with the tools available today, there's no excuse for making a cold call.

Be sure to do your homework before using the technique.

Doing in-depth research and gathering more information about potential customers helps you narrow down your contact list to a group of people most likely to express interest in your business.

This will help increase your chances of generating intent and eventuallychangedthem on their clients.

You know how athletes watch replays of their games or matches to see how they did? You must start doing the same.

Record all your sales calls, and at the end of the day or week, come back and listen to the most important sales conversations.

You want to study good and bad calls. Good calls will allow you to review which of your tactics is working. You can continue to use these tactics or modify them for more success.

The calls that didn't go so well? These have even greater value.

By figuring out what didn't work, you can improve your process and start generating more sales through cold calling.

Actually,many outgoing call softwarecomes with this feature!

We hope this has given you a clearer understanding of what cold calling is and how it can help you in your sales activities.

After discussing the importance and benefits of cold calling even today, you might want to give it a try!

But with a variety of software with the same basic features that complement cold calling, it's hard to make a decision.

Fortunately, we have prepared a list ofThe 20 best outbound calling softwareto warm up your cold calls. We discuss the basic features of each product and provide ratings from various technical analysis sites. We hope this can help you make a more informed purchasing decision.