Does targeted cold calling still have its place in modern sales?

[antropy]

There have been lots of discussions from people on either side of the fence when it comes to cold calling. On one side it potentially allows you to speak to the main decision maker and highlight how you can help their business. On the flip side you are taking time out of their day unexpectedly and this may not go down too well, thus making your business proposal less appealing. I would be interested to know everyone's thoughts about whether cold calling is still part of a sales process and if not what sales method you have found to better this?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Well targeted and addressed cold-calling is highly effective - and the more people move to electronic communication, the more effective it will become.

 

[sherbetdipdab]

Not tried it for a few years now. 10 years ago, yes. Depending on what you were selling of course. It was a great reminder to people. Even if they don't take the call! It's thingy bob on the phone for you about switching to them. Tell them I'm in a meeting. It at least reminds them. Maybe even makes them go ahead to stop you calling.

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

As Mark alludes to, the more that people that believe cold-calling is dead, or doesn't work, or they are too sensitised to phone calls due to reliance on other communication methods, the more effective it becomes for those who do use it.

I use very targeted cold calling quite extensively - it is the main driver for revenue for one major part of my business.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

Not for me. If I receive a cold call then I immediately assume they are trying to sell me something where the only beneficiary will be them.

 

[cjd]

Depends a lot on the industry. In mine it's been thrashed to death for many years and everybody is thoroughly sick of it.

I think it's a pretty general feeling that people really don't like cold callers though.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Depends a lot on the industry. In mine it's been thrashed to death for many years and everybody is thoroughly sick of it.

I think it's a pretty general feeling that people really don't like cold callers though.

Nobody ever says that they like being sold to, yet sales as a profession continues to thrive.

It is largely about the subtlety and relevance of the approach.

Personally I'm somewhat receptive to telesales, but will cut them short if their script (or presentation) is rubbish, or if they dive into closing on me - I will buy on the back of a telesales call, but never within the space of that single call.

 

[Countrymun]

We still get calls (most are for energy supplies and their script invariably starts with 'Am I speaking to the business owner or someone with authority to make financial decisions' which means we can get rid of them quickly.)
But we get a few calls from potential fabric suppliers as well as magazines (some of them online) wanting us to advertise and although I wouldn't buy over the phone I usually check out their mag/website and number of subscribers and once or twice we have gone on to advertise with them.

 

[EmployMe]

Well targeted and addressed cold-calling is highly effective - and the more people move to electronic communication, the more effective it will become.

I agree! But I don't like to be the target of cold-calling

 

[antropy]

Thank you everyone for the comments, very insightful from both sides of the coin! Alex

 

[aleksandrkop]

Well targeted and addressed cold-calling is highly effective - and the more people move to electronic communication, the more effective it will become.

I second that. THe problem with inefficient cold calling is not the method per se – the bottleneck is the "who you are calling to". You have to make a good research work to get the decision maker contact for your product/service.

 

[aleksandrkop]

But I don't like to be the target of cold-calling

Usually no one does, but that is the catch: if you are the decision maker for that targeted call, the odds that you might be interested are higher.

And I think the cold eMail has the same effect, just without the awkward out of the blue phone ringing.

 

[BizziBee]

No

 

[The Ecom Guy]

I am also interested in this aspect as i am very new in my venture, when i am in a position to serve clients i am well aware i will have to dedicate a lot of personal time to gaining trust and generating potential leads.

For me personally, networking events will be where i hope to succeed most, but after that in the agencies infancy it will be targetted cold calling to local businesses. Hopefully will only need to do this for 12 - 18 months by which time i need to ensure the quality of my work preceeds me and word of mouth does its duty.

From what i have read (not experienced) i would assume these days you can make a cold call with enough research onto the company in question more of a luke warm call. You know the names of the people you need to speak to, the job titles, emails, etc. Makes it that much easier to strike up a conversation to gain some form of credibility which is key

 

[Graham Tyers]

Properly targeted 'cold calls', don't feel like cold calls to the recipient. It feels like you've read their mind, and the call is the call they wanted to receive just at that moment; and you calling them will have saved them the trouble of picking the phone up themselves to start shopping around.

