The Truth About Cold Calling

Hey everyone, It’s Wednesday, I hope everyone’s week is going well. Today we are going to talk about a slightly different topic, but still a key marketing concept. That is the sales tactic of cold calling, approaching a person or a company with whom you have no prior contact or relationship.
This is a difficult strategy to make sales, as most people are not receptive to someone randomly trying to sell them something. It is much easier to do a “warm” sale where the person knows you or at least knows who you are. However, despite the challenges, this can work if done correctly. It is also great practice for sales in general, as if you can do a cold call successfully, a warm sale should be comparatively easy.
 

Create the Connection

One of the most important things you can do with any sale is to have a personal connection with who you are selling to. It doesn’t have to be anything deep, but if you can be different than other salespeople you will catch their attention in a good way. This is difficult on a cold call, but one small tip is to make sure you get their name and use it in all future contact. Another tip is to use social selling to learn about the person you are calling.  Most prospects are on LinkedIn or Facebook. What are their interests? What do you have in common? What college did they go to? A little personal touch like this goes a long way towards landing a sale. Additionally, it should sound like you are looking to help their company, not just hoping to make a sale.
 

Use the right approach

Additionally, when deciding how to approach someone, there are methods that work better than others. The best way is to approach in person, and make your case that way. It is harder to ignore you that way and it makes a larger impact than a phone call. Phone calls and emails do occasionally work, but they are less effective.
 

The Hard Truth

The truth about cold calling is that unfortunately it isn’t nearly as effective as warm selling. That is most likely why it is used infrequently, as there are better methods in both print and digital for selling your products and services.
Everyone here at Ten Golden Rules works very hard for our clients – and ourselves – to create warm leads. By using Social Media and content marketing, you can attract people to your products and services and warm their interest in your company.