Is Cold-Calling Still Effective?

Cold calling is one of those skills that few people in sales develop.

By cold calling, I mean phoning people that are not expecting your call, and have not requested information.

I've heard people say "cold calling" when they meant calling their old customers, or calling people that have requested information.

My God, a list of old customers is worth its weight in gold. A list of people that requested information from you is worth its weight in gold.

In fact, to me, any list that has a common factor that you can link to (like past customers of a competitor, or people who regularly buy what you sell, or use your service) is worth at least ten times as much as a cold list of names in your category (like "small business owners").

For example, if you sold local online marketing services, a list of small business owners that pay for premium online listings in the online Yellow Pages or Yelp, or Homeadvisor listed advertisers would be businesses that have proven that they buy leads and advertise online.

All I have been targeting are business owners - it just seems like the demographic is getting a little younger. They are more "tech savvy" and it shows; maybe I need to put an artsy website together lol.


I'm still having some success, just not to the degree I was anticipating. I guess that's why they call it cold-calling!

Yes, you're correct. I don't do very much B2B or marketing to old people, and sometimes overlook some of these strategies. That's why I like a forum like this because there's always going to be someone who will say "Yeah, but..." and enlighten us to another angle of the sale.

....and I'm grateful that someone is often you who can "argue" or disagree without insulting anyone.

I get about 20 robo calls a day. I also get several cold calls from people in other countries named "Chip", that ask to speak to the owner...or ask to speak to "Cloud Whiteaker".

Of course, I just hang up. But a couple of times a month, I get a call from someone with a company name I recognize, speaking clear English, that knows my name.....and I'll talk to them for a minute.

There are huge companies that use cold calling very effectively. Personally, it's not my thing (although I cold knocked on doors for decades), but it still works well, or major companies would stop doing it.

Even people in other countries that call me because I bought VIAGRA...once...20 years ago....must be making it work, because I still get calls. And their name is still "Chip".

"92% of all customer interactions happen over the phone."
- Salesforce.com

In my experience, the phone still is one of the most powerful systems ever for initiating and closing sales. Although advertising, the internet and automated gizmos are great for mass publicity and lead generation, it always comes down to personal communication. Unless you can connect with people on a personal level, you may find yourself among the pitiful and wretched who whine and complain about not getting sales.

"The beast makes the cold call while the excuse makers scream and cry."
- Grant Cardone, "10X Your Business, 10X Your Income, 10X Your Life"

Well, he's relating his experience... and the experience of most people who try cold calling... as evidenced by the OP and many others who post on here...

And that's before we even start to talk about the huge increase in telephone scams...

Cold calling isn't dead, but it ought to be...

That's actually what I used to tell my reps.

"Cold calling is punishment for not getting enough referrals".

In our business of personal consumer sales, getting and calling referrals was far more profitable per hour, than cold calling. Although when I just knocked on doors, an hour usually produced at least one immediate presentation. But not all businesses are the same.

In some businesses, cold calling is almost as profitable as referral selling. And I imagine in some businesses cold calling is almost a waste of time.

And in nearly all businesses, cold calling is more profitable than sitting on your ass, waiting for an incoming call.

And like I've mentioned before, most people say "Cold calling" when they really mean calling either past customers or buyer lists. To me those are very good leads to call. To me, they are so likely to buy that it doesn't matter that they weren't expecting your call.

But compiled lists of names with no commonality except that they have a phone?
I've made it work, but that's hard labor. Almost like panning for gold in a swimming pool.

After I made my last post, I did a few Google searches for real stats on the effectiveness of cold calls over the phone. Other than several "less people are doing it now" statements, I found nothing. Even stats from a single company over time would be useful information

There are lots of reasons a single company may stop cold calling. The reason they stopped FAXing cold was because it became illegal.

It would seem to me (a very unscientific way to start a sentence) that a company would stop cold calling on the phone when they found a better way, or cold calling became unprofitable.

Right next to my retail store was a 50 booth cold calling center. They closed down after about 3 years. I asked the manager what the problem was, and he told me that it was just too hard to fill the booths and get them to stay long enough to get decent at it.

That type of job (they paid minimum wage) is more in demand when the economy is terrible, and there is a high jobless rate. Maybe that has something to do with it now.


I still think many of us here are confusing what cold calling is. We may be arguing about different things entirely.

