The Modern Day Cold Call

In today’s digital age, calling prospects may seem like an old-fashioned method of reaching out. After all, who needs to talk when you can text, email or even communicate over social media? The truth is, if you really want to connect with prospects, however, a live conversation on the phone is often the best way to go.

Talking on the phone with prospects is a great way to build a rapport that leads to stronger client relationships. It also helps to avoid the types of miscommunication that can cause deals to fall through at the last minute.

Surprisingly, research shows that in the past five years, more and more companies have put additional resources into training their sales staff on the value of talking with prospects on the phone. Why? Because unlike the cold calls of years past, today’s cold calls occur after a prospect has had some contact with a business.

So what does the modern cold-calling process look like? First, potential customers are identified and research is conducted so that sales staff know something about the issues a prospect is having or problems he or she wants solved. In other words, what type of products and services a prospect actually needs.

At this point, some would argue that reaching out to a prospect by text or email would be just as effective as a phone call but this is not the case. People crave a personal touch. Further, the back-and-forth of a live conversation can help uncover issues that ensure that a client gets exactly what he or she is looking for in a product or service. Finally, there are subtle cues that can be picked up in phone conversations that are easy to miss during electronic communications.

Not that making calls is easy. Statistics show that 80 percent of closed sales require up to five follow-up calls. Unfortunately, many salespeople give up after just one. However, if the hard work is put in, cold calls pay off. What’s more, cold calling makes lead nurturing much easier. Calling leads is a great way to remain on their radar and convey the message that their business is important to you.

In the end, today’s cold calling methods do not dismiss modern lead generation and sales techniques but instead use these methods to make cold calling more effective. For example, researching companies on line, having an active presence on social media and tracking visitors to your website can help make sure that when you cold call a prospect, you won’t get a chilly response.