Why Do You Cold Call?

To answer “Why Do You Cold Call?” correctly, we must first agree on the definition of cold calling.

Cold Calling: Contacting any prospect that is not currently raising their hand.

So why do you do it? Why would you pick up the phone (or craft an email or a text or a LinkedIn message) to a prospect that has not shown interest in solving a problem with your solution – or even recognized that they have a problem?

The only answer should be:

“Because you do not have enough pre-qualified prospects raising their hand.”

Businesses need revenue to sustain their viability. Income keeps Sales VP’s, Directors, SDRs, BDRs, and Account Executives employed.

Without profitable revenue flowing in, no one has a job. As a result, salaries aren’t paid, which means your bills don’t get paid.

If the company that employs you is not getting enough inbound (warm) leads, outbound (cold calling) is a must to survive.

In “sales,” we all want warm inbound leads. If you or your team or company is not in a position to have them right now, sitting around waiting for that to change is not a sustainable plan of action.

Without revenue, job positions get eliminated, and if you are in sales and not producing, you are first to go as you cost the company money. It’s that simple.

“But buyers prefer to buy on their own time.”

This is true. When YOU want to make a purchasing decision, you prefer to do it how YOU want to navigate the process.

However, the keyword here is BUYER – As in “warm lead” or “hand-raiser.”

If you had enough inbound leads that were pre-qualified (your target ICP – Ideal Customer Profile), you would not need to make cold calls.

So what do you do if you are in sales and you do not have enough inbound leads to close to hit the numbers your company requires?

You have to pick up the phone and make cold calls.

It’s called SURVIVAL. At least that’s what it’s always been for me.

You don’t have to “like” cold calling.

I have found it odd when I see people on LinkedIn say they “love it.”

But if you are in a role that requires you or your team to generate revenue and lacks the inbound leads needed to hit your numbers, you have to be very good at cold calling.

Otherwise, what is the alternative?

How to Cold Call Successfully

To cold call requires you to know the proper steps, practice, and execute consistently.

What are the “Proper Steps” to Cold Calling?

The proper steps to successful cold calling start with:

Know what Problems your target audience HAS TO HAVE, regardless of whether they realize they have a problem right now or not.
Know who your target audience/buyers are. This includes simple things such as Industry, Location, Employee Size, Annual Revenue, and Titles.
Knowing what to say to pique interest and what sales questions to ask (and why) to engage prospects in a sales conversation.

Steps #1 and #2 are super easy and can be accomplished in under an hour.

Step #3 requires training to have the phone skills to call a prospect, grab their attention, and get them involved in a sales conversation. If you or your team currently possess those skills, cold calling generates revenue for you.

If cold calling is not producing the level of success you need it to, and you want a simple easy to learn solution, this online course may help.

How Cold Calling Increases Warm Closing

The great thing about learning how to become an expert at cold calling is when you do get a warm inbound lead, if you follow the same steps you used to be successful at cold calling, your close rate will go up!

The exact steps to success at cold calling are used when a warm lead comes your way:

Pique Interest,
Engage,
Qualify on Problems/Role/Time-Frame/Price,
Present/Demo,
Close

If you are not following a sequential set of sales steps, your success in sales is simply by chance rather than skill. Low sales skills level also requires more effort (think “more dials”) when you have inadequate phone sales skills.

When you know all the steps that need to happen during a sales call, your confidence and numbers will go up!

– Michael Pedone

Michael Pedone is the founder of SalesBuzz.com: Phone Sales Training Course that Reduces Turnover, Increases Pipeline, and Shortens Sales Cycles.

Try a free class today.