Why Cold Calling Isn’t Dead

By: williamjones
October 3, 2016

By: Susan Toussaint

Remember when you first heard about “thought leadership” and “sphere of influence selling” as ways to engage prospects? Many sales gurus and trainers touted the end of cold calling.

They were wrong.

According to an insidesales.com study, 61% of executives are likely to respond to a voicemail at work. And a DiscoverOrg survey of more than 1,000 senior executives found that 75% of decision-makers take appointments or attend events based on unexpected sales calls or emails.

Don’t bother reaching out to a busy CEO to learn something about their business. Instead, research your prospect to understand the challenges they face and gain insights into what’s happening in both the industry and their specific organization.

Once you understand the challenges and risks the prospect faces, you can effectively position yourself, your products and your services. Remember, achieving a dialogue could require 12-15 message touches. Prepare for the long haul by creating a campaign with a series of insights that align with the risks and threats your prospects face.

Before placing the first call, make sure you are clear on two or three insights and how they connect to the risks and threats your prospect faces. Persistent, value-focused messaging demonstrates that you understand their business and have depth of knowledge in areas they value.

You should also consider developing scripts for your cold calls. Imagine you’re trying to make 10 calls an hour and you want to follow up each call with an email. Wouldn’t it be more effective to write out the purpose of your call and the insights you want to share, and keep them in front of you while you’re working? Wouldn’t it be easier to customize a follow-up email rather than write a new one for each prospect? Scripts keep you focused and on message, and they make the best use of your time.

Cold calling isn’t dead. Conducting research, developing a plan and consistently executing it will help you convert cold prospects into effective first appointments.

Susan Toussaint is co-founder and partner at Oceanus Partners, a firm dedicated to helping insurance professionals working in all lines of business insurance improve sales and client retention.

Be Brave

Too often, producers hang up when their prospect doesn’t answer. That’s a mistake.

Voicemail is the equivalent of a blank piece of paper. You have the opportunity to share your message, uninterrupted—and, when you do it right, effectively.

The challenge: Many producers fail to leave a purposeful message. Instead of outlining the purpose of their call—which, by the way, shouldn’t be to introduce themselves but rather to share an insight—they hang up. —S.T.