What to Know About Business to Business Cold Calling

Although often viewed as a challenging tactic for gaining new business, cold calling is nevertheless a tried-and-true sales technique that’s stood the test of time. Many companies are afraid to implement cold calling as a b2b lead generation strategy due to the common misconception that “cold calling is dead.” But with the right training, resources, and research, cold calling can be an effective part of your sales kit.

Since more employees are favoring a work-from-home lifestyle in 2021, cold calling has reemerged as a prominent marketing and lead generation strategy. Cold calling requires no extra equipment beyond a phone and a computer, so it’s easy to see why this prospecting tool is the perfect solution for remote workers.

Why Cold Calling Works for Business to Business Lead Generation

Due to the lasting effects of COVID-19 protocols, many businesses have transitioned to contactless sales strategies. Honing your company’s cold calling skills is an essential way to find new leads in a market that values technology-based communication.

When you pick up the phone and speak to a prospect, one of your main objectives is to ascertain what problems they are trying to address. Successful cold calling hinges on the foundation that your business offers a unique solution to a client’s needs. B2b sales is based on the client’s desire to find solutions and streamline their business practices. To this end, cold calling is an effective strategy since companies are receptive to hearing concrete solutions.

According to an article in Forbes, businesses embarking on b2b cold calling should focus on the “Three Cs”: comparability, comfort, and credibility.

• “Comparability” means relating to your prospect and “pointing out shared points of interest.” This forms a foundation that demonstrates to your prospect you are interested in solving their problem.
• “Comfort” entails familiarizing yourself with your product, and establishing an easy rapport with your prospect on the phone.
• “Credibility” is conveying to a prospect the way in which your company provides expertise and unique solutions.

How To Prepare for Effective Business to Business Cold Calling

We’ve established that calling is an effective marketing strategy in the age of contactless sales, but it still may be daunting to implement cold calling as part of your lead generation plan.

Do the Research – Successful sales reps spend time researching and understanding their prospective clients. While you don’t need to do a deep-dive into every detail about a business, it’s wise to establish a basic sense of a company’s mission, sales techniques, and pain points before making a call. This way, your sales reps go into a call armed with key talking points and may be able to anticipate certain questions relating to a prospect’s industry or business practices.

Pay Attention to Timing – There are certain days and times that typically don’t yield productive cold calls. Generally speaking, it’s not a great idea to call first thing on a Monday morning or right before closing on a Friday afternoon. Your reps should try to catch prospects when they are most attentive and have time to listen to a pitch. Emphasize calling during “odd” times of day. For example, reps would be ill-advised to call right at lunch or at the top of the hour since prospects may be busy with other calls and meetings.

Plan Your Script – While reading from a script during the entire call may result in a stilted conversation, it’s wise to jot down key talking points beforehand. Having a general script prevents reps from rambling about details, fumbling for data, or forgetting to hit certain selling points during a high-pressure call. It’s always better to have an outline to work from when making cold calls.

Warm Up the Cold Call – Cold calls don’t always need to be cold. An effective way to introduce prospects to your brand before a call is to send a casual email informing prospects of your products and mission. This way, reps who make a call won’t need to start from scratch when introducing a prospect to your company.

Offer Support – For every successful cold call, there are dozens that don’t go as planned. Make sure you encourage reps not to take it personally when a call goes poorly. Offer them support and resources like ongoing training, or the chance to work with more experienced reps before tackling calls on their own.

Simplify B2B Cold Calling with Acquirent

Acquirent is an industry leader in outsourced lead generation, marketing strategies, and business development. Instead of hiring in-house representatives to tackle prospecting, our team is here to make your world easy by taking on lead generation responsibilities like cold calling and email campaigns. When you partner with Acquirent, we deliver high-quality leads based on your specifications so you never need to worry about going down a lead generation rabbit hole. Expanding your business has never been so easy—give us a call today!