What is cold calling?

telesales professional taking a call

B2B cold calling involves reaching out to potential customers who are not yet aware of your brand or product. 

It’s proactive and focuses on targeting ‘cold leads’ who have little to no past interaction with your business. From this first contact, relationships are nurtured, contact lists are optimised, and profitable leads are generated.

While cold calling is part of your sales and marketing funnel, we can take care of it from compiling the initial contact list, right through to appointment setting and/or handing qualified leads over to your sales team to close the deal.

What is cold calling in sales?

Not all telesales and telemarketing fall under the definition of cold calling. So, what is cold calling in sales and marketing terms?

Investopedia defines cold calling as:

“A sales practice in which individuals are contacted who have not previously expressed interest in a product or service.”

Building a first-contact list of valuable individuals is an important step towards maximising the ROI of a cold calling campaign.

Yes, cold calling for sales and marketing purposes is legal in the UK. However, there are some rules and regulations you should follow to ensure that you don’t damage your brand reputation or risk harassing the people you call.

One requirement is the Corporate Telephone Preference Service, or CTPS. This is a national register of businesses that have opted out of receiving sales and marketing cold calls, including limited companies, public limited companies and Scottish partnerships.

Telesales teams are required to check the CTPS at least once every 28 days, and should not contact anyone whose telephone number is listed.

It’s also illegal to call someone who has previously asked you to stop calling. While this is unlikely to be the case with a first-contact cold call, you should maintain an in-house ‘do not call’ list and be ready to add businesses to it if they ask you to.

What legislation applies to cold calling in the UK?

The main legislation you need to be aware of is the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, known as PECR for short.

Alongside this, you should also take into account the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR) and the UK equivalent, the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

If you’re partnering with an outsourced B2B cold calling provider, choose a team you can trust. At Toucan Telemarketing, our experience speaks for itself — and so does our commitment to compliance. We have a proven track record, meeting the highest standards under CTPS, PECR, GDPR, and DPA regulations.

Benefits of cold calling in telemarketing

Cold calling is, by definition, useful when you do not already have established relationships or an existing client base to reach out to.

Because of this, some of the biggest benefits of cold calling in telemarketing campaigns include:

  • Building awareness of a new business, brand, product or service.
  • Creating a qualified contact list for future campaigns.
  • Exploring previously untapped prospects (e.g. in new locations).
  • And of course, generating sales and quotable opportunities!

This is just a snapshot of some of the times when it’s good to reach out to cold leads. But there are also many more benefits of cold calling in telemarketing.

1. Easy to scale

Scalability is a big advantage, especially in cold calling campaigns where you are keen to contact as many people as possible, before whittling down that list to just those who express an interest.

2. Instant response

Calling prospects directly by telephone gives you an immediate one-on-one conversation. You can quickly gauge interest in your product or service, as well as find out which features are most engaging, so that you can focus on those in future calls.

3. Personal connection

Talking to someone is a great way to build rapport. B2B telesales campaigns still have a huge edge over emails when it comes to connecting on a personal level. Nurturing that relationship from initial cold call right through to conversion can maximise order size and value.

4. Generating sales and quotable opportunities

We said it before, and we’ll say it again. The whole point of telemarketing is to generate more sales and quoteable opportunities for your team to capitalise on. While a single call rarely closes the deal, it does open the door and gives your sales team the chance to step in and turn interest into revenue.

Negatives of cold calling in telemarketing

The positives of cold calling substantially outweigh the potential negatives. However, some risks are important to highlight so you can conduct your campaign in the best way possible. 

1. High rejection rate

You need to be ready for rejection. Unanswered and diverted calls, wrong numbers and unhelpful gatekeepers, right through to angry answered calls, they’re all par for the course and something telesale marketing agents WILL encounter many times a day.

2. Legal restrictions

Understanding the UK legislation on cold calling telesales is key to a successful B2B telemarketing campaign without facing enforcement action. This includes checking the CTPS, as well as maintaining (and respecting) an in-house ‘do not call’ list.

3. Reputation damage

Frequently calling businesses in your industry or local area is a good way to make a bad name for yourself. However, B2B marketing is an accepted feature of the business landscape. The important thing is to conduct a professional, compliant campaign to give your peers the right impression of your brand.

At Toucan Telemarketing, we use bespoke software to ensure we only ever call back interested businesses at the time they tell us to. For example, if they tell us they’re busy and to call back at the end of next month, that’s exactly what we’ll do. This respect helps us build relationships and trust in your brand. 

Speak to us today to find out more.

How does cold calling typically work?

Unfortunately, many cold calling campaigns are not well managed. Unscrupulous operators may sell you a professional outsourced B2B telesales service, but not necessarily carry out the required prep work.

Instead of using proper CRM systems and data-mapping tools to track engagement, they rely on nothing more than basic spreadsheets, leaving you with no clear picture of call activity, follow-ups, or campaign performance.

Operating like this risks contacting businesses that have registered with the CTPS. 

Remember, a good cold calling sales campaign should include some targeting (for relevance and engagement) and MUST respect businesses’ right to opt out of receiving cold calls.

How Toucan’s approach is different

We understand that positive brand perception is an end goal in itself, in addition to generating positive ROI. That’s why we work closely with you to make sure that we portray your company in its best light, and to avoid harmful impacts from negative interactions during calls.

Some of the ways in which our B2B cold calling services differ from other providers include:

1. Access to data

Toucan ensure that you have full access to your campaign data. This allows you to proceed with future campaigns using insights from the cold calls we placed on your behalf – even if you choose not to work with us again.

2. No long-term commitments

Unlike some other telemarketing companies, we don’t expect you to commit to a long-term project straight away. Instead, we start with an initial 3-month pilot campaign so you can see if it’s worth it or not for your business. 

If it’s not delivering the value you expect, you can walk away at the end of the pilot campaign, no strings attached. If you’re happy with the results, we can discuss expanding the campaign over the long term to maximise your returns. 

3. Proven results across industries

Toucan have sector-specific experience in industries including construction, manufacturing, finance and many others. Our case studies and client testimonials can show the level of success we have achieved across mainstream markets and niche businesses alike.

Conclusion

We appreciate that cold calling doesn’t always have the best reputation. That’s why it’s so important to do it right – and why it’s such a good opportunity to set your brand apart by building positive sentiment among your target market.

To do this, you should work with a B2B cold calling services provider who can deliver:

  • Compliant campaigns that respect recipients’ opt-out status.
  • Curated contact lists of cold prospects with high relevance.
  • Measurable results with full transparency and access to data.
  • And most importantly, sales and quotable opportunities your team can build on. 

Toucan Telemarketing are proud to be that valued, trusted and dependable B2B telemarketing partner to help your business thrive. For more information about any of our services, contact our team today.