Everywhere you look, you will find people saying that “Cold Calling Is Dead” or preaching that selling through email is a way more efficient way of connecting with potential prospects than using the phone. As the owner of a professional outsourced inside sales company that makes a living selling through outbound calls, I obviously disagree with this idea.
Stuart Leung wrote a great piece recently titled, “You Never Call Anymore: The Case for Sales Phone Calls Over Email.” This post reinforces my belief that good old fashioned phone work is still the most valuable way to connect with prospects.
It’s now more effective than ever due to the digital onslaught we experience on a daily basis. As so many have shifted to a digital sales program, the phone call feels more real than ever. Leung writes that, on average, business people send and receive 115 emails per day! Obviously this velocity of emails tends to make us numb and typically less responsive. It’s simply hard to stand out amidst all that noise.
This is why selling via the phone or in person is still tremendously effective. Buyers are human and typically respond to people they like!
But digital tools go a long way toward making the cold call a little warmer and more effective. To assist with building these bonds the use of different technologies has definitely helped sales professionals identify prospects that are in the market for their services and has allowed them to build rapport and connections a lot quicker.
The following technologies/tools have proven to be tremendously valuable to sales professionals across the world.
5 DIGITAL TOOLS TO WARM UP YOUR COLD CALLS
LinkedIn Enterprise: Having the ability to understand your prospects personal and professional histories allows you to make a connection and build rapport extremely quickly (especially if you share common connections).
Insidesales.com and Five 9: Sales is still a numbers game and the more conversations you have with qualified prospects the more opportunities you will uncover. These two companies have phenomenal predictive dialing technologies that increase the number of at-bats your team can have in a given day.
Salesforce.com: The 800-pound gorilla when it comes to CRM technology thanks to its ease of use and tremendous ability to be customized to your company’s exact need with their AppExchange.
Pardot, ExactTarget and Marketo: Email is definitely a part of the sales equation (not the full solution as discussed above). With these marketing automation, lead scoring and lead nurturing technologies your sales team can be alerted to the prospects who are most active when it comes to interacting with your marketing efforts (rifle approach vs. shotgun approach).
Google (PPC, SEO, YouTube Advertising, etc.): It amazes me that some companies still have not invested in these advertising methods. Your prospects are shopping but if you don’t have a digital presence you aren’t going to be found.
At the end of the day technology is great and does help in the sales process, but nothing beats picking up the phone and making personal connections with your prospects.
Happy Selling!