Cold calling vs warm calling

We’re all familiar with the idea of sales calls. Probably you’ve been called on one or more occasions for a sales call, and you’ve probably seen a number of different approaches to these types of calls. It might be a phone call, a door-to-door visit, an email blast, or even face to face contact.

In today’s market, some companies have taken it upon themselves to show that cold calling is not the only way to get new customers on board with your product or service. In fact, some companies have taken it further and say that following up with warm leads is actually more effective than selling through cold leads alone.

In this article, we’ll take you through what cold and warm calling are and whether one is more effective than the other.

What is cold calling?

Cold calling is making unsolicited calls to prospects who have not previously interacted with any sales representatives from your company. Although this sales outreach strategy might be challenging and less rewarding, it remains prevalent in today’s B2B sales environment and is always likely to be part of any outreach strategy.

The poor quality of cold call data and the loss of good leads are two drawbacks of cold calling. Hence, any sales representative must be very meticulous when sorting and cleaning out the acquired data and should always prioritize research. Taking these steps can ensure your cold calling is effective.

Click here to read a complete guide on cold calling

How to conduct an in-depth analysis?

Cold calling is highly effective when you know everything there is to know about the customer base you are targeting. Know these things before you begin:

Who is this lead?

What does this lead do and what role does it play in the organization. Identifying decision-makers leads to a quicker buying decision.

What does their company do?

Identify their industry, what they provide, who they target, how they deal with challenges, and what challenges are facing their industry. By acquiring this information you can better qualify leads, and therefore increase sales.

Why would your product or service be of interest to them?

For lead classification and effective sales tactics, understanding why your product or service may be of value to them is very important. 

When you are fully aware of the challenges a prospect is facing and can explain how your product can help, then the communication process tends to be more fluid. 

You can obtain a lot of information through a simple Google search, following your targeted audience on social media and visiting their company website. 

Check out: Cold calling tips

Examples of cold calls

Example 1: 

“Hey Ravi, I am Sahil from NeoDove. Our company enables sales automation to manage leads and customer engagement more effectively.

I hope you are doing great! How’s business?

I am calling to see if our platform can help your company.

What is your biggest challenge in ensuring your telesales team is able to manage leads effectively?

Your frustration is understandable. As I understand, it sounds like the lack of automation and high dependency on telecallers has led to delayed responses, broken sales processes, or even perhaps missing out on potential leads. Especially when you don’t have the right tool to manage them.

Our platform was built to alleviate all of these issues and we have been working with multiple companies like yours. Most of them found our platform extremely effective and easy to use. Do you have a similar platform in use?”

Example 2:

“Am I right that you are responsible for the telesales team at (Company name)?

I have had my eye on your company for quite some time now and I am amazed by the progress you are achieving in the field. And I noticed from your LinkedIn post that you are hiring a data management specialist. It sounds like you guys are suffering from a lack of automation in your communication and leads management process. It can get frustrating.

Our platform was built to alleviate all of these issues and we have been working with a handful of companies like yours. Most of them found our platform extremely effective and easy to use.

You seem busy now but I would love to set a time anytime this week to have a conversation and walk you through what we’ve done for our customers to overcome the challenges you are facing.

Are you available on Tuesday of this week?”

What is warm calling?

Warm calling is the act of contacting a prospect that has had prior contact with you and has expressed an interest in the product or service your company offers. 

This prior contact might have been in the form of networking during an event, a form he filled out on your website, direct mail, social selling, or a referral. Your objective is to take action once you have contacted them and explain to them how your solution/service could solve their problems.

The one complexity with warm calling is that it requires more investment. Both in terms of money and time. So a small company with fewer leads, a smaller network, and less digital or social media exposure doesn’t have quite the luxury to use such a time-consuming method.

The method itself might be more complex than cold calling but if done correctly, it pays back hugely in the long run. Warm calling relies on using several communication methods to approach the prospect. 

Case 1:

Step 1: You send a cold email (say, after meeting at a networking event) stating how your product/service/solution can help the client improve their results

Step 2: You send another email to schedule a call and attach a case study (or any other resource) to the email

Step 3: You call the lead and ask if they went through the resource and whether they found it helpful or not. You are basically initiating a conversation here

Case 2:

Step 1: Send a cold email with a compelling infographic and a clear call-to-action

Step 2: Another email with a clear offer if they will be on board within a certain period

Step 3: Leave a voicemail

It is best to spread this process over a period of 3 to 5 business days.

Cold calling vs warm calling

Cold calling is the act of approaching a prospect with the intent of making a sale. Cold calling can be very effective, but it also risks offending people and wasting time on the phone.

Warm calling is different from cold calling in that it already has some type of contact prior to reaching out (e-mail, voicemail). Warm calls give you an idea of how interested your prospect is and what you can expect from them before you dial that next number.

When to use cold calls and when to use warm calls?

A practical and reasonable answer will be to create a balance between using both cold calling and warm calling. Relying on your prospecting strategy and the level of interest shown in your service or product. You can also test both methods, track the result and look at the data to see which method is more effective in bringing the most clients.

Since the digital world is changing rapidly, sales professionals can make the most of it by exploring the right data and preparing to communicate and manage leads more effectively.

Key Takeaways

Lead generation and closing deals are possible when cold and warm calls are combined. Remember that practice makes perfect, so do not discard cold-calling for warm calls immediately, and remember that cold-calling is just the first step in building rapport and connection with prospects.