Is Cold Calling Dead? Maybe!

Is cold calling dead? This question has been debated for quite a while in today’s rapidly changing sales environment. Cold calling once was the backbone of sales prospecting but has recently faced its fair share of skepticism.

• Is Cold Calling Dead, Dying, or Will Be Dead?
• Why Does Cold Calling Have a Bad Reputation?
• The Evolution of Cold Calling
• Although Not Dead, But Does It Still Really Work?
• What to Do? The Substitution Methods
• Integrating Cold Calling with Modern Strategies
• The Tools to Save Cold Calling
• Wrap Up
• FAQs
• All you need to know about Cold Calling on CUFinder

In this age of social media and email outreach, many people ask if picking up the phone and dialing strangers’ phone numbers is still useful. This blog will explore whether cold calling is still alive and kicking or has been eliminated from the marketing equation. 

Is Cold Calling Dead, Dying, or Will Be Dead?

Whether cold calling is dead or not has been debated for many years in marketing societies. One group of experts says it does not rule the marketing world as it once did, while others say it is still quite effective. I agree that cold calling may have lost its shine; it is less effective than before. However, if done at the right time and with the right strategy, it is an excellent path to finding prospects and following up on leads.

Cold calling provides a unique opportunity for personalized solutions, attracting the attention of executives and building resilience and skills that are so important in the competitive sales landscape.

As you know, there are many ways to reach leads and prospects. However, cold calling is still a tool in the marketing and sales teams’ toolbox.

Since cold calling is still one of the most important marketing methods, I want to check its effectiveness using statistics. Of course, we all know that the success rate of this type of marketing has decreased significantly. 

The Trellus website says that the success rate of cold calling ranges between 2% and 6%, depending on factors such as the quality of the leads, the script of the call, the marketer’s experience, timing, etc. 

Well, this number is not that impressive. However, if you have a successful cold-calling campaign, this small number can bring new and valuable customers to your company. It also creates opportunities to build deep customer relationships, which many other methods cannot do.

In another study, while Cognism claims that only 4.8% of cold calls lead to successful B2B marketing meetings, Gong says that the “How have you been?” line resulted in a 6.6x higher success rate than the baseline!

Also, Saleslion says that 57% of C-level buyers prefer to be contacted via phone rather than through other mediums. So, cold calling is alive, kicking, and thriving as a tool for lead generation and revenue growth.

Cloud Talk indicates that: “Statistics underscore its significance. 69% of buyers acknowledged accepting cold calls, and 82% admitted agreeing to meetings initiated by cold calls. An impressive 78% of sales reps who incorporate social media into their strategy find that it enhances their performance, particularly when researching prospects.”

Why Does Cold Calling Have a Bad Reputation?

Cold calling has a poor reputation among marketers due to its high rejection rate. However, as mentioned in the previous section, some researchers believe it is a practical method.

In this section, we examine where this poor fame comes from exactly.

1. High Rejection Rate and Lack of Motivation

The rejection rate you saw in cold calling is very high. According to Service Bell, only one out of every hundred cold calls leads to an appointment. This high percentage can lead to frustration, job burnout, and lack of motivation among SDRs, making it a business nightmare!

2. Annoying 

Cold calling is considered dead because social media platforms surround everyone. Just like salespeople who used to knock on doors to sell something and usually got a negative reaction. But why? Because, unlike email marketing and social media messaging, cold calling requires immediate attention. They are annoying, especially when you call people at the wrong time.

3. Lack of Personalization

From the beginning, cold calling used to be done through a specific and generic script. Your call is naturally cold; now, with a predetermined text, your tone will be robotic, too. Modern marketing strategies are mostly ruled by personalization; if cold calling does not match the rules, it will be easily rejected.

4. Misalignment

Cold calling is not for everyone. Unfortunately, companies use this method too much without considering the needs of their business, industry, and audiences. This method wastes time, energy, and money and may damage your reputation if it is not a fit.

5. Negative Experiences in Both Ends

Cold calling can be an unpleasant experience for both parties. A marketer may experience many rejections in a day, and at the same time, the recipient may be annoyed by receiving so many cold calls. These negative feelings on both ends help this perception that cold calling is an unpleasant and ineffective sales tactic.

The Evolution of Cold Calling

Cold calling has been the king of marketing for many years. However, like everything else, it has evolved over the years. Cold calling was the game of numbers until a few decades ago. 

Marketers used to sit together in large offices, pick up the phone, dial numbers randomly, and try to convince the person who answered to buy their services and products with a generic cold-calling script. Cold-calling success depended heavily on 24/7 effort, luck, and persistence.

Traditional Cold Call – Shooting in the Dark 🎯

As you can see, traditional cold calling was a lot like shooting in the dark. You had to rely on phone directories or contact lists with minimal targeting in hopes of finding someone who needed what you had to offer. This resulted in a high rejection rate and gave cold calling a bad reputation as an annoying and outdated tactic.

