What is the difference between cold calling and ringless voicemail drops?

 The idea of making phone calls to prospective customers is nothing new for sales teams. Cold calling allows for direct conversation, but like all outbound outreach, there is always the problem of unanswered phone calls. In the search for more effective methods of follow up, voicemail drops have become an additional technique to communicate with prospects without the need of hours of calling.

Knowing the distinction among these approaches will help B2B sales teams determine the right time to use the different selling techniques. 

B2B Ringless Voicemail vs. