The first documented cold call, according to various Internet sources, was made in 1873 by John Patterson, three years before Alexander Graham Bell submitted a patent for the first telephone. Patterson went on to create the National Cash Register Company and is credited with developing sales prospecting techniques still used today.
One hundred and fifty years later, Patterson would likely be pleased to know that cold calls remain an extremely effective element of any sales and marketing campaign, no matter how many times cynics try to argue that “cold calling is dead.”
Recent statistics compiled by the RAIN Group show that:
- 82% of buyers accept meetings with sellers who proactively reach out
- 69% of buyers accepted phone calls from new providers over the previous 12 months
- 57% of C-level and VP-level buyers prefer to be contacted by phone
Cold calling has always been at the heart of VSA’s B2B prospecting efforts on behalf of our clients. As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first cold call, here are five reasons why this lead generation technique still works as a revenue driver—and works well—in 2023:
1. Cold calling is simple and straightforward
This isn’t to say mastering cold calling is easy. It’s actually extremely difficult, which might be why 63% of sales reps say cold calling is the worst part of the job. You need to learn how to navigate past gatekeepers, counter objections, cope with rejection, and compellingly state the case for your offering without being pushy or salesy. And that doesn’t include all the critical behind-the-scenes work that takes place before your reps start hitting the phones—the development of the target list, the creation of the script, the research and training, etc.
But as a prospecting technique, there’s nothing more direct than a cold call. Sure, you need the right technology to maximize productivity, but ultimately, you’re dialing a number and having a conversation, something human beings have been doing on the phone for a century and a half. All the marketing automation tools in the world can’t replace the value of genuine human-to-human communication.
2. You know right away if you’ve made a connection
Only the phone allows you to connect with a decision maker in real time and learn immediately how willing they are to engage. You also don’t have to guess if you’ve reached your intended target. Social media outreach and email campaigns can’t provide that level of certainty. Yes, you can monitor open and click-through rates, but short of a direct response, you can’t know for sure how well your message resonated with a prospect, or if they even read it.
Just because a prospect opened your email doesn’t mean they’re genuinely curious about your product or service. It’s possible they clicked on the email by accident, or maybe they just wanted to give it a cursory glance before they deleted it. With a phone conversation, you know right away where you stand and, more importantly, where the prospect stands.
3. Objections can be handled in real time
It’s rare that a decision maker will agree to a meeting or demo without having a question or two first. Cold calling allows reps to address those concerns right away, without the hassle and time of a back-and-forth email exchange.
A phone conversation also provides the perfect opportunity to gauge the validity of any objections. Often, a prospect has a legitimate reason for a lack of interest: there’s no money in the budget, they’re happy with their current vendor, they just signed a new contract. In these instances, perhaps the sales rep and prospect can mutually agree to a follow-up conversation down the road. In other cases, objections might stem from misconceptions, misunderstandings, or impatience. A skilled cold caller knows how to rebut these concerns without being rude or confrontational.
4. The phone cuts through the digital clutter
With so many more people working remotely than before the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the inter-office communication that used to be handled face-to-face is now conducted via email, which makes for some very crowded inboxes. According to Statista, there are 333 billion emails sent around the world daily. The average office worker receives about 120 of those, while CEOs receive closer to 500 emails daily. Good luck reading all of those, even if you wanted to.
This doesn’t mean emails aren’t an effective marketing tool; they can be a valuable component of any lead generation campaign. But with email correspondence, digital advertising, and social media engagement at an all-time high, it’s almost impossible for busy executives or managers to absorb it all.
Cold calls are a viable and less intrusive alternative to this overcrowded digital landscape. Remember, 57% of executives prefer to be contacted by phone and might appreciate the opportunity to talk to a live person. With so many sales reps downplaying the phone as a primary prospecting tool (48% never make a single follow-up call, according to various sources), cold calling campaigns can help you stand out from your competition and initiate long-lasting relationships.
5. Decision makers have become easier to reach by phone
It might seem like nobody answers the phone anymore, but this isn’t true. VSA data on three long-term clients showed that the number of dials it took to have a conversation with a decision maker decreased each of the last three years. For each client, the dials per hour also decreased from 2020 to 2022, indicating more frequent and longer conversations.
There are a few reasons for this. First, with so many more people working remotely, it’s no longer taboo to call decision makers on their cellphones, increasing your chance of reaching them. Second, list-building services such as ZoomInfo have become more adept at populating cellphone information, making these numbers more readily available. Third, the post-pandemic work environment has seen a decrease in travel and face-to-face meetings, improving the odds of catching somebody at their desk.
Conclusion
It’s understandable why companies choose to eschew cold calling as a lead generation strategy. To do it right takes time, money, and resources, and even then, the average success rate is only about 2.5%.
But after 150 years, cold calling remains a proven tactic for engaging with prospects, filling sales pipelines and growing business. There’s still no substitute for the type of real-time, human-to-contact that the phone provides.
If you’re looking to expand your cold calling capabilities in 2023, consider an outsourced lead generation and appointment-setting firm like VSA. We’d love to see how we can help you meet your sales goals.