Telemarketing and cold emailing are both common prospecting techniques. However, the effectiveness of a quality phone contact far outweighs the efficiency of an email in most cases.
Here at Internal Results, we use a blended approach to prospecting for our clients.
However, you may not have the bandwidth to do both.
So I’ve put together several reasons why telemarketing is likely a better strategy for your salespeople to invest their time.
Spark a Conversation
Who doesn’t love to talk, right?
A primary communication advantage of calls over emails is direct interaction.
Emails are one-way messages whereby you hope a prospect will respond.
On the phone, you can make small talk, build rapport, engage a prospect and draw out feedback.
And although email is quicker with lots of choices around platforms to use, a friendly and personable sales person is much more capable of putting a prospect at ease on the phone than in an old email.
Transition to Need Discovery
The change to qualifying a buyer and going through need discovery is much more efficient through telemarketing.
With an email, the common goal is to solicit a first action, such as an enquiry, subscription or registration.
After building rapport on the phone, you don’t waste time and lose momentum.
You can quickly enquire about a buyer’s role in a company, primary concerns and buying steps.
In some cases, you can get an initial appointment before you hang up the phone.
Emails typically take at least a few steps before you can arrange an in-person visit.
So although email may appear quicker and a more efficient use of time, that is not always the case.
Your best opportunity to learn as much as possible about a prospect’s company, needs and frustrations, is on the phone.
And this is where the “Why?” principles of need discovery kick-in.
You need to find the cause of the problem before you can offer a solution.
As children, we always asked why.
As we get older, we presume we know the reason why. Well, when it comes to your customers, trust me – you don’t know all of the why’s. You need to find them out.
In doing this, you can build a stronger relationship with your prospect, be seen as a problem solver, and in some cases, ensure the door is kept firmly shut on your competitors.
Technology enables more efficient communication, but it can impede a personalised focus when used excessively.
Customise the Interaction
During a cold call, you can tailor the conversation to each prospect.
While email campaigns have become somewhat targeted, it is still common that multiple prospects receive the same initial message.
And let’s be honest, how many emails do you receive each day?
On your initial call, you get a sense of a prospect’s personality and demeanour right away.
Your perception enables you to respond appropriately, the remainder of the call is typically directed by the responses the prospect has, as are the natural next steps in your process.
It’s also worth noting that, depending upon which platform you use for your email marketing, recipients of emails can often recognise that your email is not of a personal nature.
And is simply a blanket message, and this can have an adverse effect when you do decide to place a follow-up call.
Build Trust
As I have said time and time again, business is based upon relationships.
Unless you have a well-established brand as a company or even a salesperson, it is hard to build trust and credibility via email.
On the phone, genuine interest in the prospect’s welfare and honest conversation help establish that trust.
This trust carries a lot of weight in securing an agreement for an in-person meeting.
Also, it sets a positive tone for the direction of that initial meeting.
Emails allow you to lay out information in a strategic way, but the message is less dynamic and less personal.
Conclusion
Personality, intelligence and a problem-solving approach are core strengths of top face-to-face sellers.
You lose much of your ability to make an impact with these qualities through email messages as this study piece from Salesforce demonstrates.
On the phone, though, sales people can project much of who they are to a prospect, and draw out natural reactions regarding the prospect’s concerns.
We understand that cold calling is one of the most time-consuming aspects of the sales process.
If your team could use some support with its telemarketing lead generation, contact us today to learn how we can help.
