Cold calling : is teleprospecting is outdated? -

Cold calling : is teleprospecting outdated?

“Hello, have you heard about our latest off…” We hung up straight away! Cold calling is rarely appreciated, so is it a good sales tool? No, according to statistics. Less than 2% of cold calls actually lead to an appointment. And if you have a look at the cost per lead, you can easily notice its impact: teleprospecting requires so much time and is so difficult that some salespeople call it “hard calling”. So, should we stop teleprospecting all together ?

Cold calling, a method from the past?

Today, we mostly rely on inbound marketing soft approaches allowing us to bring in future customers thanks to contents matching their needs, such as a white paper, a video tutorial or a blog article. Soft & social selling approaches have significantly grown thanks to digital technology. In fact, social networks such as Linkedin or Facebook can be used to identify your target beforehand, to be identified as an expert on a specific problem, to get the corresponding contact details of qualified leads. Thanks to such methods, the marketing department can provide its sales teams with well-identified people who might be interested in the product, or who might even have already contacted the company to get a trial.

Since soft selling has proven its worth, should we abandon the sharper methods of hard selling?

Is it possible to manage your business without teleprospecting?

Actually, soft selling and hard selling belong to different situations and provide non-identical strong points. You have to be able to use both at the right time.

What are the main pros of hard selling?

Like Dom Juan, hard selling is all about conquering more and more people without worrying about quality. The objective is to reach a large number of people in order to get some returns. Used on social networks – in “hard social selling” mode – it basically means massively targeting a type of profile on Linkedin, for example, and sending a generic message to get a few prospects. It is meant to quickly test a value proposition. With hard calling, the aim is to phone a maximum of companies in a given geographical area. Here again, you want to fill your customer pipeline quickly, especially on a virgin ground waiting to be explored.

What kind of advantages does soft sell have to offer?

The soft selling approach is more subtle. Unlike Dom Juan, here we are dealing with an ideal son-in-law who comes to seduce you, before asking for your hand. A method requiring more time and work, in order to give a true and authentic relationship feeling. Broadcasting branded content will attract customers to you: but here again, you have to wait for the bite.

Of course, inbound marketing strategies are recommended. But it is always useful to be able to ensure an income of leads during slack periods or during key moments such as product launches. It is therefore important to keep a part of telesales in your sales strategy.

Moreover, mastering the art of the cold call is a precious asset for sales representatives. Even with leads that have been well qualified by marketing, sales representatives must know how to avoid objections, hook their interlocutor in a few seconds and remain focused on the objective of making an appointment. These skills are perfectly reusable. Some sales coaches, like Paul Jacques Moreau from Seller Performances, even use hard calling (massive calls from unqualified leads) as an ideal technique to select a good salesperson.

According to this specialist, hard calling is also a method well adapted to young salespeople who have to clear the way in order to create their own contact book. He recommends experienced salespeople to keep some hard calling to feed their dealflow, especially when a historical client leaves.

What kind of products should you use teleprospecting for?

Hard selling methods, such as teleprospecting, are very useful when selling an inexpensive product that can be chosen on the spot. Or when you want to provide a replacement product. These methods are very useful in a B2B environment when you are selling a product that is used by a very large number of companies, regardless of their sector of activity – such as a coffee machine, for example. In this case, it can be useful to replenish your customer pipeline by clearing a large amount of unqualified leads.

On the other hand, soft selling is perfectly adapted to products involving many user interactions. Especially IT products requiring almost as much support as sales people. Or even for products involving regular customers or those who are very attached to the brand. In this case, inbound marketing makes more sense. But it requires time and creativity. On the other hand, hard selling, and especially teleprospecting, are quick methods.

So should you avoid teleprospecting? Let’s just say that it’s like a cake, when it’s well made, we like it. Remember, you should always be friendly, otherwise you risk damaging your company’s reputation. When used properly and well executed, cold calling definitely belongs to sales tools. But how should you do successful telesales prospecting?

5 tips for successful cold calling

To begin with, you have to prepare your sales teams very carefully. You should warn them: hard calling is tough. Dealing with customers who don’t want to or don’t have time to talk to you is not easy. And yet, it is by going through this process that you can get an appointment with a brand new prospect.

