Is cold calling dead? In a digital world where twitter and facebook are billed as the new ‘connection’ tools and where friends and contacts are easily made within a 160 character reference, is there place left for cold calling?
Online networking is great for building relationships, but don’t let that fool you into believing the cold calling technique is dead. Far from it. A single phone call can achieve invaluable results:
- One phone call can replace hours spent trying to figure out the right person to connect to.
- A well place phoned call can identify sales barriers, and lets you offer immediate resolutions to positive end results.
- A phone call can be a direct, personal tool that promotes a conversation between two people, without the risk of an audience eavesdropping or an email being sent to the junk folder.
While one can hardly discount the value of the digital world when it comes to sales, a true pro knows there’s an equal value to be placed on cold calling. In fact obtaining a referral over the phone (call the company and ask Mr. X. who the person you need to speak to is, and then call them using Mr. X’s name as a reference) can be easier than having a stranger recommend you on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Having said this, as buying behavior is changing, so must cold calling techniques if they are to continue to work as a sales tool. In fact, there are companies like CCSI in Boston, which actually specialize in the modern method of cold calling. In an interview with Kathy Tito, the then Director of New Business Development and Marketing for CCSI, she outlined developing sales trends with regards to cold calling. According to her:
- It’s important to laser target each new prospect through a series of pre-calling campaigns, where you obtain specifics relevant to your business and then proceed with making a call.
- Similarly, by testing new campaign approaches, you gain a better perspective of what will and will not work with the potential client.
- Cold calling can be used to win over new clients, but it can also be a successful means to get current clients to renew orders or make multiple purchases, thereby increasing your sales by spreading out laterally.
The demise of the field rep is another reason telephone calls become all the more important, especially in a B2B setting, where speed and reliability trump face to face personalized attention. Cold calling can lay the path to a more sophisticated sales approach, via webcams, teleconferences, and video conferences, and will help the salesperson get his foot into the door before he is ousted by the competition.
The key to being successful is being consistent in your calling and being unfazed by early rejection. We’ll be exploring more techniques in Part Two and Three of this series, but consistency and persistence are two elements that continue to crop up when it comes to cold calling. Tracking your successes and failures is another way to measure if your cold calling technique is working, and allows you the means to improve it.
