From Inbox to Conversation: Using How to use calling effectively with email and LinkedIn

Nobody loves getting cold calls. (Well, almost nobody. Navigating cold calls requires finesse, a warrior mindset, and acknowledging that it’s not everyone’s forte (you can get there, though). Cold calls seldom top the list of enjoyable tasks. 

So, what can you do to make it more enjoyable for everyone? Recognize the importance of LinkedIn + cold calling.

Introduce cold calls to their new companions: email and social media. Craft a symphony of channels, offering prospects a menu of engagement options. 

But it’s not a one-size-fits-all scenario. It’s a journey of discovery. Identify the methods that resonate with your team and prospects. Every team’s blend will have its distinct flavor, yet the end goal remains universal. 

It’s a multi-channel outreach strategy that warms up those cold calls. It’s about striking the right chords, emitting the ideal vibes, and enhancing the likelihood of connecting with prospects at precisely the right moment.

How cold are your calls?

Our approach to cold calls is strategic. While we’re proponents of the practice, our sequences typically kick off with a social touch or email, fostering awareness and familiarity.

Yet, the landscape varies. 27% of reps find a call effective as the initial step. Salesloft’s top cadences follow suit: 80% commence with a call, trailed by an email on day one. Why? Industry nuances, product specifics, and buyer persona preferences play pivotal roles.

Here’s the insight: Xant reveals that employing over three channels boosts the likelihood of meaningful conversations by 169%. However, using multiple channels doesn’t guarantee optimal utilization. It’s a nuanced game, and these ideas lay the foundation for a multi-channel strategy backed by the latest research.

Consider these tips:

• Kick-off with Warm Interactions: Start sequences with actions that thaw that first call, building a bridge before taking the plunge.
• Time Matters: Don’t let the anticipation linger. There’s a sweet spot; don’t hesitate to make that initial call.
• Mix It Up: Variety is the spice of sales plays. Explore diverse contact methods throughout the journey.
• Test and Learn: When in doubt, A/B test. It’s the compass guiding you to what resonates best with your team and audience.

How to warm up your cold calling strategy

1. Engage with social media [but don’t be cringy]

Elevating your cold-calling strategy involves a delicate symphony with social media – something that definitely shouldn’t be cringy. If you want to stir up intense emotions among salespeople (we call it getting “fussed” here), just mention social selling. Love it or loathe it, the numbers speak volumes: It has been seen that 78% of salespeople leveraging social media outperform their peers.

On the buyer’s end, the influence is undeniable. Senior B2B buyers turn to social media, with 84% using it to shape purchasing decisions, 82% placing trust in socially active companies, and 77% swayed by a CEO’s social media presence. The stats are compelling – your reps should be leveraging social media.

However, extracting personal details for an awkward attempt at false familiarity is a definite no-go. Making a hard ask immediately after a connection request on LinkedIn? It’s like bringing up politics at a holiday dinner – most people are turned off.

LinkedIn inboxes, especially InMail, require careful handling. While InMail boasts high response rates (three times more than emails), it’s costly and conflicts with the essence of sales engagement – achieving personalization at scale.

Here’s the playbook for a smoother social approach:

• Thought Leadership Over Team Loyalty: Transform LinkedIn profiles into personal portfolios. Encourage reps to share valuable content, create original material, and participate in events to establish thought leadership.
• Leave Unsolicited Validation (LUV): No, not AOL Instant Messenger style. Show LUV by leaving thoughtful comments on prospects’ posts – ask questions, seek feedback, and give opinions. Build relationships without making direct asks.
• Connect with Caution: 15-20 connection requests (with a note) on LinkedIn in a day, i.e., about 100 a week, are seen as a safe spot (you won’t get temporarily banned or something by doing this).

PRO Tip- Remember, authenticity and scale are key. Authenticity comes in by mentioning what you saw in the prospect’s profile that got you to send the connection request; don’t sell there and then wait for the connection request to get accepted. The scale comes in with the discipline of sending 15-20 targeted requests every day; imagine it is 300-400 ideal customers you are sending a request to every month; that is 3600-4800 prospects a year. If done correctly, you should see 20-40% of requests getting accepted and a 10% conversation rate.

