The Code of Cold Calling – GTMnow

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Covered today:

Cold calling tips for executives and representatives.
Learn more about GTM for your eardrums.
More information about GTM for your eyes.
Startup to follow.
This week’s hottest GTM jobs.
GTM Industry Events.

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Telephone canvassing code for managers and representatives

Cold calling is one of the few marketing activities that remains constant regardless of the stage of a company’s development.

For startups, cold calling is often a lifeline to growth. For large companies, cold calling is a beating drum in the global orchestra.

According to Salesforce’s State of Sales report, more than 50% of top-performing sales teams continue to rely on outbound strategies, including cold calling, as a key part of their approach. This trend is consistent across both small and large companies.

This notion is taken up during discussions with those responsible for marketing.

“Surprisingly, cold calling is not dead. It’s still the best way to get a message across. For example, for the past two years, I kept getting calls from the same salesperson. Of the 50 calls I get each day, I would answer about five or six a week, often by accident. This salesperson managed to reach me at just the right time, like when I was driving with my kids or a meeting was unexpectedly canceled. His persistence paid off, because every time he reached me, he delivered an impressive pitch in the crucial first 30 seconds. His approach was so effective that I ended up purchasing the software, which we now use to enhance our own cold calling efforts.

– David Greenberger (Vice President, Head of North America at CHEQ)

Businesses at all stages of development can benefit from this. Below are five cold calling tips for both sales managers and salespeople.

Tips for Sales Managers

1. Set clear expectations. Establish minimum viable activity metrics, such as 150-200 cold calls per week, to ensure consistent engagement without overwhelming your reps. The magic formula is to find the activity metrics that balance both quality and quantity.

2. Cultivate a culture of cold calling and lead by example. Normalize rejection as a step toward success. Rejection is a data point that provides feedback so you can iterate. Lead by example: When leaders actively engage in cold calling, it reinforces its importance to the team. Anyone who has cold called can certainly agree that it is not only an exercise in humility, but also a great feedback loop for your KPI.

3. Equip your team with the right tools (and training!). Invest in platforms and tools that streamline cold calling efforts. For example, consolidating standalone tools onto a single platform and parallel dialers.

4. Motivate with gamification and incentives. Create healthy competition within your team with leaderboards and contests. Reward both the quantity of calls and the quality of engagements.

5. Align cold calling with broader sales strategies. Integrate cold calling into a multi-channel outreach strategy, ensuring consistency across all touchpoints, including email campaigns and social selling.

Tips for Sales Representatives

1. Start cold calling first thing in the morning. Make cold calling your first task of the day, when connection rates are highest. Use tactics like the “10 calls, no pee” rule to overcome reluctance and build momentum.

2. Perfect your opening. Avoid generic opening statements. Instead, start with a context-specific statement that shows you’ve done your research. Example opening:
“Hello (Prospect), I just finished reading your latest report on (specific topic). It’s a cold call, but it’s well-researched. Can I have 30 seconds to explain why I called?”

3. Focus on the problem, not the product. When making your pitch, focus on the specific problem your product solves rather than its features.

4. Handle objections by agreeing and then asking a trick question. When faced with objections, first agree with the prospect to lower their guard. Then, ask a “trick question” that subtly highlights a gap in their current solution. Example of objection handling:
“Prospect: “We already work with (competitor).”
You: “Great choice, (competitor) is solid. That must mean you don’t face (specific problem your solution addresses), right?”

5. Integrate cold calling with email outreach. Use a multi-touch approach by following up on cold calls with personalized emails.

👂 More for your eardrums

The GTM Podcast – subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.

GTM 106: Mastering the transition from PLG to PLS with Andrew Johnston

Andrew Johnston is currently Head of Sales at Superhuman, where he leads the go-to-market strategy as part of the executive team. Previously, he grew the Mid-Market and PLS businesses at Scale AI and led SendGrid’s global sales team following its acquisition by Twilio and subsequent IPO.

👀 More for your eyes

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Marketing needs to evolve into something AI can’t abstract away: experiences.

🚀 Startup to follow

Vanta – is named to the Forbes Cloud 100 list. This is Forbes’ ninth annual list of the world’s top private cloud companies.

🔥 The hottest GTM jobs of the week

Growth Marketing Manager at Owner (Remote – United States and Canada)
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Discover more top GTM job openings on the GTMfund job board.

If you are looking to recruit top talent for your startup, contact our partner recruitment firm: Integrity Power Search (IPS). They are also available to assist candidates looking for their next startup opportunity.

🗓️ GTM Industry Events

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