To me, cold calling is phoning complete strangers randomly. Maybe out of a directory, or with a compiled list.

But I keep hearing these things called "Cold Calling";

1) Calling lists of your own customers.
2) Calling people who have requested information from you.
3) Calling customers of a company that you have bought.
4) Calling people who are used to buying what you sell. For example, I used to call event planners for marketing events and trade shows, offering my speeches and seminars. Nobody ever hung up on me, and about a third of the calls resulted in at least a real request for more information. Almost nobody was ever rude, because Speakers regularly called these people...and they did business. So, although technically it was a cold call, had I just randomly called lists of names of consumers...I would have starved before I made my first sale.

5) Lists of people who have bought from your company in the past , but stopped.
For example, businesses that used to be a member of the Chamber Of Commerce but stopped.

If you are calling lists of people who have donated to a charity or political party like yours in the past, that's a cold call. But it's a highly selective call to a very likely buyers.

I wouldn't even call these cold calls. But I know many would.

And.......it's hard to argue with business owners that are currently using cold calls to make real money for their company.

Is cold calling really worth it? I don't pay attention to "studies", except for my own.

For me, cold calling is extremely powerful. My sales people average 2% conversions from dead cold leads.

It takes an average of 8 calls to get a prospect on the phone, then 3-7 calls to close the deal.

Some of my best customers were either the direct or indirect result of cold calling.

We get 1-4 referrals from every sale, and often even from rejections.

An unexpected side benefit is a surge of traffic as prospects check us out. (Adding to Google love and ranking)

In my experience, cold calling is very often the only tactic for quickly finding and qualifying otherwise elusive prospects.

But, that's just me.

Back in 2001, I cold called for the first time in accordance with a mandatory business plan.

Nervous at the idea, expecting to be given grief from some of the people I called, everyone one of those 700 people were pleasant.

In hindsight, this was obviously due to the fact I was phoning businesses.

If on the other hand, I had of called residential addresses, it would have perhaps changed the dynamic substantially, since that's when you're entering in on privacy. That for me, and others is the obvious clincher.

I've had to take measures regardless and purchase a telephone for my home with the 'Call Guardian' feature as mentioned above. This is chiefly due to the fact that my telephone home number is one of the most simple series of numbers you can imagine. It would be absolutely ideal to market the number in the interest of business.

Unfortunately however, other people assume the number is related to an array of different businesses (or people), so I get at least 6 calls a day (blocked), which I assume from past experience, relate to people who assume I'm a doctors surgery, garage, Peter, Andy....and Alison.

Cold calls, now, due to my Fort Knox of a telephone line, just happen to be blocked together with all of those...

Found an answer to the cold callers....


Says a lot about cold calling when a company like this can thrive...

Yup. The difference between marketing and selling.

Marketers use every means to get a customer besides just calling them up and selling them.

Salespeople just make the calls.

Although I have to say that I made my biggest jump in sales when I studied marketing for a few years. How to find Highly Likely Buyers....is really more about marketing.

And...while not exactly cold calling, the fastest way to make sales (for me at least) is to just phone up past customers. To me, not cold calling, but I know others think of it that way.

Grant Cardone has his reps get him training gigs by just cold calling car dealers. Cardone has name recognition in the industry, but it's real cold calling.

And Bill Glazer (Of Glazer Kennedy) told me, at one of their $1,500 per person 3 day marketing events...with about !,200 people in attendance....that they used 22 direct mail pieces to fill the room. And the 23rd contact was a phone call by a teleshark. He said half the room was sold in that one call. These calls were to people that had bought something in the past, but still almost cold. I still get calls, and I haven't bought anything from Kennedy in years.

We still get daily calls from utilities resellers, credit card processors, and insurance people. It must still work, or they would stop.

added later; Some life insurance agents just sell over the phone from actual cold calls. They use a phone room calling lists of people who have just turned 65 (or a similar commonality). I know an agency that averages a few sales a day per agent. That works out to over $1,000 a day commission for the tele-agent.

He told me that the hardest part is the beginning of the call. It's all about rapport, and building trust. He said that the average presentation takes about 2 hours..in one call. It may not be for me, but others make it work well.

Quick scan through thread, I can't find anyone - other than you - mentioning Social Media/SEO/Reviews as an alternative to cold calling.

