If cold calling doesn't work anymore why are appointment setting companies so successful?

Having performed the task of developing opportunities for Account Executives ("AE"), I agree with Michael. I helped my prospects:

-- paint a vision of what kinds of solutions would solve their problems and then
-- connected my solution to a prospect's key business issues or dreams

prior to setting the meeting with the Account Executive.

The 3:15 scoping process I used may also have involved the AE at the outset, depending on the profile of the company and whether this company was in my AE's top 10 accounts.

You can't really get that kind of granularity from an outsourced provider.

Good conversation!

I agree with Michael's opening comment.

Jeffrey, as I know them, the sales models that you cited are primarily used for post-initial meeting stages of a sales process.

From my perspective, this issue centers on the difference between “cold calling” and alternative approaches. Businesses that can avoid cold calling should.

Alternative to cold-calling requires salespeople to create leverage point from research about those they call prior to attempting to set an appointment. If research of a call list is impractical, there are strategic-based approaches to consider. The point is: cold-calling, while not “dead” is, generally-speaking, the least productive way to approach appointment settling.

I’d like to see more posts on this subject.

I challenge both premises … that cold-calling doesn’t work and that high-volume appointment-setting is successful.

Cold-calling based on relevant events in prospect organizations’ business lives, and designed to provoke a web site visit or content request (v. a callback or instant sale) DOES work quite well and profitably. Old-style cold-calling in BtoC has diminished greatly because of national Do Not Call laws in the US and elsewhere. In BtoB, heads-down, 100-dials-a-day, one-call-fits-all endures, but only among gluttons for punishment. Smart, respectful introductory calls remain an integral part of BtoB customer acquisition.

Now regarding appointments, consider this from a large company marketing exec, reported by MarketingSherpa:

“We tested sending sales reps to meetings arranged by appointment-setting firms (which did nothing but get the meeting from a series of cold calls) versus appointment-setting as a result of a more extended nurturing campaign.

The appointment-setting firm only cost $650 per meeting … but we discontinued using them after 30 meetings even though the meetings were, for the most part, at the right companies with the right people. TURNS OUT NONE OF THAT BUSINESS EVER CLOSED. (caps added.)

Why didn't it? The company exec explained, ‘Your rep goes into the meeting with no pain points established, no information on the decision process, or any depth of relationship built up already. All that marketing time and effort has just been moved from before the meeting to after the meeting.’"

The meme that "Cold calling doesn't work anymore" has been promulgated by two groups. The first is by the people who hate cold calling - either making calls, or receiving them (predominantly at home.) The other is companies with a vested interest in alternative services. But it isn't true. As Michael says, it depends.

We've been doing cold calling for almost 20 years, and it is faster, better and cheaper than anything else out there when it comes to generating qualified leads and appointments with decision makers who have a need, and who want to talk with a salesperson about how they can help - whether the prospect is an SMB owner or the CXO of a Fortune 500 company.

You just have to understand what works, and what doesn't. The call center model is pretty weak when it comes to B2B because the skills needed to do the job aren't widely held. We found that less than 5% of candidates actually know how to make a good cold call, so it's almost impossible to staff a call center with good callers. (We use a virtual model.)

Also, traditional selling techniques (like SPIN, Solution Selling and Strategic Selling) are much more effective than script-reading.

Pay-per-lead, by the way, is extremely dangerous. It can trash your market very quickly.

It's really a numbers game, but having a bit of insight about who you are calling and why you are calling them. Cold calling that doesn't work is usually down to the person doing the cold call doesn't know what they are doing or has enough training in how to make a good call.

It can work very well but it needs to be done right.

who said cold calling doesn't work? We prepare that first "phone call" with a creative dimensional mail piece, so when we call we aren't say I am Joe Smith with xyz did you get my brochure, or I am Joe Smith and I am calling from abc. We are I am Joe Smith and I am the one that sent you the great remote control call, but I didn't send you the remote on purpose.. then the rest of the message. They get hundreds of calls, what is going to make them remember you, a brochure, a flyer or some creative mail piece that has a neat item that sits on their desk