Cold Calling vs Warm Calling...Why and How it Works

What is Business Development?

Cold Calling versus Warm Calling...

Which is better?

BLUF...

Conversion rates of 1st call to 1st meeting booked (Revenue.io study):

• Cold Calling = 6%
• Warm Calling = 12%

But Wait! That's not all....

Warm Calling cultivates leads who signal buying intent.

Also called Social Selling, Conversational Prospecting, Conversational Selling, Conversational Marketing, or Community Marketing.

According to LinkedIn, social sellers

• Create 45% more opportunities than peers
• Are 51% more likely to reach quota
• Outsell 78% of their peers

An engaged social media audience leads to your future success.

Some major industry influencers can achieve massive success.

So why does Warm Calling typically outperform Cold Calling?

• Awareness
Your prospects are already familiar with the brand. It can reduce Outbound Advertising costs and Interruption Marketing friction.

• Initial Trust
Your prospects already have some level of trust in the brand, and the prospect must simply build upon the trust-building momentum.

• Engagement Profile
You may see your prospect’s intent signals and tailor your initial contact for maximum success.

• Influence Path to Conversion
Contacting your prospects early in the Activation Phase enables you to guide the prospect’s path and pace to conversion. You might also be able to influence "shape" your prospect’s requirements.

So, how does Warm Calling work?

There are multiple channels for warm outreach.

Creating a standard outreach sequence can be tough.

So, you could simply pursue a warm outreach, “North Star.”

A North Star is a guiding principle instead of a formal process.

The north star for warm outreach is to constantly deliver value to prospects.

This “buyer-centric” approach places your prospect's needs above yours.

It's also called Missionary Prospecting or Brand Ambassadorship.

Conversely, Cold Calling is often called Mercenary Prospecting.

Your mission is to influence your prospect through the Activation Phase into Conversion Phase by using the NICE nurturing method.

You continually monitor your prospect's needs, preferred channels, behaviors, and intent signals to determine Next Best Actions (also called Behavior Marketing or Adaptive Marketing).

Warm Calling isn't perfect.

It can be resource intensive...

Forrester found average prospects engage brand content and prospectors 27 times before declaring intent to buy.

Automated signal monitoring and engagement sequences can help.

The objective of each direct engagement is to build trust.

Trust leads to successful conversion by Sales.

Tony Gray, BDP
Author of the Business Development Body of Knowledge