Modern Cold Call – The Sun Is Shining ☀️

Today, cold calling is no longer a shot in the dark. SDRs rely more on strategy and data. Modern sales teams have access to advanced tools like customer relationship management (CRM) systems, social media insights, and data enrichment platforms like CUFinder, allowing them to gather in-depth information about prospects before they even start a call.

This change can lead to a more relevant, engaging, and effective call, as sales representatives now have a deeper insight into the needs, problems, and interests of the people they are talking to. The goal is to sell and create connections and add value.

The image below demonstrates the differences between traditional and modern cold calling. 👇

The Call That Is Not So Cold! ☕

One thing that has saved cold calling in the modern era is that leads are usually warmer now, thanks to technology. You often contact people familiar with you through your website and social media, download e-books, free webinars, etc.

This can significantly increase the chances of cold calling success compared to calling a stranger!

This dramatic evolution in cold calling has made sales teams less worn out and more motivated to build lasting relationships with prospects. Cold calling may still be the traditional model at its core, but now it is done smarter.

Although Not Dead, But Does It Still Really Work?

So far, we have noticed that although cold calling is one of the most traditional marketing methods, it still holds its place in many industries. As we mentioned above, one reason for cold calling’s failure is that people need to consider whether it is appropriate for the industry in which they are active.

Industries Where Cold Calling Thrives

Cold calling is one of the most effective marketing methods in industries such as:

1. Real estate
2. Financial services
3. SaaS industry
4. Human resources
5. etc.

In the real estate industry, cold calling is one of the main communication channels between buyers and sellers. Real estate agents rely on direct contact to build trust and lasting relationships with prospects. Click our practical article “10 Real Estate Cold Calling Scripts [Practical & Tested]” to learn how to take full advantage of cold calling as a realtor.

This is similar to financial services, where brokers, like insurance salespeople, use cold calling to reach out to potential customers for investment opportunities or selling insurance.

Another industry where cold calling is common is selling technology and software. It may sound strange, but SaaS marketers still use cold calls to connect with decision-makers who are reluctant to respond to emails and social media messages. Marketers use cold calling to convey complex concepts and introduce products that may need to be fully explained. 

In the same way, people in the human resources industry use cold calling to communicate with individuals, especially to attract candidates who are not actively looking for a job.

What to Do? The Substitution Methods

So far, we have noticed that although cold calling is one of the most traditional marketing methods, it is still used and somewhat effective. However, considering its low success rate, sometimes it might be better to think of an alternative.

Among the top options are social selling, email outreach, and inbound marketing. Let’s examine each and see how they can be an alternative to cold calling.

Social Selling

In social selling, we use social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, etc., to engage with potential customers through comments, shares, and direct messages instead of contacting strangers.

This alternative can nurture leads from the start, while cold calling lacks this capability. It is called sales intelligence.

Social selling is especially well suited for B2B businesses where communication and personal branding are important. LinkedIn Business says social selling can generate 45% more sales opportunities than traditional cold calling.

Email Outreach

Email outreach is another option that can replace cold calling due to its higher success rate. Email marketing uses various customer segmentation tools for division and personalization, which allows businesses to create targeted messages based on customer interests or pain points.

According to Smartreach’s claim, by including compelling subject lines, personalized content, and clear CTAs, email campaigns can achieve open rates of up to 20-30% and click-through rates of 2-5%.

Inbound Marketing

Unlike outbound marketing, inbound marketing does not go directly to customers but instead uses content, SEO, social media, etc., to attract potential customers. It creates valuable information on services and products through posts, blogs, white papers, roadmaps, webinars, and brochures that show companies’ interest.

Inbound marketing generates 3x more leads per dollar than traditional marketing methods. Companies with consistent inbound marketing achieve 7.8x more annual website traffic growth. Inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than outbound sales.

There are so many other substitutions you can use instead of cold calling. For more, you can read our articles on lead generation.

The table below demonstrates a comparison between cold calling, social selling, email outreach, and inbound marketing. 👇

Cold Calling	Direct calls to prospects without prior engagement	Low ROI due to high rejection and low engagement
Social Selling	Engaging with prospects on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter	Higher ROI with warmer leads and relationship-building
Email Outreach	Sending personalized emails to targeted segments	Higher ROI with lower cost and greater scalability
Inbound Marketing	Using content and SEO to attract and engage prospects	Highest ROI over time due to organic lead generation and brand authority

Integrating Cold Calling with Modern Strategies

As mentioned above, you are to use modern strategies to save cold calling.  Let’s see how cold calling combines with other strategies to help marketing efforts succeed. 

1. Multi-Channel Outreach

There is a small hint of this above. Combines can use various communication channels like email, social media, and messaging apps to create a comprehensive lead-generation approach with cold calling. 

For example, a salesperson can complete the communication cycle by sending a personal message on LinkedIn, a short introductory email, and a cold call. As mentioned, using multiple channels before the call increases familiarity and makes the conversation feel more natural and less intrusive.

