Does cold calling still work in IT prospecting?
Cloud architecture, UX etc. Whatever the service offered by your IT company, attracting new customers is certainly a concern that is part of your management. In this sense, especially for those who work in a contact center, is Cold Call still an advantageous strategy for your business?
Cold Call, in literal translation, means “Cold Call”. This is an activity within customer prospecting, where your company makes a call to a person (or another company) that does not know you.
It turns out that, with the development of technology, other ways of contacting customers have emerged. You can do this via chat, SMS, WhatsApp, social networks, email, etc. And, with so many options, the question arises: do phone calls still work in IT prospecting?
According to a study by ValueSelling Associates published in Forbes , salespeople cite phone calls as the second most effective way to reach potential customers. Keep reading to learn more about Cold Call and how to implement it in your IT company.
In this article, you will find:
– What is Cold Call?
– Why use Cold Call in IT prospecting?
– Common mistakes in Cold Call;
– Good practices in Cold Call;
– Conclusion.
What is Cold Calling?
We saw previously that Cold Call means, in literal translation, “Cold Call”. This is a customer prospecting strategy where your company calls someone who has not had any prior contact with the seller.
Over the years, Cold Calling has evolved into a goal-oriented sales communication tool: salespeople seek the right leads to increase their success rate.
Why use Cold Call in IT prospecting?
With so many necessary tasks such as service pricing, personnel management, administrative tasks and resource management, customer prospecting often ends up neglected.
After all, every IT professional knows that planning to attract more customers is important, but in practice the activity of most of these professionals is very technical — and they end up lacking the skill and flexibility to take care of sales and publicizing services.
However, with the market growing more and more (and the number of competitors as well), IT companies find customers increasingly demanding and aware of their options. And, in order not to miss opportunities, your company cannot leave prospecting activities and techniques aside.
Your company can’t just wait for customers to come to it: you also need to go after customers.
Inbound Marketing, Outbound Marketing, word of mouth… When the topic is customer prospecting, there are several possible approaches and methodologies and the best strategy will depend on a series of variables, such as the profile of the target audience, the type of service provided and your business goals.
Cold calling has not dead, and when done right, it can be quite effective. Sales professionals must learn how to overcome objections, and these phone conversations may help them improve their ability to attract new customers and close sales.
Common Cold Call Mistakes
Some companies do Cold Calling the wrong way, don’t get the desired conversion rate and end up giving up or neglecting the activity when, in fact, they just need to improve their strategy.
Common mistakes in Cold Calling are:
1) wrong communication;
2) looking in the wrong place;
3) have no method.
Imagine that your company wants to provide a service to small and medium-sized companies. Chances are, when you make the call, your salesperson will speak to the owner or a director who doesn’t understand IT.
As this person is not technical, there is no point in reaching a technical communication, using terms such as UX, cloud or full stack. There is a good chance that this owner or director will hang up the phone before the seller even offers their services.
For those who do not have technical knowledge, it is necessary to speak in terms of results: what results can your service bring to that company? More customers? Cost reduction? Time saving?
Now, if the focus is on large multinationals with large IT departments, the person on the phone will probably be a technician and, then, it is best to use a technical approach.
Another common mistake is looking in the wrong place. Calling randomly or getting lists on the internet can mean spending time and energy on people and companies that have no interest in your service.
Finally, not having a method also implies a low conversion rate. The call needs to spark the customer’s interest right away. Or your salesperson will always be stuck in situations like “I don’t have time” or “I’m not interested”.
Good practices in Cold Call
So, if your company has a contact center and works with Cold Call or wants to implement Cold Call into your strategy, here are good practices that can boost your results:
Determine an ideal time
No one likes cold calls at inconvenient times, so set the best time to contact your customers.
Your team needs to know your company and its services in depth
Your sales team needs to be trained to answer customer questions appropriately. When the salesperson demonstrates insecurity or lack of knowledge, the customer gets the impression that your company has an insufficient knowledge base.
Salesperson voice modulation
Nothing worse than a monotonous speech on the phone, right? Your salespeople need to know how to modulate their voice to convey enthusiasm and confidence to customers. This voice modulation adds warmth to the call (no one wants to do business with a robot).
Define a script
Remember when we said that one of the common mistakes in Cold Calling is a lack of method? Creating a script helps your salespeople design their products and services as problem solvers.
A well-crafted script ensures that the salesperson piques the customer’s interest and overcomes their objections.
Learn from rejections
Rejection is a necessary part of all sales activities: no one closes 100% of leads. Learning from rejections is essential to preparing your sales team to overcome objections.
Conclusion
We have seen throughout this article that Cold Call remains an important activity for prospecting IT clients. Investing in Cold Call means investing in new customers and enhancing your company’s results.
But remember: in addition to taking care of good Cold Call practices and avoiding errors, offering the best IT service infrastructure to your client is essential to increasing your sales.