Today, sales teams have so much more information available to them before reaching out to leads – it is the digital era, after all. So, instead of relying on the old-standby cold call, savvy sales professionals should be using the “informed call” – a much warmer way to break the ice with B2B lead generation.
Here are four reasons why the informed call is now a critical sales tool:
1. The informed call is targeted and refined.
With cold calls, salespeople play a random game of numbers, having only a person’s name and a company name to work with. With informed calls, sales teams can ask marketing teams detailed questions before dialing: How has the lead interacted with the company’s website and social media channels? Where is this person spending the most time? What was this person searching for before they clicked on us? Used properly, this information will create a rapport much faster and more effectively with a lead than a cold call could ever do.
HubSpot, Salesforce, and Google Analytics are just a few tools available to help fill in the blanks before each informed call, allowing the salesperson to make the most of each lead. HubSpot has powerful CRM capabilities that sales teams can use to track the interactions of leads and help predict when a lead should be called.
2. The informed call is respectful.
The thought of sales teams having all of this background information on leads might sound intrusive – but it’s quite the opposite. The informed call is actually a lot more respectful than the annoying interruption of the cold call. A salesperson who has studied up on the lead can artfully and immediately describe how their company can provide value and give prospects exactly what they are looking for based on data.
3. The informed call is a natural part of the buyer’s journey.
Rather than throwing darts at a map of leads to determine who to cold call, the informed call allows salespeople to be a part of the prospect’s buyer’s journey – from awareness to partnership – through research via data and analytics. This way, sales team members will never deliver a hard sales pitch to someone who has just discovered their company, but they will know exactly when someone is ready to be contacted about a potential purchase.
4. The informed call helps align sales and marketing.
The informed call works – but only if sales and marketing teams are in sync. The days of operating in departmental silos are over. The goal of marketing is to drive sales goals forward, and sales teams must communicate with marketing in order to make effective informed calls. When both teams are working toward the same goal, the results are more qualified leads – but this will not happen if marketing and sales are at odds. A focus on informed calls will force traditional organizational structures to evolve toward more integration.
Let’s face it – the cold call is dead. Marketing teams must provide potential customers with timely, relevant, and compelling content that educates, solves a problem, or generates a lead. For sales teams, that content must be reported and trackable. The results will not only inform salespeople to make the most effective calls but will also impress prospects into making purchases now or down the road.