80% of Businesses Do Not Take Cold Calls

Cold calling has been around as an effective sales tactic for many years. It simply means making unsolicited calls to people to sell your services or products. We've all received at least one unsolicited call once a while. However, times have changed and so are marketing tactics. 

Now you may hear a lot of people asking, "is cold calling dead?" And the answer is, "Yes"! As digital transformation continues, the sales process is also changing. Before we discuss the point of why cold calling is becoming obsolete, we need to understand what exactly is cold calling.

What is cold calling?

"Cold Calling" means calling prospects that you haven't made a connection before to introduce your services and products. Recent surveys have shown that 80% of the corporations do not take calls unless they have name contact. This clearly shows that people's interest in cold calling has dwindled with time.

On top of that, people are moving towards digital transformation where they search a company and get complete details about their products, read reviews, and all information related to the website before making a purchase. This is one reason why cold calling is becoming an unnecessary nuisance. Prospects are no longer interested in such type of marketing and it is totally fair!

Anyone interrupting your day with an uninvited 2-minute detailed script must have some good and fast-talking skills to impress you. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time for both sellers and prospects. 

Chances are that salespeople get more irritated than the prospects. As the prospects get angry getting an invited call, salespersons become frustrated after talking to hundreds of people and not getting a single lead. This is indeed a tough job with no certain results.

So, why is cold calling near expiration? Here are some reasons why cold calling is becoming obsolete.

1. Cold Calling is Outdated

According to the marketing surveys, most people prefer texts over phone calls. Nowadays, people get names and numbers on their phone screens and they often don't pick up unknown numbers. Even random calls from some business numbers provoke tension from otherwise willing customers.

If it comes to calling business clients, it becomes more difficult to navigate extensions, voice mails, and other operating systems. Many people refuse to show their interest and immediately give an email address to forward the offers instead and, honestly, they never open and read those emails. Given the myriad communications, cold calling is no longer an optimal option. 

2. It Wastes Time

"Time is money." No one can deny the importance of this phrase. Small businesses, especially, need to conserve time and money. An average sale makes at least 8 dials and approximately 6 hours to set up just one appointment.

3. It’s Irritating

Due to advancements in technology, the world is becoming overloaded by brands. Customers have thousands of options to buy one product. Goodwill is necessary for the success of brands these days and cold calls are just a way to tarnish that goodwill. 

Cold calls, by nature, are disturbing. They take the prospects out of their likely busy schedule and set them in an alarming situation; why is a random number calling me? What do they want from me? Should I be concerned? When they receive the call, they wonder how the interaction benefits them.

Even if you offer them something that they likely need, the initial impression of frustration and alarm stays there!

4. Cold Calling is Exasperating for Employees

Cold calling is not just annoying for the prospects but drains employees emotionally. Most of the people on the receiving end do not understand the problems of the employees and the inconvenience and anxiety that they get after experiencing constant customer backlash. 

This very quickly affects their performance. Employees are supposed to call people day in and day out and bring leads but suffer from anxiety and mental fatigue. After doing all this, when they don't get a lead, it leaves them feeling disappointed as they spent their energies on a tedious and unproductive task.