2. Inform through cold email

Mastering the art of email is a cornerstone in our outbound sales strategy, especially when priming for those impending cold calls. Email’s scalability, robust tracking, and non-threatening nature make it a vital tool in our arsenal.

Salesloft rightly deems email the “foundation” of our campaign – it’s the informational gateway for prospects to acquaint themselves with our company, product, and industry. Before our reps dial a number, the prospect should have a foundational understanding, paving the way for a more thoughtful conversation.

3. Writing intentional emails

Crafting impactful cold emails on LinkedIn requires intentionality. I use the term “intentional” because true personalization isn’t always the golden ticket. A more generalized approach works better for low-tier accounts or personas where information is scarce. Outreach.io terms this “personalizing to the persona.” It’s about creating sequences tailored to a specific persona, resonating without exhaustive individualization.

Now, for the high-tier prospects, true personalization becomes the secret sauce. Salesloft’s study of over 200,000 interactions reveals that personalizing around 20% of an email template is the sweet spot. Some teams split this between the first and last 10%, maintaining a consistent cold LinkedIn message while forging a connection.

However, sincerity is paramount. Forced personalization, like referencing local weather forecasts, is outdated. Subtlety and natural connections reign supreme. The litmus test for our reps? Would they say it if they were meeting the prospect in person at a networking event? Comments about shared interests should flow naturally, not feel contrived. The best personalization stems from insights into their company, industry, or role type.

4. Choosing your calls to action

When it comes to calls to action, opinions vary. I suggest embedding calls to action in early prospecting emails, laying the foundation, or inviting discussion. Aggressive asking too early may repel interested prospects still waiting for a meeting. Gong’s research suggests asking for interest performs 2X better than asking for time in early prospecting. The focus should be on what’s in it for them – solving their problem, not showcasing our company.

And as for questions, they’re your secret weapon. Cold emails aim to initiate a discussion, and thoughtful questions at the end invite conversational responses. In automated sequences, open-ended questions appeal to personas, connecting with their priorities or current problem-solving approaches.

5. Using email to connect the dots

Now, here’s a nugget: consider using analytics within your sales engagement platform to spot highly engaged prospects who read emails but have yet to reply. It’s the golden moment for your reps to transition from digital to vocal – pick up the phone and call. These prospects are warm, ready, and eagerly awaiting that real-time connection.

6. Pick up the phone

Speaking of connections, once you’ve laid the groundwork and familiarized prospects with your brand, it’s time to take the plunge and dial. Sure, it might feel uneasy, especially for the introverted reps, but the key is to dive in, make those calls, and persist until the sequence or cadence is complete.

Now, the elephant in the room: cold calling’s bad rap. Why? Often, sales reps don’t give it a fair chance. They hit a roadblock; they don’t like it, so they stop prematurely. Our recommendation for a cold outbound sequence is to aim for a robust set of four to six calls over no less than 21 days.

Here’s the kicker: most reps, brace yourselves, only make two calls. And the pain doesn’t end there – when they do call, a staggering 50-75% don’t leave voicemails. Ouch!

Now, just one more call could be a game-changer. Three calls elevate the likelihood of a connection. It mirrors what we witness across industries – the best reps are those willing to make that extra call.

What’s next?

Now, it’s time for your team to dive into the trenches and put these overarching recommendations sourced from various industries and contexts to the test. Experiment, tweak, and tailor them to discover the optimal ways to infuse warmth into your cold calls.

If you find yourself falling short of the desired reply rates and connected calls needed to reach your goals, don’t hesitate to connect with our team. Suppose increasing lead velocity in your sales funnel is the goal. In that case, our holistic team of dedicated Data Miners and Inside Sales is a perfect way to increase the laborious human effort on demand and at scale for the best results.

What sets Netsmartz apart?

• Pay per Meeting engagement model, no retainers
• A targeted Ideal Customer persona approach to maximize conversion rates
• Access to an expert Sales Operations team
• Multi-channel outreach toward your ideal audience
• 24 Years of running remote Inside Sales campaigns