What Is A Cold Call?

This is a business to business sales site so after the initial history about ‘what is a cold call’ the rest of the article will show you how you can be more effective winning new business with cold calling and sales prospecting.

If we use the definition from the trusted resources that is wikipedia, then a cold call is:

“the process of approaching prospective customers or clients, typically via telephone, who were not expecting such an interaction. The word “cold” is used because the person receiving the call is not expecting a call or has not specifically asked to be contacted by a sales person”

There are a number of different approaches to cold calling and answring ‘what is a cold call’:

• Cold calling to consumers either by Phone or Door to Door. From our perspective this is a prehistoric way of winning new business and is thankfully on the way out. Indeed many areas of the worls impose severe financial penalties for door to door cold callers. Telephone cold calling to consumers also has some tough penalties associated with it and there are procedures in place to allow you to opt out – UK opt out list and the US Opt out list Did we say that we don’t endorse cold calling consumers?
• Business to Business Cold Calling – This is the process of calling individuals in business, generally without them requesting the call or asking for the call and introducing your self with a view to opening up a communication about doing business together.

What is A Cold Call In Business?

Unfortunately, many people have very negative views of  what is a cold call and mostly these views are brought about by sales people themselves. Our view is cold calling is dead. Winning busijess by phone is alive and strong and a fantastic way of getting new business. It’s the cold part that has died a death.

There is no excuse in todays information age to be making blind, untargeted cold calls in a business environment. The cold element refers to the fact that you have no strong reason for the call, you can’t add any value to their business and generally the call is all a ‘me, me, me’ perspective.

Selling by telephone has evolved and if you don’t want to die out like a sales  dinasour, then you need to eveolve with it. You should be developing a system of ‘warm calling’ where every action has been strategically planned for the maximum impact and relevance to the other person you are calling. Your system will incorporate:

• A highly targeted list of quality potential business contacts
• A valid reason why they should engage in conversation with you – from their perspective – not yours!
• Some testimonials, case studies or ‘name drops’ of businesses they will know that you have done business with
• Specific ways you may be able to help their business and how you could do it.

So What Is a Cold Call?

Warm calling as part of an integrated sales prospecting system is  the way to win new business in the modern sales arena. So to answer the question – What is a cold call? The answer must be that it is a long dead way of winning new business that only the dinasours are still clinging on to!