aleksi-halsas
May 7, 2024
Cold calling is a standard practice in the B2B sales space. Prospecting is easy in theory but difficult in application.
Find out more about this sales engagement tactic and how you can improve your cold-calling efforts.
What is a Cold Call?
A cold call, in the B2B context, is a type of outreach where a salesperson calls a prospect with whom they’ve had no prior contact. These prospects are usually key decision-makers like CEOs or sales managers.
The goal of cold-calling is to establish a relationship with the prospect and to tell them about your product or service. If they’re interested, you can segue a pitch of booking a meeting or demo to further discuss their needs.
Tips to Succeed in Cold Calling
Here are some essential cold-calling tips to kickstart your outreach. These practical tips apply to most sales calls that you’ll be doing when you’re prospecting.
Develop a cold-calling script
Before getting into cold calls, you need to make a script so you have guidelines for navigating the conversation.
When making a cold calling script, remember the 5 key parts of the script:
Opening: Start with a greeting and introduce yourself and your company. Keep it brief and engaging to grab the prospect’s attention.
Pitch: Clearly state the purpose of your call. Keep your value proposition straightforward and easy to understand.
Questions: Asking questions keeps the conversation going. Always ask open-ended questions so your prospect can tell you their challenges.
Conversation: Tone is important when speaking with someone you don’t know. There are different conversation techniques that you can implement to improve your communication skills.
Closing: This is a delicate section that you have to nail correctly. You can gently ease in an offer for a demo or meeting. Don’t forget to show your appreciation at the end of the call.
Moreover, avoid asking “Is now a bad time?” because it reduces the likelihood of you booking a meeting by 40%.
Instead, opt for positive openers like “How have you been?” and using “We” statements. These increase your chances of conversion by 6.6 times more.
Create a sales cadence template
A sales cadence is a sequence of outreach methods you implement when reaching out to people. These different methods of outreach are called touchpoints. Having more touchpoints in your outreach increases the chances of replies from contacts.
According to data, 80% of sales require five follow-up calls to be successful. You can mix your sales cadence with other outreach methods like emails or LinkedIn messaging. Here’s a sample of a sales cadence strategy below:
Use cold-calling tools
Cold calling tools are essential for salespeople performing outreach. These are designed to help you streamline and enhance your cold-calling efforts.
Furthermore, according to a State of Sales Report by LinkedIn, 97% of salespeople consider sales engagement platforms to be important.
There are things that you need to consider when picking a cold-calling tool:
Size of your sales team: Some tools work best for large teams, while some can work for small to medium sales teams.
Cost and budget: Take into account how much you’re budget is going to be when investing in these tools. Check the prices of these tools. Most platforms either offer a monthly subscription with a set number of users or you pay them monthly for each user.
Customer reviews: Read and watch reviews online to get an overview of the user experience.
When is the Best Time to Cold Call?
Based on research, there are various answers to this question. According to HubSpot research, the best time to call a prospect is around 4 pm to 5 pm. On the other hand, the worst time to call a prospect is around 7 am to 10 am.
Moreover, another research by Revenue.io states that the best time for peak engagement is 3 pm to 6 pm. This research is specifically for key decision-makers in the B2B SaaS space.
Lastly, another study shows that Wednesday and Thursday are the best days to call your prospects.
What is the Success Rate of Cold Calling?
Cold calling has an average success rate of 2%, which is relatively low in comparison to other outreach methods like social selling and cold emailing. However, in 2024, the success rate doubled to 4.82%.
Furthermore, cold calling works best if you’re calling C-level professionals. According to a survey, 75% of executives are willing to make an appointment or attend a meeting based on a cold call alone.
“Prospecting is the engine that drives sales success.”
– Jeb Blount
Best Cold Calling Tools
Clevenio
Clevenio is a sales engagement platform that allows you to create sales sequences so you can keep track of your outreach activities. It’s a great platform for cold calling because it allows you to keep a list of your prospects.
Dialpad
Dialpad is a cloud-based business phone system and communication platform that offers various features for cold-calling. It offers CRM integration which allows you to store and track customer information in a single platform.
Squaretalk
Squaretalk is also a sales engagement platform that allows you to manage your outreach efforts and optimize your sales process. The platform offers email tracking, CRM integration, and workflow automation.
