Cold calling can be a viable sales activity for managed IT service firms. However, this approach may not work for every company. To improve the chances of converting the prospects, you need the right person to handle the calls. The ideal salesperson needs a personality and an in-depth understanding of managed IT services.
Over the years, the nature of cold calling has undoubtedly evolved. Many sales professionals are adapting smart calling, which involves familiarizing yourself with the contact before reaching out. You can streamline and track the cold calls using various techniques and customer relationship management (CRM) software.
With smart calling, you invest time and effort in building up a sequence that leads to a call—nurturing the prospect before the call is a crucial aspect of the process. When done correctly, the approach can yield results. It differs significantly from merely picking up the phone and reciting an IT services script to a cold prospect.
MSP marketing experts recommend mixing cold calling with other sales techniques to achieve tremendous success. Most IT services firms combine cold calling with inbound marketing, social selling, and LinkedIn marketing.
How to Make Cold Calling Work for Your MSP Business
Cold calls enable you to reach out proactively to prospects, thus providing a crucial layer of touchpoints. This sales technique is a viable option for top-of-funnel outreach campaigns since it enables direct interaction, which prepares the potential client for subsequent stages in the sales cycle.
When dealing with complex-sale products, such as managed IT services, many firms discover that cold calling shifts prospects from awareness to active leads. The prospect pool for information technology services now incorporates non-IT decision-makers. This development compels MSPs to adapt their messaging strategy to cater to the needs of the new audience.
Most IT firms that fail to maximize results with cold calling underestimate the need to refine messages based on buyer personas. Once the refining is complete, it is vital to tweak further and customize the context of the cold call pitch accordingly.
Up to 78 percent of decision-makers confirmed that they had taken appointments after a cold call. On the other hand, statistics also show that approximately 47 percent of leads nurtured using cold calls make large purchases than leads drawn from other sales activities. However, almost half of salespeople, including those selling IT services, tend to give up on a prospect following the second interaction.
This fact creates opportunities for determined MSPs to thrive where competitors are stumbling. It is vital to avoid focusing the battle in prospects’ email inboxes. Instead, there are abundant opportunities in the path of least resistance. Hence, the need to engage in smart cold calling as part of a broader marketing mix.
Final thoughts
For managed IT service providers, cold calling is still a sales technique worthy of consideration. There is no doubt that the method works better when reaching out to warm potential clients. For this reason, leverage a variety of sales approaches to achieve the desired results. Avoid relying on the cold call as the first point of contact; instead, use smart calling as the third or fourth point of contact.
Consider reaching out to prospects via other channels first, including email and LinkedIn. Doing so allows you to introduce yourself and learn more about the prospect. At a later stage, proceed to reach out to the contact and discuss your IT offers. When handled correctly, the call helps you propel the conversation forward.
The contact is already familiar with you before the phone call, making them more receptive to the pitch. When it comes to the discovery call, you have the chance to gauge compatibility with your IT solution. Overall, avoid treating cold calling as the silver bullet to solve all your MSP sales and marketing challenges.
