Common Cold Calling Myths
Common Cold Calling Myths
I see it left and right on LinkedIn (from "thought leadership") -
"Cold outbound in B2B is dead."
"Nobody wants to be cold called."
"Cold calling is a complete waste, you have to warm up the lead first".
I'm writing this blog after personally dialing thousands of calls in a B2B setting and leading a team of people dialing thousands of calls a month.
So what is the truth about cold calling?
Myth #1 - You have to warm up a lead before you cold call them.
I think that this stems from a common human tendency to want to avoid effort.
Everybody would agree (or most would) cold calling is hard.
You have to overcome multiple things to make a successful cold call, and some of it before the conversation even starts:
1) You have to decide to do it.
2) You have to overcome the intertia of picking up the phone and choosing the right contact
3) You have to put your attention on another person hundreds or thousands of miles away from you.
4) You have to confront the awkwardness of calling someone who many not want to hear from you.
Because all of this is uncomfortable - the easiest path is just to say, "Let's only call people that knows us or want to hear from us."
Don't get me wrong, I think it is more effective to call people who know you or may want to hear from you - it is more enjoyable, better utilization of time and gets more results per unit of time.
But the problem with this is it cause extra friction and time between you going to market with your product or service, because now you have to wait for promotion and marketing to warm people up before...you even talk to them live?
Bottom line - it's just not the case and this myth is easily busted by the results many people get cold calling (chat with me if you want examples in the IT services industry).
Myth #2 - People don't like to be called on the phone by someone they don't know.
So I fully get it, not everyone wants to be cold called and even the people who are open to it have times during the day or moods they are in when they would rather not be called from a stranger.
The vicissitudes of life make it likely that you don't know what you're going to get from the person on the other end of the line.
But let me ask you this - does your service or product solve a problem that benefits others?
If the answer is yes...then why not let them hear about it!
Sometimes you need to overcome socially upsetting someone with the potential reward of getting something into their business that is going to make a difference. And please don't confuse an initial rough attitude from someone that they "don't want to hear about your product or don't want it".
Again - this links to myth #1 - it just involves some effort and willingness to want to push through, to reach someone and help them with something.
So my advice is get out into the market, get on the phones and make yourself known.
Myth #3 - "Dialing for Dollars" and "cheap car salesmen"
Many people equate cold calling with the imagery of boileroom cold call centers, scam artists, bamboozlers and charlatans.
Unfortunately, phone as a medium has been abused and tabooed by far too many criminals that it has laid in a societal imprint.
But again, don't let this initial stigma stop you.
Many high-class organizations cold call, and in fact have sales teams who rely heavily on their dialers for revenue. And many of you great salespeople cut your own teeth in cold calling.
And in coaching SDR's, including overseas ones, I can tell you many people in these roles are highly motivated, intelligent and eager to improve and move up in the world.
Don't buy the generalization.
Final Word, Particularly for IT Service Businesses
I am coaching cold callers to get results on the order of double digit booked meetings per month and handfuls of sales qualified leads per month. New managed services deals, projects, relationships - all from having the courage to dial the phone.
I promise you it's not dead, and it likely never will be.
And if you're skeptical, I will show you the results personally - book a call with me.
