If you're selling B2B SaaS in the US, you might be wondering if cold calling is effective.
Once a staple in sales, cold calling is a huge challenge today.
From my conversations with founders and sales leaders, cold calling yields the lowest results.
Overwhelmed Buyers: Buyers receive numerous calls daily from unknown numbers, leading to frustration and hence low pickup rates — often less than 5%. Most calls just end up in the voicemail.
No Reference Point: If you’re not representing a company that your buyer knows well, there is a high likelihood you’re not getting a meeting booked.
Accent Bias: If the buyer answers, a non-native US accent also sometimes causes them to refrain from continuing the conversation. Their typical response? "I'm not interested" or "Send me an email."
Gone are the days when making 100-150 calls daily was effective. Today's savvy buyers prefer not to be interrupted.
Focus on personalized outreach through a combination of emails, social selling, and leveraging referrals. Building relationships and trust is key in today’s market.
Use a reference point to start with. Put some effort into your outreach. Consider speaking with low-level members of the team and then use that information to cold call your buyer stating that you got a reference from <..xyz individual..> and why you think this call will be important to them. This will be a strong hook for you to get the conversation started. (Be mindful of using the correct statements when mentioning names.)
Use calling as a channel once you have built the initial rapport, got connected and the buyer at least has some context.