Download FREE e-book. For some reason the title “Cold Calling in The UK” brings to mind the famous song “Anarchy in the UK” – perhaps there is a connection? As you rightly guessed, the British have a keen sense of humour and this should ground your cold calling or warm calling marketing strategy.
The UK is a highly educated market and thus you had better get to the point very quickly. Preparation is everything as they will assume the telemarketer will be able to answer some tough questions. Don’t go into any call half-hearted, a high degree of training is absolutely critical here… and so is confidence.
Never cold call the UK on a Sunday or a public holiday (they call them “bank holidays”) and please check the Do-Not-Call list.
Because the UK is such a sought after place to work for Europeans (or it was pre-covid) even low-level employees are usually very well educated. It’s a good idea to get straight to the decision-maker, but not the end of the world if you don’t. The British like to do business with people they know and trust so establish trust and credibility very quickly.
We do not recommend ice-cold calling in the UK. Warm calling is much more effective.
If you do decide to cold call, a telemarketer should always:
- Call only during office hours
- Identify themselves
- Identify their company and their boss (ie. say “I am working for Mr. Scott Cundill and the Maj3.com office)
SECRET: Warm up your contacts on LinkedIn prior to calling them as LinkedIn is hugely popular in the UK. This way you’ll go straight to the decision maker.
Always be prepared for very tough and intelligent questions. Get to the point quickly.
How to cold call in The UK
Every good marketing strategy in The UK includes the phone. the British are conversational and will love to have a conversation as long as it’s relevant and it’s about helping them. the British are often polluted and helpful and the better the upfront marketing strategy, the warmer and more qualified the calls will be before you make them.
Success with cold calling people in the UK comes from a small amount of up-front warming up.
As such, I highly recommend using LinkedIn to connect and converse those quality contacts. LinkedIn helps you to get to know the decision-maker before you pick up the phone and this makes all the difference – if they know you before you call them, the results are so much better!
Your Cold Calling and Warm Calling Strategy for The UK Needs LinkedIn
A marketing strategy in the UK needs LinkedIn because LinkedIn is the only social media platform that gives you all the data you need. That is:
- Phone number
- Company name
- Email address (yes, LinkedIn provides email addresses)
- Job title
- Company data like the size of the company, description, etc.
Do all your research on LinkedIn to feed your cold calling team, however, to access this amazing data you will need to be formally connected on LinkedIn. That means, inviting them first. See below for tips on how to encourage them to accept your LinkedIn invitation and, only then, get a conversation going. It sounds like hard work, but you can automate most of it.
The Maj3.com LinkedIn lead generation service does this for you.
Here’s how:
- A LinkedIn Lead Scoring Dashboard
You have hundreds of LinkedIn connections and you cannot reach out and nurture all of them. Lead generation software MUST incorporate a form of lead scoring so you can cherry-pick those that are engaging your content the most. As they engage with your content they score higher, then you move them into your sales pipeline. Now you have turned cold calling into warm calling.
The Maj3.com Lead Scoring Dashboard. - Sales Funnel Reporting
Can you see your entire sales funnel in one place? Your sales funnel needs to literally sit on top of LinkedIn so your sales funnel builds while you work your American connections. Lead generation software must show you an actual sales funnel report in real-time with all the data pulled from LinkedIn so your cold calling can turn into warm calling.
- Sending emails
Some people respond to LinkedIn messages. Others react to good old fashioned emails. The best LinkedIn lead generation software allows you to send emails in the form of an email journey/email sequence. It pulls the emails from LinkedIn then asks for permission to email them. This is accomplished using an opt-in landing page.Remember, your goal is to turn cold calling into warm calling. Emails help this process tremendously because they drip feed your American LinkedIn database with messages to keep you top of mind.
- Referrals
The ability to see your trusted connections and their trusted connections means you can ask for a referral. All you do is simply look through the list of connections for a good person to meet, then ask your trusted connection for an introduction. A few clicks and you have a referral. There is no such thing as cold calling a referral – all referrals are, by definition, already warm!
- A Mobile App
The best lead generation and cold calling software absolutely must have a mobile version. A mobile app to receive leads in real-time so you can call them while they are looking at your content. This is an absolute must-have for any marketing strategy.
- Reminders, Tags and Notes
If you don’t follow-up on LinkedIn leads, cold calls, and warm calls, then you may as well not bother. Reminders in the software will facilitate your follow-ups. Then tag leads, categorise them, and make notes, similar to a CRM system. We call this pre-CRM because it facilitates the lead generation and lead nurturing phase on LinkedIn. - A Proven Methodology and Process
Just using lead generation software and cold calling gets you nowhere. It is highly recommended that you read this book and learn the right approach that is proven and works. Your cold calling will turn into warm calling and you will see far better results! This book explains:
The best LinkedIn lead generation software that incorporates every single one of these features is Maj3.com. It ignites your lead generation and builds your sales funnel in the UK.