Nowadays, many people think cold calling is dead, but you are wrong. With the adoption of cold-calling strategies, it is still beneficial for many businesses. Successful businesses mostly rely on cold calling to drive significant revenue.
But here’s a catch: It has been proven that organizations that didn’t experience cold calls had observed 42% less growth than those who used the tactic as per research conducted by Crunchbase.
According to Dale Carnegie Training, “cold calling makes up for 50% of new deals successful”.
Let’s dive into the concept of “ Top-rated cold-calling techniques for small businesses”.
Cold Calling Definition
Cold calling is the Sales and Marketing Strategy of placing outbound calls to leads, prospects, or potential customers who haven’t had any direct contact with you. It is a type of traditional sales activity that is used to generate and qualify new sales opportunities.
An outbound sales strategy in which sales reps make calls to unsolicited leads for selling products/services is called cold calling.
To put it differently, assume movies like “The Wolf Of Wall Street” are all about initiating a conversation with potential customers who haven’t heard of you yet.
Cold Calling as behold in the movies, is like a friendly knock on the door which leads to exciting opportunities! Thus, signifying that cold calling is the medium of expanding a customer base and promoting products/services directly to new buyers.
Simply recognizing the goal of cold calling! Generating interest, setting sales appointments, and finally closing deals is the ultimate objective.
This outbound marketing tactic is utilized to make a first-time connection. A sales salesperson makes an initial call to an interested person if a lead submits a form or is referred by someone. Other than this, sales reps collect the lists of cold call leads through subscription forms, referrals, networking, or even word of mouth.
Why does cold calling matter for small businesses?
Cold calling might look like an outdated sales strategy, but for small businesses, it is an effective and fruitful way to generate new leads and make a deal close. It’s all about picking up the phone and reaching out to potential new clients to make a deal. The results of this outbound marketing lead to higher quality.
A study by RAIN Group “Almost 50% of buyers prefer to be connected by phone and 82% of buyers accept meetings with sellers who proactively reach out through cold calling”.
- Cold calling doesn’t require a substantial marketing budget, instead, it’s accessible to small businesses with limited resources, and therefore it’s cost-effective.
- Small businesses can use outbound cold calling to target specific demographics or industries that are linked with their products/services.
According to Chorus, “55% of high-growing companies consider cold calling as one their main strategies”.
- Cold calling provides your small business with a competitive edge. It’s a great way to enhance a foothold and expand market share.
- Small businesses who successfully make cold calls, build valuable business relationships, ensuring long-term success.
4 strategic business goals of cold calling
Making initial contact with a potential customer is all about cold calling. But what about business goals? How to achieve them? So, we have mentioned four strategic business objectives which can be followed. These goals can be achieved step-by-step, fulfilling one-by-one i.e. lead generation, lead qualification, and so on…
Lead generation. Cold calling is used to introduce your business offerings and see if prospects seem interested or not.That’s where the lead generation comes where a potential buyer becomes aware and expresses interest in your product/services. This is the first stage in the sales funnel process.
Qualify a lead. Once the lead is generated through contact databases or web forms, cold calling is optimized for lead qualification. At this stage, you need to explore the leads’s budget, their buying decision, and the timeline of a potential purchase.
Prospect research. Seek contact information of the decision-maker and then identify their common pain points and offer solutions that your product/services can be fruitful for them in various aspects.
Contact after inquiry. Once they inquire about your product/services, immediately use cold calling to personally connect with them. Due to brand awareness or referral marketing, they come towards your brand, so it’s a business responsibility to reach out directly through the sales pipeline.
7 cold calling techniques for small businesses
Ready to boost sales for your small business? It’s an opportunity to connect with potential customers and a great chance to grow your venture. Here are 7 good-rated cold calling techniques that are designed to help your business connect with new customers and foster valuable relationships to increase sales.
1. Research your audience
Research becomes a secret weapon when you understand their specific needs and interests which makes them feel valued. Researching your target audience i.e. leads in your call list, enables you to gain valuable insights and therefore people are more likely to make purchases from you.
According to Red Base Interactive, “546 hours a year per full-time sales rep is wasted on customers that were wrong fit based on incorrect information”. This signifies the lack of proper research. On the other side, When you focus on highly-qualified prospects, the conversion rate spikes to 18%.
But if we qualify prospects without conducting research and understanding their preferences, the conversion rate is typically lower, which is almost 2%.
