In his book, Build a Sales Machine, Aaron Ross lays the groundwork for the concept of cold calling 2.0, which is a more innovative and relevant approach to lead generation for the present marketing and sales environments. This method has been refined through years of testing and implementation by Mr. Ross himself while working for companies such as Salesforce.com which have markedly benefited from it. If that isn’t reason enough for you to consider its potential, take a look at the below-numbered points and find out for yourself.
But first, let’s cover a few basic ideas. Cold calling 2.0, according to Mr. Ross, is actually “prospecting into cold accounts without using any cold calls” at all. This simply means carrying out B2B teleprospecting that involves contacts who are already expecting your call as a result of some prior points of communication such as emails. Under this arrangement, prospects tend to be ideally more receptive to the caller’s message.
Like most of the changes in B2B lead generation we’ve been seeing lately, this approach to telemarketing has been developed in response two shifts in prospects’ behavior, specifically their increased resistance to traditional marketing/sales methods. Also, transformations in the marketers’ side of the process, particularly the greater need for accountability and the availability of better technology, have catalyzed the development of this telemarketing concept. That’s why its proponents often cite the following advantages as important considerations:
1. Puts warmth in telemarketing. By seeing to it that contacts have already been introduced or acquainted with your telemarketing intentions through channels such as emails well before making the call, there’s a higher potential for reaching an attentive and interested audience than with plain-vanilla cold calls. This pre-qualification process allows marketers to produce more targeted contact lists with higher conversion potential.
2. Emphasizes research. Aaron Ross sees cold calling 2.0 as teleprospecting that’s focused more on research than purely making a sale. In particular, this method prefers calls to gain information such as company-specific details to gauge the level of fit rather than attempting to get the decision-maker on the phone.
3. Uses clear processes. In order to be really effective, this marketing approach depends on defining and implementing processes to be followed not only in prospecting itself but other related business activities as well. This makes it easier to quantify important considerations such as ROI and conversion rates more accurately.
4. Raises the value of telemarketing. This enhanced approach to telemarketing raises both its perceived and actual value. Whereas traditional teleprospecting approach treats this activity as somewhat of a lower-level set of tasks, the modified method considers telemarketing as a vital discipline that needs specialized skills and manpower. This makes it possible to improve the output quality of this branch of the lead generation campaign.
5. Aligns with data-driven marketing philosophy. Another essential prerequisite of this method of telemarketing is being able to leverage the full potential of marketing and sales software platforms in gathering and using prospect/customer data to make more informed decisions about the campaign.
These are some, but by no means all, of the reasons why innovative telemarketing services and solutions should become components of today’s lead generation strategies. Not only are the needs and preferences of prospects changing, but the ways that marketers and their companies manage and deal with their campaigns have seen some major transformations as well. How well are you enabling your telemarketing projects to adapt to today’s and tomorrow’s marketing developments?
