This cold calling guide will show you how to source prospects’ numbers, prepare for your calls & conquer rejection fears.
We'll also uncover lemlist's sales rhythm - our own winning formula for selling success!
Ready your best Wolf of Wall Street chest thump and dive in.
The simplest cold calling definition is:
Calling new prospects to schedule discovery calls or promote your product/service.
In a crowded inbox landscape, emails can easily be missed.
That's why, despite misconceptions, cold calling remains one of the best ways to nurture relationships before making a sales pitch.
Compiling contact lists is time-consuming & often comes with a cost.
Here are a few ways to get it done:
Online databases can uncover many fitting prospects if you don’t already have specific people in mind.
Tap into databases (like UpLead & ZoomInfo) for easy prospecting and use their advanced filtering mechanisms to find the relevant leads.
It’s the quickest way to siphon the most numbers at a time.
When you pin Kaspr, it overlays an array of options for finding contact details on the right corner of your screen.
You can hook it into your LinkedIn account to uncover the phone numbers of your connections.
In this screenshot, the phone number couldn’t be displayed because;
1) The profile used to search for Guillaume isn’t a connection or
2) Guillaume’s own privacy settings.
This is a nifty tool if you already have a list of fitting prospects in the form of LinkedIn connections.
Of course, you can try this without Kaspr.
Click on the ‘contact info’ option on your lead’s LinkedIn profile.
If you’re connected, you might see their phone number if they set it to public.
White pages are a goldmine for info and phone numbers.
Each country has its own dedicated white pages site.
Let's say you're chasing leads in the USA—pop their name and city into this site, and bam, you've got the digits.
Unfortunately, this method isn’t always reliable.
Your person might not show up—no workaround there.
Or you could end up swimming in a sea of lookalike results.
In that case - dig deeper!
Use extra details like age or street names to increase your chances of finding them.
This is a less scalable but often effective way to score those numbers.
Head over to their website, scroll down to the footer or navigate to the contact section.
At the very least, you’ll find the main company number.
If you’re lucky, there’ll be departmental numbers too.
From there, you'll need to charm your way past the gatekeeper to get to your prospect.
Offer a value trade, don’t pitch at this point.
Alternatively, try a Boolean Google search.
Type "site:DOMAIN.com" and then "phone number."
You can try this method to find specific individuals too.
"{Name & Surname}" AND "{Position}" AND "{Company Name}" AND "Phone number"
The prospect's email is easier to get than their direct phone number.
But there’s always a chance they'll have their phone number in their email signature!(insert signature link)
Try emailing outside of office hours—they might have an auto-responder.
This method isn’t scalable or ideal - you can mess up your email deliverability if you abuse this tactic.
Only use it when you’ve exhausted all other options and it’s a really good lead.
➡3 Ways To Find Email Addresses For Free!
Having a list of numbers is one thing, but being prepared to call is key.
Preparation separates the cold calls that convert from the ones that don’t!
Let’s assume that you already did in-depth lead research and qualification while preparing your prospect list.
What else can you do to make your call more effective?
Try this:
Have they tweeted something recently?
Published on LinkedIn?
Wrote an in-depth article?
All of it can make your call personal and current - boosting receptivity & cementing a solid connection from the start.
Taking notes is essential, whether it's a sales demo, cold call, or any other appointment.
They help you keep a reference for easy recall.
The one-page template is all you need.
Why?
Here's what it looks like:
Fear of rejection is one of the biggest problems for new cold callers.
Cold calling is stressful at first, but you'll become a confident cold caller with practice.
Remember - rejection is the baseline.
The global average success rate of cold calling is 2%!
Of course, employing the right strategies can dramatically increase your success rates, but know it's a universal struggle.
In a chat with Morgan Ingram (a leading cold-calling expert), we asked him that same question.
This was his response:
How do you keep yourself motivated? What are your goals? Think about them.
They force you to move forward even when you get thousands of "No's".
With a clear goal, like scheduling 20 meetings per week, you’ll get to swiftly move onto the next step without ruminating.
While cold calling, you will probably sometimes hear this frustrating “I don’t have time phrase.”
So, how do we handle this?
We asked Milovan Milosevic, VP of Revenue Operations at Shyft.
In his words, when someone says that they don’t have time to discuss or try your product, there are a few things to keep in mind:
Here’s a practical example from Milovan dealing with this type of rejection:
I completely understand. Could you please provide some feedback?
What could I have done better to secure 15 minutes of your time to showcase our product?
You might learn something useful you can use in your next call.
Sometimes, they are ACTUALLY busy.
Try to nail a call-back session so you can call them again when they’re available.
It shows you respect their time and will try to find an arrangement that works for them.
Some cold calling tips by experts for improving call outcomes:
Building a sales cadence that works takes time.
The things you should consider while creating your own cadence are:
Here's what our looks like:
This multichannel sales cadence spans 21 days and involves outreach via LinkedIn, emails, and cold calling, with a total of 5 contact points throughout.
We initiate the cadence with the first touchpoint on LinkedIn.
It's an excellent starting point, given its widespread use in the B2B sphere.
Establishing this connection beforehand helps our prospects feel more familiar and receptive when they encounter our subsequent cold email.
For cold emails, the goal is to get a reply, not sell.
We accomplish this by making the email hyper-personalized.
In other words, more human.
Be that a dynamic text tag, custom image or a dynamic landing page, genuine personalization in cold emails is what makes your reply rate sky-high.
Pro tip: Personalized video thumbnail template!
The primary objective of this template is to drive clicks and transition recipients from their inboxes to a dynamic landing page.
This page should showcase a video and urge them to book a meeting with you (or any other page relevant to your goal.)
To this day, Guillaume has booked over 300 meetings using this template:
Wanna learn how to create a personalized video thumbnail? Check this resource!
The next in line is the cold call.
The cold call occurs when both LinkedIn outreach and cold email attempts haven't yielded a response.
Our preferred tool is Aircall.
We adore it for its user-friendly interface, seamless integration with lemlist, and robust capabilities in both inbound and outbound sales functionalities.
During our cold calls, our primary focus isn't immediate sales; instead, we aim to establish a connection with our prospects.
We often begin with a light-hearted approach, like humorously addressing their lack of response or finding common ground.
Before the call, we extensively research their company, understand their pain points, and pin-point where we fit into their picture.
Our conversation aims to convey a personalized understanding to pique their interest.
At the same time, we try to gauge their level of interest - to ensure we don't waste our time.
If they seem interested, we might delve deeper into the discussion or schedule a discovery call based on their availability, company size, and decision-making process.
If we can't dial them or they miss our call, it's up to our two follow-ups to make it happen.
How you write your follow-up emails will vary depending on your sequence and call-to-action.
We leverage two schools of thought.
1) Either we try to add more value with every additional follow-up, or
2) we send quick reminders and check if we're emailing the right person in the team.
Short on inspo? Browse our cold email template hub!
This sales cadence lasts 21 days and consists of 5 contacts in total.
Each sales cadence differs based on unique business and product factors.
Once established, it's essential to assess its effectiveness in yielding desired results.
Test and adapt the cadence until you find the best fit for your business.
May the sales force be with you! 🤞