Indeed, I am almost as anti social media as a means of acquiring clients as I am cold calling... I'm sure an Ad will pull people away from their cat videos...

And remember, the OP is not getting the results he expected from cold calling... Just like the majority of people...

To me, all that social media business is suited to add Google results that say something nice about you, when someone does an online search about your industry or to check out your company.

But as a way to support cold calls? No.Almost no person getting a cold call has seen you online before you called.

On the other hand, I've seen direct mail used profitably to support calling a list of customers.

I was talking to Bill Glazer at a large event he put on (maybe 5 years ago). I asked how he filled 1,000 seats with $1,500 each attendees. He said it was 22 separate direct mail offers to a list of buyers (previous attendees, product buyers, and joint ventures with other marketers). And then he told me that over half the seats were sold on the 23rd contact, with a teleshark making a last ditch effort.

The benefit of direct mail is that the prospect actually sees it. Online social media marketing is almost never seen by a cold calling prospect, before you call.

I had a customer a few days ago that sold life insurance. He knew I wrote books on selling (it happens sometimes), and asked me about prospecting. I asked how many clients he had now. He said "About 500".

I told him that the single best result he could hope for is just calling his client list, to make an appointment for a "Courtesy checkup" of their coverage. Most people would say "OK" to that, and probably half would buy something else. A fast way to a ton of sales.

Then I asked if he knew any agents that recently quit (or were about to). He did. I told him to offer them $1 for every client name (with applicable information) they had. I told him to call those names and tell them that he recently "bought the agency" and was their agent now.

These agents that quit have mostly clients that were sold once and then forgotten (that's why they failed). This is low hanging fruit. Similar to joint ventures in that the credibility and connection is already made, but you don't share the profits...and it's done by phone (and then in person) instead of by mail (or online)....

Added later; I forgot to mention that I also told this insurance guy that his clients have nearly all talked to a few people about their insurance plans. I told him to ask his clients who they may have talked to, and what was said. I told him that his clients were either complaining or bragging about him. The ones that were bragging? He should ask who they talked to...and call them. I said "80% will see you, and 90% of those will buy". Another income stream.

My last few years selling in the field were contacting my old customers and running these lists of other dealers's customers.

About Social Media Marketing. I've never known a "Social Media Marketing" guru..that sold their courses by social media. It was always through speaking (a form of joint venture with the event host) or through joint venture Webinars.

I was speaking to a group of 300 mattress store owners about local online marketing. The previous speaker talked about social media (it's almost obligatory that someone talks about it at a marketing event). He made no sales, so I included the part (which, had he made sales, I would have removed) where I asked the audience...
"Let's say you are going to buy a leather sofa, and you go online to find out about leather sofas.....How many will go on Facebook to get their information?"
Of course, nobody raises their hand.
"How many will go to Google and search for leather sofas?" Everyone raises their hand."And where will people go when looking for information on mattresses?"

Why do I do that? Because the question about social media always gets asked, and I needed to eliminate it as an option.

Those alternatives to cold calling seems to me to have been implied, since the OP suggested that "the era of cold calling has passed". Those "alternatives" to cold calling I mentioned are actually quite widely discussed here on the forum.

Actually, a closer look will show that people have been whining and complaining of failure at every one of these methods, saying they don't work or they're dead. But others are crushing it with all of them.

So just because you are anti social media and anti cold calling, it does not mean these methods don't work. For me, ads don't work, nor does SEO, reviews, social media, email, blogging, webinars, etc as stand-alone marketing channels. But just because these don't work for me does not mean they are not effective for others.

And I do agree that cold calling does not work ... for perhaps the majority of people. But this method is profoundly effective for many when it is done right, just as with every other marketing method. The power of synergy - using as many marketing tools as possible together - is a formidable force with a potential for beating out the competition in virtually any market.

For example, the real magic of cold calling is that prospects will check you out online. I highly leverage this curiosity reaction whenever possible.

And as I mentioned earlier in this thread, cold calling is not my primary marketing method. My primary marketing method has always been article syndication, (another method whose "era" has passed according to loud self-proclaimed pundits) which I have taught extensively here on this forum for years.

Search "article syndication" by myob.

Over the past 20 years, my articles have been widely distributed in online and offline publications, under dozens of niches and pseudonyms. This marketing model continues to drive massive quantities of highly convertible traffic.

