Cold calling in 2026: does it still work, and how to do it well
What cold calling looks like in UK B2B now: building a list worth calling, structuring the call, the objections that recur, and what the rules require before you dial.
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What cold calling looks like in UK B2B now: building a list worth calling, structuring the call, the objections that recur, and what the rules require before you dial.
Read more…
← Blog 30 tips to increase your qualified appointments It’s true that closing a deal is the most exciting and important step in the sales process. But you should know that there’s no chance of reaching this stage without having recorded an initial meeting with a potential customer. That’s why, if your sales team is struggling to get appointments with prospects, it’s important to review your prospecting strategy to achieve a better conversion rate. When is the best time to ask a prospect for an appointment ? What attitude should you adopt to increase your chances of getting a positive response ? How can you take advantage of technology to improve the effectiveness of your prospecting campaigns ? We’ve put together a list of 30 useful tips and tricks for increasing the number of qualified appointments and potentially closing new sales. Let’s find out together ! 1. Set a clear goal before you start As with any business project, it’s important to have a clear goal in mind before getting started. Source : Humaprise Group In the current context, the objective may seem unique and fairly obvious : to succeed in getting the prospect to engage more fully in the conversation. However, qualified appointment setting should revolve around two objectives : The first short-term objective is to obtain the prospect’s approval to book an appointment. And a second objective is to close the sale. When, during your first interaction with a prospect, you rush to reach the ultimate goal (closing the deal), there’s a good chance you’ll miss the second goal. That’s why it’s important to clearly define your objectives before you start. 2. Getting to know the prospect Generally speaking, the primary cause of failure in sales appointment setting lies in serving the same template phone script or e-mail to all prospects. Of course, we agree that the content you deliver to your prospects should contain similar elements and calls to action. But for a more impactful message, you should try to personalise your content just a little, depending on the recipient. This way, the prospect will feel more concerned and be more inclined to give a sincere “yes” to your request for an appointment. But for this to really work, you need to gather a minimum amount of information about the prospect. To help you do this, you can : Check your LinkedIn profile: Here you’ll find information about his work and his interactions on the network. Source : Chacun Sa Route Google him: The search engine may return important pages on which his name is mentioned. This will help you discover their motivations, personality, values and other useful information that you can use to personalise your message. Visit your professional website: If the prospect has a website, this would also be an excellent way to find out more about his company by visiting it. 3. Target the right prospects You can put together the best team of salespeople to make new sales appointments for your company. But when you don’t target prospects who are genuinely interested in your products or services, the campaign is likely to be in vain. So once you’ve defined the objectives of your appointment-setting campaign, it’s important to define the profile of your target audience too. Source : Guarana Marketing What industry do you want to target? For what type of business are your services best suited? Think about it carefully and build up your company’s ideal customer profile. 4. Write a catchy script Although a good salesperson needs to be able to improvise, it’s always a good idea to have a well-written script ready. The script serves as a kind of roadmap, so that your sales reps don’t have to think too hard about what to say to the prospect and when. As a result, they’ll be better able to listen to prospects and adapt their script to their realities. 5. Look after your voice In business, appearance usually counts for a lot when it comes to attracting the other party’s attention and consideration. But since in a phone call, the prospect can’t see what you look like, you’ll need to take care with your voice to sound more professional. Indeed, when a prospect picks up the phone and hears a voice that’s too high-pitched or shaky, it can sound less professional. What’s more, even if you have a deep voice, speaking too fast or having a shaky voice can give off a certain uncertainty. It’s a good idea to record your voice so you can listen to it again and find out how to improve it for a better presentation. 6. Always ask for the prospect’s availability When you contact a prospect by phone to ask for an appointment, don’t rush into unpacking your sales pitch. Always be sure to ask at the start of the conversation whether you’ve come at the right time. It’s a bit like knocking on an office door : it’s always a good idea to ask the person if it’s a good time to talk. The scenario is much the same with a phone call. After all, you’re contacting someone out of the blue, so you can’t rule out the possibility that they could be in the middle of a business meeting or customer service call. Source : Isarta That’s why you need to make sure you don’t interrupt his activity by asking him if he’s available for a quick chat. This shows you respect him and his schedule. If he’s still in favor of continuing the call, make an effort to pay close attention when he speaks, so that you’re aware of his difficulties and expectations. In the event that you receive a “no” to continuing the call, don’t immediately take it as a failure – it can happen even with an interested prospect. In such a situation, it’s important not to force the issue – you won’t get anything out of it. Instead, respect their availability and ask if you can call them
