Cold calling is the act of approaching a customer without an appointment, invitation, or prior contact so as to sell or promote your business’ product. There are mixed reactions over the wisdom of using cold calling as a sales tool. While some companies continue to use the method, other businesses give it a wide berth. Those who continue to use it do so because cold calling has been proven to be an effective sales tactic and, though irritating to some end customers, it sometimes gets real results for the business.

Here are some good tips for cold calling:

Some of the problems associated with cold calling include:

–It is done without the prior permission of the end customer. Thus, the reaction of customers can sometimes be that of annoyance. It follows then that if the customer is annoyed with such a direct approach, they may ignore the product and the brand altogether.

–It can even be more annoying if the product being presented vide cold calls is little known or not known to the end customer, and if the sales person is not very much aware of the product or does not have a sales pitch ready.

–Some buyers view cold calling to be an act of desperation from the business and feel that the business should have a more organized and planned approach to selling its products.

–Since there are very many companies, business, organizations that sell through cold calling, many buyers have grown immune to any persuasion to buy a product sold through this approach. Very few customers listen to cold calls nowadays.

–A Business that opts to employ cold calling has to abide by a complex system of ethical rules and standards- which vary by industry.

But, even with so many problems, some businesses still consider cold calling a favorite sales tool over things like SEO. Cold calling is still popular to some businesses because it does bring new customers to the business. It has also been proven that cold calling has the potential to expand the customer base of any business or company. If a business used an approach which does not push customers, then, most likely, the business or company will have to do business only with its present set of customer, thus, limiting its scope.

As you are already aware, this is direly undesirable for any business as it means that the company’s competitors are continually building new customer bases while your business is not able to expand. Against this backdrop, cold calling can be justified. Moreover, cold calling can also be as effective as a feedback mechanism. For example, if a customer no longer uses your products or services, that customer can be brought back by the sales team if they give him or her a cold call, listen to his or her complaints and promise to resolve the problems in the best way.

Some modern marketers argue that a business should concentrate on creating competitive products that will make the customer approach the business out of his volition. However, it is a fact that you could be having a wonderful product, but that does not perform well because nobody knows about it. And even if your business’ product is better, a customer sometimes needs to be approached so that he may realize that your product is better. Cold calling is, thus, a proactive approach any business can employ to stay in touch with their market.

Organizational buyers detest cold calling, but then cold calling is in most cases the only option that a sales person has because it can be arduous to get to the purchase manager. Thus, if a salesperson can use a cold call to get an appointment, then that is better.

The sales person who would make cold calls need to understand that there are very many rejections that come with using cold calling tactics. There is a high resistance by customers to cold calling, and hardly will the sales person get any appointment. Therefore, the sales person needs to be resilient, hardworking, as well as very persuasive.

Cold calls are, however, not common in every sector. They are mostly used in industries where there is high competition- for example, insurance, finance industry, banking, telecommunications, and travel. But many customers have been complaining of cold calls, and the government began a ‘Do not disturb’ registry that is meant for those customers who do not wish to receive cold calls at all.

Overall, though it is unpopular, cold calling is an effective sales tool for the simple fact that it adds more customers to the business’ database. Besides, there are some who need to be repeatedly pestered before they can finally make a purchase decision.