You can get through it with the right cold calling methods. There are three elements to prepare for a successful cold call:

1. Know how to get past the switchboard barriers.

Often designed to filter calls, receptionists prevent salespeople from contacting the person directly. You will frequently be told: “we are not interested”, “I don’t have time”, “call back later”. To answer these objections, you must 1) be empathetic, 2) argue 3) stay focused on the appointment request. So you can answer “I understand perfectly that you don’t have time. However, our product really helps our customers to… Can I speak to the director…”

2. Know how to seduce in a few words.

ou must succeed in arousing the interest of your prospect in 15 seconds, not minutes! You should introduce yourself succinctly, leaving a small blank space afterwards and letting the person you are talking to do some kind of memory search to see if he/she knows you. This will break down the first barrier he/she might build. Be careful to articulate well: consequently, you won’t feel the need to say the same thing twice and your interlocutor will not get stuck.

Then, briefly present your product, emphasizing its suitability for your customers’ needs, before proposing a meeting. Managers never have the time. So here again, you will have to answer the objections already mentioned – no time, call back later – by playing on empathy (or humor), by arguing concisely and then asking for an appointment.

3. Stay focused on your objective: the appointment.

Actually, to ensure that cold calling is effective, you should not spend 30 minutes presenting the product under bad conditions. Your goal is to get an appointment for a demo. You should therefore be concise, clear and assertive.

4. Know how to stop and start again.

The third time you get an objection from a potential prospect, you should not insist on calling again. But before hanging up and to ensure that you do not waste time, it might be useful to ask a follow-up question. For example, to find out what solution they are using today regarding the issues covered by your product. Or wonder why they chose this solution. These open-ended questions can be used to get the conversation going again and possibly save some interesting information.

5. Feeling good and smiling.

Prospecting on the phone is not easy, so you should do it whenever you feel like doing it, and you should always have a smile on your face, because a smile can always be heard on the phone.

Managers have a big role to play in this strategy’s real success. Training their teams to prospect on the phone and regularly coaching them will allow their salespeople to be two to three times more effective.

Managing your teams well also means creating a team spirit. As we said, cold calling is not easy – no one likes to get beaten up – so to keep your energy and enthusiasm up, nothing beats the support of your colleagues (salespeople or others).

It’s also important to set up a dedicated time for cold calling. Salespeople cannot do it all day long, or they will burn out. On the other hand, defining cold calling time slots, if it’s the only thing you’re doing, ensures great efficiency. According to Paul Jacques Moreau, speaking on Les Héros de la vente podcast, you should plan for 1 to 2 days per week dedicated to telesales for a junior salesperson so that he or she can build up a client portfolio. And 1 to 2 days per month for a senior salesperson who needs to add new clients to his or her contact book from time to time.

Some managers have even organized marathons or sprints for their sales teams in order to boost motivation, with a small bonus to be won at the end of the exercise.

That’s the method, but once you have implemented it, what results should you expect from a cold call?

Teleprospecting: what kind of results?

First of all, you have to be patient with your customers. ClientDigital.fr conducted a survey with several sales teams: more than 80% of sales are made on the 5th call!

Secondly, you should anticipate the fact that many calls will not be completed. In approximately one hour, you can make an estimated 20 calls resulting in 2 or 5 contacts to whom you could pitch your offer. 10 to 15% of these contacts can be converted into appointments. During coaching sessions, Paul Jacques Moreau succeeds in generating 3.5 appointments over 3 hours and 70 calls in total.

Teleprospecting: the right tools

Where should you look for the right tools in order to improve your cold calling?

To coach your sales representatives: Vyfe is a video training tool. It allows you to review a call and comment on the successful parts or those that need improvement. A valuable tool to coach your sales teams.
To equip your sales people: Onoff allows you to easily assign mobile numbers to your employees thanks to a simple application. The number assignment can be easily managed from an online interface. A cloud-based solution allowing companies to keep track of their customer contacts.
To manage your leads: a good CRM is the essential tool to list leads, and follow their conversion into customers and the contact points history. When properly filled, it is a very powerful tool and an amazing source of information for sales and marketing. The most complete is Salesforce and the cheapest one is Pipedrive.
To generate leads: Hubspot is the reference tool for inbound marketing allowing you to get the contact information of people interested in the product you are selling. It is an essential bridge between marketing and sales.
For inspiration: Les Héros de la vente podcast interviews sales managers on their best sales techniques and on the best methods to train and motivate their teams. For teleprospecting, we recommend episodes #49, #51, #56.

Now it’s your turn!