2. Email-Centric Cold Calling (Double-Tap Technique)

Two-tap technique is when a person sends an email, introduces themselves, briefly explains the value they can provide, and then calls. Prospects are more likely to respond if they see your name in their inbox. In this way, the call feels more like a continuation of an ongoing conversation than an interruption.

3. A Winning Combination Called Social Selling and Cold Calling

As mentioned in the section above, social selling is an alternative to cold calling. However, it may also be one of the most effective ways to increase the success rate of cold calls. Like “multi-channel outreach,” you can use social selling, especially on LinkedIn, to nurture leads just before the call.

Sales reps can strengthen their relationship with prospects by liking their posts, commenting, and sharing relevant content before making cold calls. This combination of social engagement and direct calling makes the marketers seem more credible and reduces much of the “stranger danger” feeling that comes with many cold calls.

4. Cold Calling in Cadence with Content Marketing

The marriage of content marketing and cold calling might seem odd, but they can go hand in hand. Sending relevant blog posts, case studies, or white papers before or after a cold call adds value. This process, sometimes called “lead nurturing,” educates the prospect and trains the salesperson as a resource rather than just another caller with an offer.

What you just read means that cold calling integrated into these modern approaches allows sales teams to use traditional and digital best practices to drive better engagement rates and seamless customer journeys.

The Tools to Save Cold Calling

So far, we have found that cold calling has not been as effective as it used to be, and we have suggested ways to improve it. However, one of these ways that will have the greatest impact on the success of your cold calls is using modern technologies and tools for pre-contact research. 

These days, sales teams have more than a simple list of names of people and companies to contact. Below are some key tools and platforms to help sales professionals turn cold calls into successful conversations.

1. CUFinder

CUFinder is a powerful lead generation and data enrichment tool that makes target identification and communication easier for any business with accurate and verified data. With access to detailed company profiles, direct contact information, and enriched data, CUFinder allows sales professionals to gather valuable insights before making a call. 

Moreover, by using CUFinder’s enrichment features, especially the “Company Phone Finder,” “Person Phone Finder,” and “Phone Number to Person Name” services, sales teams can prioritize high-quality leads and ultimately save money and time, and increase the conversion chance.

It should be noted that the resulted data in CUFinder is all confirmed, and above 98% data accuracy is guaranteed.

2. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a great data enrichment service. It bridges the gap between cold calling and social selling. With this tool, sales teams can find leads, reach out to potential customers, and view their professional history. 

Advanced filtering options allow marketers to narrow down their search results. It reduces the tendency to contact blindly and increases the chances of receiving a positive response.

3. ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo is best known for its massive business database and data enrichment functionality. This tool allows sales teams to access detailed company and contact information, making their listings more accurate and focused.

It also provides data about the organizational hierarchy to ensure the user reaches the right person at the right time. Integration with CRMs such as Salesforce makes tracking leads easier, thus keeping sales teams’ contact strategies organized and effective.

4. Outreach.io

Outreach.io is an engagement platform for executing outbound sequences on the phone, email, and social channels. It allows sales reps to automate follow-ups, track key engagement metrics, and analyze call strategy effectiveness. This tool is important in cold calling to ensure that leads stay on track and that every lead is timely and relevant.

5. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM is an all-in-one tool that allows your sales team to organize leads and track their conversations while analyzing results. It includes a complete CRM, lead scoring, and automation features that help keep sales teams on the right track, especially with their telemarketing efforts. 

Wrap Up

When someone asks, “Is Cold calling dead?” another can simply say, “Absolutely Not.” In sales prospecting, lead generation, and revenue growth-generating plans, cold calls remain an important tool in sales, supported by data, executive approval, and potential value to prospects. 

If I want to summarize this article in one sentence, I should say, “Cold calling is not dead, but it is less effective than before if you don’t use the latest tactics and tools.”

The secret to maximum payoff with cold calling lies in strategizing the call to optimize quality, personalization, and integration with other marketing channels. If done correctly, cold calling will always be a part of any successful sales strategy. 

FAQs

1. How Many Cold Calls Should You Make Each Day to Be Successful?

It depends on many factors, such as your product, customer journey, business goals, and target audience. However, according to the most recent industry trends, each B2B tech sales rep should make at least 60 daily calls to book more meetings.

2. Is Cold Calling Illegal? 

No, cold calling is not illegal, but it is bound by the Do Not Call Registry and, more recently, data privacy laws such as the GDPR and CCPA. Breach of these guidelines may lead to grave legal consequences.

3. How Would You Get to Customers without Cold Calling?

Instead of cold calling, customers may be reached through email outreach, social media engagement, networking, content marketing, and paid ads.

4. Is Cold Calling Effective When Trying to Market SaaS to Small Business Owners?

Yes, it can be paired with personal outreach and targeting the right people who make decisions.