What is a cold call? This is known to those who, having accepted a call from an unknown subscriber, heard a cheerful (or monotonously memorized) in the receiver: “Hello! I represent the company such and such ”. And then a series of formulaic phrases. This is a call with an offer of goods or services, which the client does not expect, for which he is not ready, which sometimes (quite often) frankly annoys him. The caller cannot count on a warm welcome, which is why such calls are called cold calls. However, a cold call is the minimum chance of making contact with an unfamiliar prospect without any prior preparation.
The target of cold calling. Why do companies need them?
Of course, the purpose of a cold call is not to successfully sell a company’s products, since the client has absolutely no idea what kind of company it is and what it produces. Such calls are the main tool for finding new customers, expanding the customer base and filtering it.
The manager does not negotiate the purchase of products, but he is interested in whether certain goods (services) can be useful to a potential client, offers to get acquainted with information about the company in more detail or even meet with its representative if interested. One of the main goals of cold calls is to eliminate this very cold, to melt the ice that exists even before the moment of contact. Therefore, an effective cold call implies a preliminary acquaintance with the interests of the client and the specifics of his business, as well as understanding whether he needs this offer at all.
The base, assembled by properly conducted cold calls, will become the source for making warm and hot calls. Warm ones, as is commonly believed, differ from cold ones in that customers are subject to repeated calls. That is, warm calls are impossible without cold ones. Their goal is to keep in touch, inform about new offers, identify needs, talk about any promotions and discounts, and so on. Speaking of hot calls, we mean an already effective contact – placing an order and selling.
