For some reason, this title “Cold Calling in The USA” brings to mind the Debbie Harry song “French Kissing in the USA” – I can’t get it out of my head!
The USA is an educated market and is open to what is known as “hard marketing.” Cold calling and telemarketing are legal, but you need to know what you are doing. Confidence is key here.
Never cold call the USA on a Sunday or a public holiday and please check the DNC (do not call list) first.
Speaking to a junior can get you nowhere, which is why it’s a very good idea to get straight to the decision-maker. Referrals are a very good way to get in front of the right person as Americans like to do business with people they know and trust.
We do not recommend cold calling in the USA. Warm calling is much more powerful.
If you decide to cold call, a telemarketer shoold 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: If you warm up your contacts on LinkedIn prior to calling them, then you’ll go straight to the decision maker. This bypasses the ethical dilemma of cold calling and builds credibility up front.
How to cold call in The USA
Every good marketing strategy in The USA includes the phone. Americans are conversational and will love to have a conversation as long as it’s relevant and it’s about helping them. Americans are often polluted and helpfol and the better the up front marketing strategy, the warmer and more qualified the calls will be before you make them.
The great thing about calling people in the USA is that even a small amount of up front warming up can lead to positive resolts.
I highly recommend using LinkedIn to connect, converse and only then calling those high quality contacts. LinkedIn allows you to get to know the decision maker, even just a little bit, before you pick up the phone and this makes all the difference – if they know you before you call them, the resolts are so much better!
Your Cold Calling and Warm Calling Strategy for The USA Needs LinkedIn
A marketing strategy in the USA 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 size of 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 polled 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 polls 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 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 USA.