That's how you cold call.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Research but don't prejudge their ability to pay.

Cold calling works, if done properly it works superbly well.

 

[antropy]

No

Any reason why?

 

[BizziBee]

Any reason why?

Yes, it annoys people and from a personal perspective I immediately go into defence mode and assume the cold call is a scam

 

[antropy]

Yes, it annoys people and from a personal perspective I immediately go into defence mode and assume the cold call is a scam

With some cold calls yes I agree i.e. when a recruiter calls you out of the blue you do get defensive. However as pointed out if done correctly then the call becomes warmer as you go along. It really depends on your approach to the call, if you come across as a genuine knowledgeable person then you can have a lot of success. If you sound salesy and just try to push a sale on someone then it is always going to go downhill. Alex

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

Yes, it annoys people and from a personal perspective I immediately go into defence mode and assume the cold call is a scam

Not all people. There's also a big difference in cold calling consumers/Joe Public and calling business for B2B.
Out of the many people I have cold called in the last few months, I have had 2 people who were in any way annoyed or defensive. That's 2 out of hundreds....

 

[antropy]

Not all people. There's also a big difference in cold calling consumers/Joe Public and calling business for B2B.
Out of the many people I have cold called in the last few months, I have had 2 people who were in any way annoyed or defensive. That's 2 out of hundreds....

I completely agree, very few businesses get annoyed that you have called them (especially if you know you can help them). I think a lot of it is down to your tone of voice and how you pitch your business to them. As I highlighted before if you are overly salesy then you will get peoples back up and no one likes to feel they are getting sold to. With everything in life you have good days and bad days through cold calling, sometimes you get 2 or 3 yes's but other times you get a whole host of no's. The key of perseverance and not to get downhearted if someone says no because at the end of the day you have called them out of the blue. Alex

 

[saythisinstead.co.uk]

Our only route to market is cold calling B2B. We get new customers this way every single day of the week. As others have said....it works better now than ever before [if you know what you're doing that is] because everybody else seems to think the internet is the only way to market. It definitely isnt.

 

[Felix Garcia]

I am sure it does. However it needs to be approached in a different way and should be oriented to build some sort of rapport or partnership with the recipient. As a marketing consultant, I use it to get more customers, but it needs to be done in a different way. If you are expecting to sell on a first call, you might be looking for naive people who are easy to manipulate. Not nice, is nt it? But if you are trying to reach out to potential customer to let them know you are here to help and follow up in the future quite a few times, that way you might have a chance.

 

[antropy]

I am sure it does. However it needs to be approached in a different way and should be oriented to build some sort of rapport or partnership with the recipient. As a marketing consultant, I use it to get more customers, but it needs to be done in a different way. If you are expecting to sell on a first call, you might be looking for naive people who are easy to manipulate. Not nice, is nt it? But if you are trying to reach out to potential customer to let them know you are here to help and follow up in the future quite a few times, that way you might have a chance.

Not many people buy after just 1 call. Usually it takes them to research your company and see what you have to say either in a follow up email and/ or follow up call at the very least.

 

[TheWebDesignCompany]

I really struggle with making effective sales calls.
I’m not a natural salesman.

We tried at one point buying the monthly new business lists, but never generated work from them. (Most of the numbers were wrong, or the business had been running for years and was a total waste of money)

We have always relied on our reputation to gain new clients. But I do wish I was better at sales...

 

[antropy]

I really struggle with making effective sales calls.
I’m not a natural salesman.

We tried at one point buying the monthly new business lists, but never generated work from them. (Most of the numbers were wrong, or the business had been running for years and was a total waste of money)

We have always relied on our reputation to gain new clients. But I do wish I was better at sales...

