When was the last time you bought something from a salesperson who cold called you? Better yet, when was the last time you actually answered a call from a number you didn’t have in your phone?
Cold calling has become virtually obsolete, thanks to its success rate of 1 to 3 percent and its reputation as a generally annoying sales tactic. The cost-benefit analysis of cold calling is extremely off-balance, too: A typical sales call can cost $225 to $250.
On top of that, cold calls cost time — it takes 18 attempts to reach a potential customer and five follow-ups to close a deal. The odds improve if the sales call comes from a referral source, but let’s be honest: If you can tap an app and get something done in three clicks, you just aren’t going to talk to a stranger on the phone.
Here are a few things to consider:
- Before even speaking with a sales representative, shoppers want to do research on their own time, in their own way; 90 percent of buyers say they’ll find the company on their own when they are ready to buy.
- This shift is not generational; even Baby Boomers are shopping online more since the pandemic, and 88 percent said they’d keep using technology in their daily lives moving forward
- Amazon, Uber and streaming services are changing the way Americans want their everything. The harmonic convergence of the digital economy, the pandemic and consumers’ expectations of personalization have altered the landscape forever.
If you haven’t shifted your selling process to digital, you are at least a generation behind your competitors. Don’t think of it as removing human contact between your company and your customers — you’re just shifting it down the sales funnel, increasing your flexibility in light of your customers and their time.
A well-designed sales platform — such as our TurnStyle® ticketing platform for sports teams or arts/culture institutions — puts the customers’ needs first, focusing on their schedule and preferences while offering the flexibility they desire.
When you allow customers to build their own interactions with your brand, selecting how and when they want to engage and what benefits or rewards they value most, you are empowering them to build a more meaningful relationship with you.
After all, customers aren’t looking to be sold something; they want to buy something meaningful.
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