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← Blog 12 most useful applications for fine tuning Microsoft Teams Teams has established itself as Microsoft’s flagship software, with a growing number of compatible applications. Increasingly used by businesses, it is becoming the meeting point for different corporate tools. That’s why many software applications have created a Teams extension, to better integrate their services with the videoconferencing software. What are the most useful applications? And how has Teams made its way onto our computers? Here are the answers. Teams, Microsoft’s star performer Teams is the new Windows ? Microsoft has succeeded in changing its image, and is no longer perceived as a digital dinosaur, but as an innovative player. For a long time, Windows was seen as THE software suite that everyone worked on, but its image had become outdated. Not open source enough, not innovative enough. New online services and applications developed by Microsoft have given it an old-fashioned look. If the Richmond-based company has managed to turn the corner, it’s thanks in no small part to the move to a cloud-based suite, Microsoft 360, and a solution like Teams. The young application has established itself in everyday use, and has been strengthened by the development of telecommuting. In March 2020, Microsoft Teams celebrated its 3rd anniversary, reaching 44 million daily users. The collaborative platform, which integrates videoconferencing, file storage and transfer with SharePoint, note-taking with Onenote and meeting planning with Outlook, has established itself as a central service not only for businesses, but also for individuals. It’s not just in the office that we’ve become accustomed to exchanging messages and videos. The same applies to our private lives, with the restrictions imposed by Covid. So it’s hardly surprising that Microsoft has recently adapted Teams for home users. In particular, with features to make daily life easier, such as to-do lists and event creation, and an interface that lets you know what’s important or urgent, such as taking out the trash or booking a restaurant… The latest sign of the importance the American firm attaches to its service: it will be compatible with the group’s latest innovation, the Mesh metaverse. At Ignite, its annual conference dedicated to tech professionals, Microsoft unveiled the arrival of its virtual reality universe in Teams. This new feature enables remote meeting participants to interact as personalized avatars in immersive spaces, from any device, without special equipment and regardless of their location. The aim is to offer more interaction during remote exchanges. Teams has well and truly supplanted Windows and is part of the American giant’s revival. Among the reorientations undertaken by new CEO Satya Nadella, and which are so successful for the company, is the opening up of a previously locked-down ecosystem. As a result, other applications can connect to Teams and further extend the service’s potential. Here’s a selection of the most useful applications for tuning up your Microsoft Teams. The most useful applications and tools for Microsoft Teams Here’s a selection of 12 of our most useful apps. There’s something for everyone: from HR to marketing to managers, or simply to improve working conditions for all employees. 1 – The sound Successful video conferencing isn’t just about the quality of the software or the connection. The conditions in which you capture the sounds and interventions of each person often bring a clear improvement to your conferences, especially when several people are involved. Shure, for example, offers the full audio range from microphone to loudspeaker to make remote meetings more enjoyable. 2 – Project management A must-have for teamwork, project management software has also been integrated into Teams. Keep track of what needs to be done, in what order and by whom. You can ask questions about a particular part of the project, or find out at a glance when a task is due. These are just some of the solutions offered by task management software. And rest assured, your favorite is probably already compatible. For example, Tello, Asana or Wrike. 3 – Analytics Of course, Microsoft also offers add-ons for its application. For example, PowerBI, a business intelligence and analysis program, can be integrated into Teams in the form of tabs. The aim is to keep an eye on results in relation to set objectives. In this way, marketing departments can track which keywords bring in the most traffic, which pages are viewed the most or which call-to-actions are the most effective. 4 – Polls Hosting a remote meeting is never easy. Relying on an instant polling tool is a great way to get your audience active. Poly allows you to conduct polls via Teams, gathering feedback from participants before, during or after the meeting. Was this meeting useful? Do you have an anecdote to share before we start the meeting? Which speaker do you prefer for our next event? Polly makes it easy to ask these questions remotely. 5 – Team Building Remote working has the major drawback of ruining team spirit. Or giving it a serious knock in the wing. So to encourage exchanges and positive feedback, you can rely on Karma. The app encourages you to praise a successful presentation or answer a question, by awarding points to each. The aim is to recognize each person’s work and keep the pleasure and desire to work together alive. 6 – Q&A Finding information is often a headache in today’s increasingly centralized world. However, there’s an application that developers have been using for a long time, which allows you to put all your information in one place and structure it into a simple tree. It’s called Wiki. The software is the perfect way to make a practical guide available to all, which everyone can add to. Ideal for collecting processes or FAQs. In short, a real knowledge repository. 7 – The flipchart If there’s one thing we miss in remote meetings, it’s the post-it note! How can you have a proper brainstorming session, work on a prototype or even map out the competition without a board on which to
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