Gone are the days when you could pick up the phone and successfully pitch someone on your product or service cold. Gone are the days when a prospect will take 20-30 minutes out of their day, unannounced, to hear your presentation.
But if you think cold calling is dead, you’re doing it wrong.
Calling new prospects still works, but the way you approach it has to be right. You can’t call expecting to get much of their time. You can’t call assuming they want a run-down of your features right away. And you can’t call to talk about yourself.
Your prospects are busy. They don’t have time for you. But that’s exactly how you can approach cold calling to be effective. Make the call about them. Have something prepared to offer them, something that ties directly to a priority or initiative they care about and are working on right now.
Don’t take a ton of their time, not right now. But an effective, modern cold call can get the engine running.
Below are some additional pieces published previously offering additional context and best practices on more effective, successful cold calling.
The four C’s of effective cold calling
Six reasons cold prospects will want to take your call
Four essential steps before cold-calling a new prospect
10 best practices for better cold calling
How to prepare for your next sales call
Do you expect sales prospects to sleep with you on the first date?