So, avoiding such critical and frustrating situations it’s better to have a secret weapon for your businesses. Before hitting the dialing button, take a tour of your prospect’s world. When jumping into a conversation over the phone, arm yourself with insight to avoid those sobering moments!
2. Make a call at the appropriate time
Cold calling is not just about making an outbound sales call; but it’s about making the right call at the appropriate time- syncing with your leads’s rhythm and upholding them when they’re most receptive. And for small businesses? Early mornings or late evenings might be your golden ticket. Moreover, cold calling is the essential step of the sales process.
Peak Sales Recruiting study says that “ 391% conversion rate boosts by calling a lead a minute after they signed up”. This may lead to higher receptivity.
Make sure to avoid calls on Mondays & Fridays, as people on such days will be less interested in sales pitch. Such days are considered the worst for making cold calls.
According to InsightSquared, “The optimal time for cold calling is between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm on Tuesday, and receives 30% higher chances of connecting with leads than other common calling windows”.
PhoneBurner conducted one survey on the data from over 100 million phone calls which showed “ Tuesday is the best day of the week to cold call”.
Otherwise, you can research the best times and ideal days for the market and make your calls then.
3. Impactful voicemail strategy
Voicemails can be an irreplaceable method of getting the ball rolling with a prospect. Many times, people don’t respond to phone calls instantly at that time, voicemail could be a fruitful technique. By leaving a message i.e. voicemail you incentivize the prospect to call back.
Well, good voicemails spark interest in your offerings! The voicemail strategy is all about recording and dropping messages automatically.
Make your voicemail as impactful as friendly and enthusiastic so that it connects with prospects and thereby leaves a lasting impression on them. This technique can be implemented mainly for unanswered calls, so try to leave clear contact details and indicate your eagerness to assist.
Voicemail messages should be short, clear, and concise not more than 30 seconds.
4. Have a solid cold-calling script
A solid cold-calling script is one of the best techniques for small businesses to take the guesswork out of what to deliver and get your prospects on the line. Crafting a few well-quality cold-calling scripts allows you to match different prospects.
Keep cold calling scripts for around 30 seconds highlighting key benefits and asking for appointments for further conversation. Try to gain the prospect’s attention in a specific time interval and avoid sounding unnatural, instead keep that cheerful and inviting tone in your voice.
While catering a wonderful cold calling script, consider key elements in your introductory sentences, and common interest to initiate conversation smoothly. Here’s a link for well-crafted script guidelines, follow some tips and make the best possible impression.
How to Write a Good Cold Calling Script?
5. Save time with a sales dialer
As it is understood, small businesses need to connect with as many prospects as possible, in such cases manually dialing wouldn’t be a good option to consider as it’s a huge waste of time. Making connections with as many leads as possible will eventually result in sales conversions. With a sales dialer, you can increase call volume which can help you to achieve 60% more leads automatically.
Predictive dialers could be game-changers, making multiple outbound calls at once. Thus, minimizing idle time between interactions and increasing talking times by up to 300%. Not to forget, more number of outbound calls in a shorter time means more successful call conversions.
6. Try out an SMS to connect with leads
Ever thought of texting your prospects? Think about it and implement the power of rich text messaging in your cold-calling techniques. No other medium has such a huge connectivity rate as SMS.
According to a new study, “71% of people had chosen text messages from businesses”. Why not add this to your technique?
Once emails and phone calls might go unanswered- but text messages can’t be ignored and almost get read and responded to.
7. Follow up, Follow up
Small businesses need to level up their follow-up skills to create a positive impression of their business. After initial contact, immediately send the prospect a quick follow-up call, ensuring additional touchpoints to your business.
One simple philosophy: Follow up as many as necessary until you get a response.
According to IRC Sales Solutions, “Almost 95% of all converted leads are reached by the sixth follow-up”.
Businesses not following up on leads is one common reason your cold-calling efforts aren’t generating results. Rejections are an inevitable part of the process that many salespeople give. As per Invesp’s study, “ 48% of salespeople do not make a follow-up call”.
Insider tip: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can help you schedule follow-up calls, and send automated follow-up emails, making it easier to maintain relationships and close deals.
Conclusion
Discover the untapped conversation with ultimate cold-calling benefits! Remember, cold calling is not just making out sales- it’s about maintaining relationships that fuel sustainable growth. So serve as a getaway for your small business to expand networks.Make your small business a big opportunity- just one call away. Keep cold calling on for better results!
