Cold calling has always been a classic sales technique, but what keeps it current is it’s ability to adapt and advance. In the past, a sales person would greet a stranger, read from a script, and try to sound charming. Their methods were limited to door-to-door selling and basic phone calls. With the number of door-to-door sales people down from 33,000 people in 2000 to fewer than 7,000 in 2010, one would expect the same thing to happen to cold calling via the telephone, but such a rapid decrease has not been the case. And this is largely due to the fact that new and more advanced technology that has been made available for call centers. Let’s check out 4 advancements that have enabled cold calling to remain a modern sales prospecting strategy.
- Local Presence Dialing
One of the key hurdles of modern day cold calling is getting people to pick up the phone when they don’t recognize who is calling. In fact, only 7% of people answer the phone if they don’t recognize the number, but if that number hosts a local area code, the answer rate jumps up to 27.5%. With the majority of people utilizing caller ID, adopting local presence dialing technology, which changes an agent’s area code based on whomever they’re calling, is invaluable. It’s one of the main reasons why cold calling has remained a viable sales prospecting strategy.
- Predictive Dialers
An agent’s time is extremely valuable, and can be hindered when he/she is constantly confronted with dead-end numbers. Using advanced predictive dialers, if an answering machine picks up or if the number is disconnected, that call will not go through to an agent, but if the prospective customer does pick up, that call will immediately be sent to the agent. Organizations who have this capability see a 15% increase in customer engagement, which leads to more sales and lower operating costs—not to mention, saves your team the headache of constant dialing with no results.
- CRM Integration
It is extremely important that businesses keep customer information organized so that it can be useful for future interactions and initiatives. And by integrating a CRM or database management solution with your contact center software, agents can be given the insights they need about each prospect during the interaction, and can sync any collected information back to the CRM, allowing for more personalized and meaningful conversations.
- Real-Time Dynamic Scripting Engines
Every prospect is different, as are their needs—something businesses are able to tap into more now than ever before. And simply reading directly off of a script is no longer acceptable to today’s demanding consumers, no matter the situation. Modern scripting tools with dynamic branching capabilities are able to adjust prompts and fields based on customer responses, catering each call to the individual prospect, while offering agents the necessary guidance.
With the help of advanced tools and technologies, cold calling has been able to evolve and remain a viable sales prospecting tool, despite the fact that consumers are harder to reach and increasingly demanding. And to make sure you gain as much as you can out of your cold calling technology, be sure to understand the industry advancements.
To learn more about the different features that will increase your selling rates through cold calling, click here.