However, there are segments of my prospective demographics which are largely elusive even with this extensive exposure. For example, none of my websites have ever ranked above the murky depths of search engines. I decided years ago (mainly through early mentors) to never go head to head against stiff competition using the same marketing methods as the competition.

Some of the most lucrative niches are mostly dominated by deep-pocketed marketing professionals using mass media and the search engines. For me, getting marketing traction in these arenas is impossible within any reasonable time frame using such "traditional" marketing practices. The marketing strategies I use bypass these heavily competitive marketing channels.

This is why I do cold calling as a supplemental marketing strategy. This enables me to quickly identify key decision makers and/or influencers within my targeted markets.

With every cold call (including "yes", "no", "indecisive", or voicemail) I leave them an invitation to check me out on the internet. For example, a quick (Check out "article {topic}" by {pseudonym}) leaves a highly favorable authoritative impression.

Then these prospects are dripped with light seasoning through telephone followups, email, blogs, social media, product reviews/recommendations, webinars, and even face-to-face contact.

Cold calling, done right, is still very much alive and well.

This attitude when making cold calls will get you nowhere. When you get a "no" or any objection, that's actually when the selling process begins. True selling is a process, not an event. In my experience, the first objections are always a dismissive reflex or smokescreen. Cold callers are always considered a nuisance at first. Get over it.

Every cold call starts off with a "no". But as long as the prospect stays on the phone, the chance for a positive outcome increases, although hardly ever results in a sale on the first contact. It generally takes about 4-6 "no's" to weed out true objections. This is really when real engagement and conversation begins.

Here are some interesting industry stats on cold calling;

60% of cold prospects will say no four times before saying yes
44% sales people quit after first no
22% more quit after the second no
12% more quit after the third no
14% more quit after the fourth no
(Salesforce.com)

In my own company, sales reps show an average 80% of sales are made on the 5th-12th contact.

Is cold calling worth the aggravation and high rejection rate? When put in the perspective that every new customer has not only a high lifetime revenue potential, but also an even greater ROI in terms of market exposure and referrals - this is HUGE.

The real power of cold calling is the exposure it can bring to your online assets - even after a "rejection". With every call, no matter what the outcome is (even voicemail), they are invited to either download a free product whitepaper or do a search on Google for my offer. By strategically suggesting key words, the exposure takes on an aura of authoritative status.

I have found that leveraging "old school" cold calling with social and "Google" proof is an unbeatable marketing strategy. Google can be your friend even if your sites never show up in the SERPs.


"Don't find customers for your products, find products for your customers." - Seth Godin

Hopefully, I really don't come across as "debating", although perhaps I do tend to get overly defensive when people here loudly proclaim that viable marketing practices don't work, only because they have failed.

Here on this forum over the years, we have seen virtually every conceivable marketing method listed as dead or dying. Yet elsewhere, these have always been vibrantly alive and thriving extremely well by countless others.

Marketing and selling are tough, no matter what methods are being used. However, this is only part of running a business. People often mistakenly think of their marketing tactic as a business model. But marketing is just one component of many other essential factors widely considered to be best practices in a successful business.

My business is selling high end Amazon and other affiliate products primarily through networking with influential business professionals. Deep in the backend of my funnel system is a MLM business opportunity offered to my best customers.

The bulk of my marketing actually is done through article syndication in a wide distribution network of online/offline publications. This strategy has been detailed in many of my posts over the years. (Search "article syndication" by myob)

Although I do get massive quantities of highly convertible traffic to my websites with this marketing strategy, there are still some targeted demographics which can only be reached through - cold calling. And I do mean cold calling. Like stone cold. These are influential business professionals whom I've never met.

Although article syndication and cold calling are two of my top marketing methods, I also utilize email, blogs, social media, postal mail, webinars, video, offline seminars, trade shows, advertising, etc. Only about two or three of these methods are actually used in any particular niche. It is essential to match your marketing within the expectations of your targeted prospects.

Some of the niches in which I sell affiliate products under dozens of different pseudonyms are in: health and fitness, telecommunications, robotics, astronomy, ancient history, geology, archaeology, medical diagnostic equipment, software, renewable energy, agriculture, apparel, personal development, interior design, weight loss, pharmaceuticals, golfing, baby boomer products, funeral products, sports, security, janitorial services, water treatment, weddings, asbestos litigation, conspiracies, UFOs, end of the world catastrophes, etc.

