Is Cold Calling Still Effective?

• If you're in sales I'm sure you have heard a lot of talk & debate lately on whether cold calling ?? is still effective in today's modern day world ??. A question with so much attention deserves an article so here we go!
• What is cold calling you may ask? Let's start off from the beginning with the definition of cold calling: "Making an Unsolicited call to (someone), by telephone or in person, in an attempt to sell goods or services".
• In many ways cold calling is the Most Hated sales activity. The intimidation of making the cold call all stems from having to pick up the telephone & make a call to a complete stranger. A call to someone who does NOT know you & you do NOT know them!
• As a Sales Coach cold calling is the most common talked about topic in my 1:1's. In this article I will share some of the key strategies that I teach my sales team to overcome cold calling FEAR & HOW to make Effective cold calls.
• The key to cold calling is 1ST you MUST establish the right mindset. You must ask yourself WHY am I calling, WHAT do I want to accomplish with the call & HOW am I going to accomplish what I want.
• Here is the KEY ?? Tip that I have given to many sales professionals to assist them with establishing the right mindset. You MUST prepare yourself for the NO's & YES there will be plenty of NO's and hang ups.
• Let me explain a little further. You will be told NO & yes you will eventually get Hung Up on but through all of the objections & battles you will gain two things.
• 1st You will GAIN one of the most important key factors in cold calling and that is Experience through Repetition.
• 2nd Through Consistency & Repetition you will reach the YES's ?. Maintain a positive mindset that prospects are out there & they need your product/service.
• With the right mindset and a refined call script ?? you're ready to make the call.
• Let's talk about the call script. YES, you MUST have a call script. A call script is needed to stay on track & to keep the conversation heading in the right direction FORWARD!
• The key with using a call script is you must practice the script over & over and make it your own so that it becomes natural saying & NOT robotic.
• In order for the cold call to be effective you must know the purpose of the call and the outcome that you are trying to achieve. The most common Failure with cold calling is trying to SELL on the 1st call.
• In today's modern day of selling you must develop deep listening skills and effective communication in order to have positive outcomes with cold calling.
• Having a well trained sales team handling your calls & leads is a must in today's ever changing sales world.
• Businesses that have ADAPTED by adding new sales tools & strategies are the ones who are still experiencing continued success with cold calling.
• As Business will continue to be conducted over the phone at a 6.3%?conversion rate you can either educate & train your sales team to compete for business or sales will be lost to the well trained competition.
• As a conclusion Cold calling in my personal opinion is still the most effective way to schedule appointments, discover who might need your products or services, build rapport, and close sales ??.
• Here are two key strategies that can be implemented to increase cold calling success.
• KEY #1 Practice and Persistence are vital in seeing cold call success. The data has shown that 80% of sales happen after the fifth contact. With only 10% of sales professional making more than three contacts. In order for cold calls to be effective in your sales team must make multiple call attempts.
• KEY #2 Utilizing multiple forms of communication is an important factor in cold calling success. Cold calling strategies have not changed. Your team will still need to door knock, cold call, email and now text. Since times have changed implementing new cold calling strategies like LinkedIn Direct Messaging, Facebook Groups and Virtual Meetings can be effective strategies since most businesses are now conducting sales business remote/virtual.
• Thank you for reading my article on Is Cold Calling Still Effective?. If you have any questions or would like to have a further conversation regarding cold calling strategies please feel free to contact me.

My regards,

Ralph Beltran