Me either… apparently, though, it’s a real thing. According to Investopedia, “warm calling refers to a sales call, visit or email that is preceded by some sort of contact with the potential customer or prospect, such as a direct mail campaign, an introduction at a business event or a referral. It is the opposite of cold calling – the solicitation of prospects who were not anticipating such an interaction, with whom the sales representative or business has not had prior contact.” The so-very important contact has been made and a relationship is in the making, trust is being built, and interest is also on the side of the prospect’s, not just the sales person. Apparently, warm calling is considered “more efficient and effective” than cold calling. This is especially true if social media is used, allowing prospects to begin a conversation with the company in a familiar and comfortable manner by leaving a comment or sharing an interesting article.
A year and a half ago, Forbes Magazine contributor, Paul Brown, posted an article: “To Be More Successful, Make One ‘Warm Call’ A Day”. He says there are two particular advantages: 1) You (sort of) know the person in question; and 2) Because you do, you can tailor your pitch to what interests them – which means you’re not guessing based solely on the research you found about that company. It also has the potential to help with morale after getting the expected “no”-s and “I’m to busy”-s. And when you’re on the phone all day, it’s nice to hear someone actually interested in what you’re selling every once and a while.
BoweryJE22
In car sales, warmcalling makes up the vast majority of what we try to do each day. Huge social media campaigns, local tv ads, and advertisements in local paper and other flyers, are all designered to get you familiar with that dealer’s name and image, with the hope that you will respond in some way (email, phone, social media, visit to the dealership, etc.). Once they have made contact with us the sales process becomes infinitely more easy.
it’s an interesting concept, mainly in my opinion because i would think you would want to use this kind of tactic more often than not, so you have an already partially built relationship.