The Evolution of the Cold Call

By show of ‘likes’ down below, how many of you see a number pop up on your phone and ignore it if it’s unrecognizable? 10%? 20? How about 76%?

The company behind the caller ID app Hiya released its State of the Phone Call report and as a smiler-and-dialer, it was quite alarming to me. Based off of 11 million phone calls, Hiya says that Americans answer their phones only 52% of the time. But it gets a little more revealing as you dig deeper. If the number is saved into our contacts, we answer 70% of the time (sorry, Mom) and if it’s a number we don’t recognize, 76% of them are sent to voicemail.

So in a world where many of us rely on human-to-human interaction, how do we get in touch with decision makers and candidates? Well first, let’s define what a cold call is. A cold call is, “an unsolicited call on someone, by telephone or in person, in an attempt to sell goods or services.” So if 76% of unknown calls are ignored (unsolicited), and 70% of calls with your number saved into contacts are answered(solicited), it’s simple math that we can get our calls answered twice as many times if we get ourselves into the person’s contacts (Don’t check that math. I’m horrible at it).

Cold calling isn’t dead, it’s evolved. Think about yourself. Are you going to answer the phone if you don’t know the number? (24% of you are). And what happens when you do answer the phone and you realize the vehicle you don’t even own has a warranty up? You’re probably a little mad, right? If you have a KPI of 100 calls a day then you will statistically talk to 24 people. 24 mad people that are caught off guard by a salesperson. If you’re calling without context, if you’re calling just to make dials, or if you’re calling to hit a KPI number on a board, you might be doing it wrong. Evolve the way you think and get into the contacts so they pick up 70% of the time.

“But Tim, how do I get into the contacts of someone I don’t know without cold calling them and establishing rapport and using fact-finding, open-ended questions?”

Sorry, I’m not here to train you on warm calls, email intros, epic texting templates, Linkedin messages and groups, or networking face-to-face. I’m here to tell you to evolve the way you were taught, pivot the way you think, try newer and exciting ways to network, and you may quite possibly be the next best thing in your business. 

Tim Falletti is an award-winning talent acquisition professional and Executive Search Manager for Adecco.