Even after doing SaaS for so many years, and being probably the biggest fan of SaaS sales and sales processes… I still struggle with the idea of cold calling. Personally, I never answer cold calls, and want at least my initial search to be done over email.
But I’m not the average tech buyer, and you probably aren’t either.
So I did the latest survey to see how many people were successful at cold calling outbound (not email) in 2023?
Answer: A lot. majority of:
Now granted, a survey is not that subtle. Many phone-based cold calling isn’t 100% cold. This is for people who have already taken at least a “pre-action” in many cases (visited a website, attended an event, etc.). This is not true Raw cold calling.
I loved this summary from CRO Jesse Gomez:
Cold calling represents one piece of a wider market going. > 60% of decision makers visit websites and other sources to consume data on the solution, competitors, and understand the problems the solution solves. If it is a priority for the prospect they are more than 80% willing to schedule an appointment to answer “cold calling”. IME, no piece in a well designed GTM is a silver bullet independently. In addition, I have personally observed the evolution of “buying behavior” over the past 10 years to what it is today. Point being, if I implemented a plan today that is an exact replica of a plan I implemented 10 years ago to increase revenue at that time, it would be wildly ineffective today. my $0.02
This poll may not come as a surprise to many of you, but it does to me. I never check my voicemail and avoid phone calls as much as possible.
But yes, when I want to buy, and a great rep calls… that can be a great experience.
It looks like most of you are trying to follow that guide, and more importantly, watching it work. 40% of you say cold calling really works, and another 34% say it still takes a bit of work and is worth it (my general experience). The reality is, whatever works is usually doable – if you have the resources to know how to make that playbook run.
How are you running “cold” phone outbound?
Published March 13, 2023