How can you tell if social selling or cold calling is better for you?

In my opinion is all about brand. Take it serious because it shapes who you will become. And that shape can be not so great if your brand is not solid.

Cold Calling is the art of transforming a stranger who doesn't trust you, into a qualified prospect who sees enough value in your solutions to want to continue down the sales funnel. How do we do this? Firstly, you have to get your foot in the door, and then you have to provide value by uncovering pain-points/needs through pinpointed qualifying questions, and linking this back to your solution. Finally you need to close, either to the next stage of the sales process (like a meeting), or trying to ask for the deal. Objections are part of the process. You need to get through all the no's in order to reach the yes. The more no's you can address, the quicker you get to a yes/sale.

The term "cold" signifies the absence of any prior relationship or warm lead, as the salesperson is essentially reaching out to prospects without any established connection. The primary objective of cold calling is to introduce the product or service, create awareness, and ideally, prompt the recipient to engage further, whether it be through setting up a meeting, appointment, or making a direct sale. Despite its effectiveness in expanding customer outreach, cold calling can be challenging for sales professionals, as they often encounter rejection and skepticism from individuals who may not be expecting or receptive to unsolicited communication.

The opportunity to change someone who does not know anything about the goods or services your company provides to someone who is aware of what you do and ideally someone who would be interested in the goods or services your company provides. This is done over the phone.

Enhanced Relationship Building: Increased Trust and Credibility: Access to Insights and Information: Lead Generation: Shortened Sales Cycles: Improved Targeting: Adaptation to Modern Buying Behavior: Increased Brand Awareness:

As a Sales Representative, I believe that we can combine both methods to optimize the approaching, however it always depends on the product or service you are offering and the position of the decision maker. In the IT industry, definitely the best way to reach a CEO or IT manager is social selling.

Throughout my sales career cold calling has always been a reality- one of the best ways to build your funnel. While rejection goes hand-in-hand, I learned that if you truly believe that what you are offering will bring value and benefit the person you are calling, fear of rejection fades and you will gain a whole new confidence. Confidence will increase the likelihood that the prospect will listen and engage and, ultimately, increase results.

Cold calling cuts through all the noise of a busy inbox, of ignored LinkedIn messages, and etc. When someone's on a call with you, they can't ignore you. They can try leave the conversation, but this is where your objection handling comes into play, and your ability to provide value (through addressing pains with solution). Ultimately a phone call is the quickest way to get your foot in the door and get some time from your prospect - make the most of it.

Cold calling is a great channel to have an active discussion with a person about the problem you solve. You have the benefit of showing your personality and the speed of quickly being able to answer questions a prospect might have about your services. Other forms of outbound channels usually have a delay, but the cold call you have their attention when you get through.

Human nature means that fear of rejection is pretty innate. Calling people who aren't expecting your call, and who are often busy doing something else, means that initial rejection and objections are high. The fact you have them on the phone too means you have to address these objections and rejections in real time. You can't hide behind an email. As a result, the rejections can feel more personal and this often can cause sales slumps as reps avoid prospecting due to fear of rejection. However, the only way around fear is to go through it. Pick up the phone. Get rejected. Try again. You'll get better and better, at which point becoming more personable is more attainable - bringing you closer to the sale.

People have had a poor experience with receiving a cold call. Most people's natural instinct is to hang up the phone. If you can provide value and help the recipient of the phone call to get something out of the call, the chances that you are able to convert is what makes cold calling worthwhile.