We hired someone who came from a sales background but acts as a Project Manager, Account Manager and helps to grow sales all rolled into one. We found that we got work through reputation as well but since we hired him (Alex) we have seen sales increase and we are busier than ever. We find that clients come through a mixture of direct, cold call, email marketing campaigns and informative blogs (this is tied into the marketing campaigns). The ones that have come from cold calling have generally already got a problem but never got round to contacting a company to get the issue sorted. With the right sales pitch, the turn around can be quite quick and when the issue is resolved quickly and to a high standard then you have a new client. The way I described it makes it sound very easy but even for a strong sales person like Alex you get a lot of people that say no or just want information sent across but the more people you contact the better chance you have of success. Hope that helps.

 

[Erika Jones]

There have been lots of discussions from people on either side of the fence when it comes to cold calling. On one side it potentially allows you to speak to the main decision maker and highlight how you can help their business. On the flip side you are taking time out of their day unexpectedly and this may not go down too well, thus making your business proposal less appealing. I would be interested to know everyone's thoughts about whether cold calling is still part of a sales process and if not what sales method you have found to better this?

It depends on the correct technique. Cold calling gives the opportunity to open up the conversation straight away with questioning and gain insight into customer preferences.

 

[JpeeL]

As soon as I see 020, 0330 or any type of number like that its declined, as soon as I hear 'can I speak to the owner of the business' the call is ended.
Piss off, leave me alone, If I need something then I will look for it I dont give a shit about your 'offers'!

 

[davidlee21]

We are B2b company and our majority of our client come through cold calling only.

 

[antropy]

As soon as I see 020, 0330 or any type of number like that its declined, as soon as I hear 'can I speak to the owner of the business' the call is ended.
Piss off, leave me alone, If I need something then I will look for it I dont give a **** about your 'offers'!

You sound like a lovely person to do business with...

 

[NickGrogan]

As soon as I see 020, 0330 or any type of number like that its declined, as soon as I hear 'can I speak to the owner of the business' the call is ended.
Piss off, leave me alone, If I need something then I will look for it I dont give a **** about your 'offers'!

020 is Greater London, are you saying that you don't do business with anyone in London?

 

[justinaldridge]

We did it for a specific campaign and it did work...but it was tough!

 

[antropy]

We did it for a specific campaign and it did work...but it was tough!

Targeted cold calling is tough and as I highlighted before you do get people that are not receptive to it. However those that you do call whereby it is a right place right time scenario, you could have a client for life. For me the pros outweigh the cons. Alex

 

[Chawton]

Targeted cold calling is tough and as I highlighted before you do get people that are not receptive to it. However those that you do call whereby it is a right place right time scenario, you could have a client for life. For me the pros outweigh the cons. Alex

So are you Alex or is he Alex? Or both? I'm confused now.

 

[antropy]

So are you Alex or is he Alex? Or both? I'm confused now.

Paul is the MD who has added comments and this is Alex. We usually sign of each comment depending on who it is but sometimes we forget. We share the same account so sorry for the confusion Alex

 

[Herbs]

Cold calling is a massive waste of time



However, targeted, well researched cold calling can be your most successful and cost effective marketing stream available. If calling B2B then before the phone is picked up, you should know the name of the person you want, what that business does and exactly what you can offer THEM to make them want to continue the conversation with you.

 

[MBE2017]

Cold calling is a massive waste of time.

Depends on your product and service, mass market no it is not, smaller markets reduce the rate of return.

No one rule works for everything, no single statement is correct either. Done well, targeted or mass appeal all change the success of cold calling, but the person doing the cold calling has the biggest effect on the level of return.

 

[Aurelius]

Cold calling is easy but as others have said it depends on the product you're selling and whether you're any good at it.

All of my company's sales were initially generated from telesales and then, as you get known, word of mouth and recommendation kicks in and I spend most of my time on account management.

Having said all that it doesn't even need to be targeted. I dialled the wrong number once and still picked up a sale out of it (the sale was less than £50 but made me feel really proud that I'd managed to do it).

 

[antropy]

Cold calling is easy but as others have said it depends on the product you're selling and whether you're any good at it.

I wouldn't say cold calling is easy, I think you have to have a knack of talking to people in the right way and have experience of soft selling to be good at it.

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

I would be interested to know everyone's thoughts about whether cold calling is still part of a salesprocess and if not what sales method you have found to better

Read the rest of this thread then....its literally about that very thing.