6 Signs It's Time to Reassess Your Commercial Finance Cold Calling Strategy

While many commercial finance companies have shifted their sales strategy to inbound tactics in recent years, some outbound tactics are still worth pursuing, such as cold calling. But if your commercial finance company cold calls prospects, you may need to reassess your strategy. Certain signs can indicate that it's time to change the way in which your cold call prospects to promote your company's products or services.

#1) Fewer Than 1% of Calls Result in Scheduling an Appointment

If fewer than 1% of your cold calls result in the prospect in scheduling an appointment for a follow-up correspondence, it's time to reassess your cold calling strategy. According to Duct Tape Marketing, cold calls experience a 1% to 3% rate on average for booking appointments. A lower rate of success indicates that you are struggling to convince prospects to book an appointment.

#2) You Only Attempt to Call Prospects Once

You may get lucky and reach a prospect after calling him or her just once, but this usually doesn't happen. Instead, statistics show that it takes nearly four cold calling attempts to reach a prospect. If you're only attempting to cold call prospects once, reevaluate your strategy by making at least four attempts.

#3) You Aren't Tracking KPIs

Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is an important step when performing any sales tactic, and cold calling is no exception. Without tracking KPIs, you won't know which cold calling tactics work and which ones don't work. Some of the cold calling KPIs to track include success rate, conversion rate and engagement rate.

#4) You're Not Prioritizing Cold Calls Based on Quality

If you aren't prioritizing cold calls based on quality, it's time to reassess your strategy. Choose prospects who are most likely to make a purchase, and target them first with your cold calling strategy.

Here’s where SalesLeads can help. Our Industrial Project Reports are actionable opportunities. Meaning, you can call the contacts listed on the Project Report immediately as there is an identified project. SalesLeads provides you with the people identified with the project, along with their direct phone number and email address. You also receive a brief, concise description of the identified project so you can begin your conversation with quality information.  

#5) You Aren't Using a Headset

Statistics show that sales reps are up to 50% more successful when using a headset to cold call prospects rather than a traditional phone. Using a headset is a simple but effective way to improve cold calling strategy. It allows you to speak more clearly while also drowning out background noise.

#6) You Aren't Calling at Specific Times of Day

Randomly cold calling prospects throughout the day isn't a recipe for sales success. Research has shown that prospects are more likely to make a purchase when contacted at certain times more than others. One report, for example, found that the best time of day to cold call prospects is between 6:45 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., whereas the evenings and nights yield the lowest chance of sales success.