I may be absolutely wrong.

And could have cost myself gazillions.

But years ago when I was cold calling...

I never felt a sale or appointment would only be made after 3, 4, 5 or more "No's"


I took the contrarian view when a cold prospect said "No"...

It was increasingly difficult to go into "battle" and try and turn it it into a "Yes"

Of course...

It can be done and many will make the effort and reap the rewards.


My ethos was just to acknowledge the "No's" and move on to "better" prospects,

In the 10, 15, 20 minutes it may have taken to attempt to turn a "No" into a "Maybe" into a "Yes"...

And as most will "No" my time would be eaten up.


It was so much easier to diplomatically acknowledge the "No's" and keep dialing until I got to the "Yes's"

It made cold calling much more enjoyable.

And it was lucrative.


Steve


P.S. There were of course many times when the "I won't stop dealing with No's" sales people got better results than me.

But often I was ahead and much less knackered. And the clients were more trouble free and less likely to "cancel"


P.P.S. Interestingly, if I called back the "No's" a few weeks later - a good percentage remembered my "no hassle" technique and many surprisingly then said "Yes"

I never consider cold calling to be a numbers "game", although every metric is tracked. For me, it is part of an overall marketing strategy. Of course a sale is always the primary objective, but leveraged exposure and systematic followup are the intended aftereffects.

Getting the full attention of your prospect immediately is essential. Making small talk on the first call almost always will result in a sudden "not interested" or hang up. They get these annoying types of calls all the time.

Trying to be overly friendly too soon or making small talk is almost always disengaging and an immediate deal-killer. This type of behavior is the mark of a time-wasting amateur - an annoying pest which can be dismissed by the flick of a finger.

You need to be able to quickly answer the three most common (unspoken) objections within about 7 seconds ...
Who are you?
Where did you get my name?
Why are you calling?

Get these hidden objections out of the way immediately, or else your prospect will either hangup or keep wondering about that throughout your pitch without paying much attention to anything you say.

What I do after a quick intro as above is to make a BIG claim: "This product has increased sales at companies like yours by as much as 40%..."
Then acknowledge you understand how valuable their time is: "To be sure I'm not wasting your time, let me ask you..."
Ask 3-4 qualifying questions.
Be bold: "If what I am saying is only half true, are you the person to make a decision on a ($) investment?

A few little tricks I learned from Grant Cardone:
Send them a text message immediately after the call, no matter what the outcome. Sometimes I get callbacks after a "no".
Leave a compressed pitch on voicemail; don't try to hide behind vague messages.
Pitch the gatekeeper if she won't put you through to your prospect.
Be prepared to be Googled. The prospect may be checking you out even while on the call.
If you are courteous, professional, and show value, you may get referrals even from those "no's".

For example, yesterday, I spent 3 or 4 hours and only found 60 emails. I know everyone is going to write me off as being slow, but holey shiz lol. I may have played Fortnite 2x during that timeframe, but it's not like anyone can go non-stop like a robot finding the correct emails.


What i do is google the company name with "Ceo" as the keyword. Google is nice enough to return the first result in big bold. Then I use an email verifier to guess the email first_last @ company... until it's correct. But most companies use hosting with catchall emails that make verification impossible... so in thsoe cases i have to google the possible email variations to find someone somewhere who's both credible and posted that exact match email... usually it's a pdf of an event / conference / whatever where the ceo email is just blatantly given out.


Anyway ^ doing the above 100x is going to be 2.5 hours+...



I don't mind doing that shi if it means I get $10000000 per successful sale, but given that the actual sale rate is 4 - 7%... well you can see why I want to be able to make finding the leads take seconds rather than hours.. because then I can just pump out more products per day. Spam the whole world... and be some kind of an internet pollutant.

I didn't mean it directly or literally.

Yup. The relationship begins when they buy from you. Everything springs from that. Sales beget sales.

Even a small sale at the beginning. An exchange of money changes the entire dynamic of the relationship. It primes the pump.

Both B2C and B2b has changed.
Still a #'s game and the phone is a business tool and a communications device.

Perhaps it's me, in that I have usually done "take away" sales techniques.

I learned that not selling on the 1st call can produce higher average sales.