Cold calling has the advantage that one person can make 100 calls per day. If one person works in telesales all week they will make 500 calls, 2000 each month. Assuming what they have to sell is of potential interest to whom they are calling then the weight of volume will produce results. It also has the advantage of significant feedback and market research information.

Often even sales people avoid cold calling because of the amount of rejection they have to deal with. These people run to such blogs as, "Cold calling is dead...". They also rush to networking groups and face to face approach strangers with a sales pitch.  No, cold calling is effective when done right, at the right time. Social media and the advent of Internet Marketing has not changed that. Firstly there is a time and place in marketing where telesales is the best option. Secondly whoever is doing it should have learnt how to cope with rejection. Thirdly they must believe that they are benefiting the person they are calling. Fourthly they should have some techniques. Then there is no doubt it is an effective selling tool.

Consider what is your average deal worth. Well let us say it is £5000 with a gross margin of £2000. Well if you have to make 500 calls on average to get one deal. Then each call is worth £4 of income to you. Would you cold call if every call you got £4 cash paid to you? Yes you would, because now you see every call as a success and you are focused each day on making one more call. That is why when I employ telesales people I pay them per call plus a bonus. None of this basic salary stuff for serving time.

Ok, so what is warm calling? It is when you know something about the person you are calling. Often not met them or spoken to them before but either now a fair bit about them, or have been referred. Both of these two reasons play a big role in social media. If you have just read someone’s profile you can tailor your sales pitch to them in a way that matches their goals. So much better than a shot in the dark. You might even have advantages with rapport building. Perhaps you went to the same college or like the same hobby or support the same football team?
Blended Selling is when you use social media to 1.Attract customers to contact you or 2. Identify a target person where your offer helps them. Then you use traditional sales techniques to make that warm call. To be effective you need to be good at both social media and selling. At some point you have to make contact and whether by email, phone or in person sales techniques are vital to communicate your message effectively matched to their needs in a way that works.