Has B2B Cold Calling Gone Cold?

It’s night. The wind outside is warm yet soothing.
 
With the curtains drawn you are ready to go to bed. Your head hits the pillow and just as you’re entering sweet dreamland – your phone rings!
 
It’s a marketer pushing his new flashy product to you, offering wild discounts and listing specifications and features. You politely refuse and go back to sleep. Heck, now you cannot sleep!
 
You wonder how this “smart window to the world” could be so obtrusive!
 
Yes, we’re talking about cold calls! Yet, with the way lead generation is innovating in the B2B sector, cold calling might be obsolete soon, according to Australian B2B Lead Generation company, Lead Express (via a report by Tech Business News).
 
As per James Cashmore, CEO of Lead Express, “In order to thrive, companies need to establish lead generation strategies that maximise the potential for customer engagement, whether the sales opportunity is immediate or requires nurturing over an extended period.”
 
In stark contrast to cold calling’s impersonal and time-consuming nature, stands the progress made with digital technology, which has changed the way businesses approach B2B lead generation. Better personalization and targeting are offered through content marketing, social media engagement, search engine optimization and email campaigns, all powered by enhanced connectivity. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have pushed the envelope of digital marketing further.

 
However, as per some reports, statistics and surveys, cold calling is still the preferred method of generating leads for many.
 
According to a study by Rain Group, 57% of C-level and VP buyers prefer to be contacted by phone, followed by 51% for directors and 47% for managers with the same preference. Furthermore, 82% of buyers accept meetings with sellers who reach out over cold calls/emails.
 
Through a survey conducted on LinkedIn by SaaStr and shared by its Founder, Jason Lemkin, to see how many people garnered success in outbound cold calls in 2023, it was found that 74% agreed it worked (40% yes, 34% neutral, 26% no). #ColdCallingIsStillHot


Lemkin further referred to a comment by Jesse Gomez, CRO of Williamsburg Therapy Group, on the survey, which stated, "Cold calling represents one piece of a comprehensive go to market. >60% of decision makers visit the website and other sources to consume data on the solution, competitors, and understanding the problems the solution solves. If it’s a priority for prospect they are more than 80% inclined to respond to “cold calling” to schedule an appointment."

 
Some believe that the cost of cold calling is lower than other marketing methods, which can be further reduced by outsourcing to professional companies. Another benefit includes the circumvention of excessive emails that can come across spam-like. In addition, cold calls help establish better personal connections with decision-makers and knowledge about them.
 
Just ask Dwight from The Office!
 
Do you prefer cold calling over other methods? If not, what’s the greatest drawback of cold approaches? Let us know in the comments below!