Cold Calling Techniques to Warm Up Your Sales

Cold Calling Techniques to Warm Up Your Sales

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!

Cold calling can leave even the most seasoned pros with a chill. It’s always worth polishing up the tools you use to break the ice, and teaching them to your team. Here are our faves of the experts’ tips and tricks for warming up your technique.

Aim for quality, not quantity

You may think that a longer list of prospects is key to eventual success with your cold calling, but it all depends on the quality of those leads. In her article for Entrepreneur, Jane Porter advocates doing some research when it comes to your clients. If your product or service best serves large companies or organizations, then make sure your prospect list reflects that. Of course, even the most well researched prospect list doesn’t guarantee a “yes,” but you set yourself up for a higher rate of success when you target the right audience for cold calling.

Try a strategic name drop

Do you and your prospect perhaps have a mutual contact or friend? Easy enough to find out with a simple dash through Linked In. Don’t underestimate the value of a well-placed name. It may just be what tips the scales in your favor. Leading sales expert Brian Tracy believes that having a common denominator helps to relax your prospects when cold calling. If you don’t have an initial or obvious mutual connection, then it’s time to hit up LinkedIn and see where your circles overlap.

(Read 7 cold-calling mistakes you’re probably making right now.)

Master your voicemail approach

Kraig Kleeman, who bills himself as “The World’s Greatest Cold Caller,” reminds us that only 1% of voicemails get returned. Those aren’t good odds at all for your bottom line. Though banks like JP Morgan and Citigroup are in the process of axing voicemail, Kleeman urges you not to give up. You want people to call you back? Spend time refining that voicemail and consider writing a script that you can customize for each client. Sales expert and Salesforce partner John Barrows of is a fan of the 30-second or less voicemail during which you leave your name and company at the end of the message, not the beginning, to avoid any hasty hang ups based on false assumptions your prospect might have about your company’s services.

For another good read with valuable advice please check out: A Follow-Up on Following-Up.

Dan Sincavage

Dan is a Co-Founder of Tenfold and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. Dan oversees the Tenfold sales organization, manages strategic partner relationships and works with key enterprise accounts to ensure their success with the Tenfold platform.

Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.

SalesFish B2B Telemarketing Services

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

  • B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
  • On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
  • B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
  • Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
  • Online Presentations and Webinars
  • Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
  • Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
  • Experiential Event Marketing
  • Pre and Post-Event Calls
  • Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
Why Content Matters

Why Content Matters

Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!

Getting on page #1 of the search engines is a great goal; winning Facebook likes is nice. But such things mean nothing if your content isn’t engaging. In fact, any marketing medium is only as good as its content.

You’ve probably heard the oft-repeated maxim that “content is king,” and there is truth behind it. Content mainly refers to the written word, but may also include such things as images, photos and video. A lot of people focus on getting their business seen, but form without substance is dead. Even more than where you place your message is what you have to say and how you say it.

According to the Content Marketing Institute’s (CMI) blog, What is Content Marketing? If You’re Not Content Marketing, You’re Not Marketing:

“Content marketing is a…technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience—with the objective of driving profitable customer action. Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty…Consumers have simply shut off the traditional world of marketing. They own a DVR to skip television advertising, often ignore magazine advertising, and now have become so adept at online ‘surfing’ that they can take in online information without a care for banners or buttons (making them irrelevant). Smart marketers understand that traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective by the minute, and that there has to be a better way. Thought leaders and marketing experts from around the world…have concluded that content marketing isn’t just the future, it’s the present.”

Constantly pitching your products and services will turn people away; however, if you’re educating, entertaining and engaging your audience with relevant content, you are likely to get results. “Selling without selling” is the most effective way to generate leads.

Here are a few stepwise tips, based on the “AIDA” model to help you understand how content marketing leads to a sale, without appearing to sell:

  • A: Get Attention—before anything else!

Minds are either captured or lost in the first few seconds of contact. Don’t start your website, advertising, posts or updates explaining your attributes and features you offer. Start with a great headline and an introductory paragraph that answers the question, “Why should I care?” Why are people searching for your services or products anyway, and what is their emotional state when they encounter your message? Meet them at that place.

  • I: Develop attention into Interest

Leverage the attention you’ve gained with compelling content. “According to the Roper Public Affairs, 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement. 70% say content marketing makes them feel closer to the sponsoring company, while 60% say that company content helps them make better product decisions. Think of this—what if your customer looked forward to receiving your marketing? What if when they received it, via print, email, website, they spent 15, 30, 45 minutes with it?” (CMI)

  • D: Lead the visitor to a Decision.

Make your content so compelling and informative that the reader will want to know more, that you have the goods or services to meet their needs.  They may not yet be ready to buy—they may not even act for some time—but if you can get them to decide that you are worth further consideration, then your content is working. You will have Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA), so that when they are ready to buy, you’re foremost in their thoughts.

  • A: Stir them to Action.

Provide a simple and non-threatening way for visitors to get more information; offer them an exclusive benefit such as a free white paper or webinar. Make it easy to take advantage of your offering, but don’t always go straight for the “Buy Now” button. Some people act in small steps, nibbling before they bite, so don’t try to set the hook too early.

Content marketing is a specialized skill, so hire a great content writer, not just someone who knows how to build a pretty website or who knows Facebook inside and out. A skilled content marketer will turn your marketing to gold.

Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!


Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.

Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.

SalesFish B2B Telemarketing Services

SalesFish Net of Sales Services:

  • B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
  • On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
  • B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
  • Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
  • Online Presentations and Webinars
  • Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
  • Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
  • Experiential Event Marketing
  • Pre and Post-Event Calls
  • Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales