Cold Calls as a Ping

Every salesperson is familiar with cold calls... whether that experience be murky or the adrenaline it brings is exciting, we have all made them. Most of us have been taught that calling up some decision maker and getting a sale is possible right off the bat, it’s just not the case anymore. Often, buyers are screening their calls, they’re not picking up the phone for someone random because in the age of robocalls you never can be too sure. Consider that a call is more a ping for someone than it is to actually converse. ??

Think of the calls you, as a salesperson, get every day. In most cases it’s screened for spam or its some vague 800 number you won’t pick up anyway. Or you’re in the middle of your own work, maybe a meeting with your manager to role practice, and your phone rings. You think “Ugh I don’t have time for this”. That’s exactly what your prospects think too. They aren’t waiting on the other end of the line for you. They aren’t going to pick up and say, “Oh finally you called, I’ve been waiting for someone to sell me your product!”.

Enter the three-touch approach. Sales is rarely linear and often, building a relationship with someone is key to a sustainable connection. The idea is for them to refer you to their peers and make more connections, so you never have to make another cold call again, right? … but I digress. A three-touch approach works because it not only gives you a reason to call, making the call more effective, but when you follow up with the third step, buyers can respond on their own time, choose a better time to discuss what you’re offering. All around it’s a better experience every time.

Think back to your own experience. When your phone rings in the middle of a meeting and you think “I just don’t have time for this!”? but they send you an email detailing why you called you think “Oh, interesting, that’s why they called.” Your prospects think the same thing.

The three-touch approach starts with some form of message, be that on LinkedIn, email, or whatever channel your business uses. Giving your buyer a little taste of why you might be calling but not an indication that you will. A brief introduction and maybe a reason they might need what you’re selling. Allow them to sit on it for a day or so. Maybe they ignore, maybe they respond but it sets the table. The following day, you’re ready for cold calls that aren’t so cold anymore. You call and maybe they pick up, but you likely get their voicemail but if they do, you have a reason to call which you created yourself. Then you follow up with another touchpoint detailing that they missed your call, but you’re still interested in connecting.

It seems simple right, but what is the idea here? Recognition. Your buyer starts to see your name once, twice, three times and now they know you’re not a scam call. Now they start to recognize the reason you’re reaching out. Maybe they get around to seeing your name and think “yeah I ought to call them back” or maybe they tell you its not for them, either way you begin to make these connections.

Now, I advise never to stop there and without berating your buyer, it’s important to continue the conversation, build a relationship. Sales will not happen overnight, and no one is waiting by the phone for your call... and if they are, it might be more of a red flag than you think. Either way, it may take months or even years to finally have a buyer decide to work with you but that’s all the process and the chances that we take to help make clients’ work easier and more efficient.

Thinking of a cold call as more of a ping to your buyer is an easier way to make calls yourself and draw your buyers into a smoother conversation. Always enjoy the process of making it happen.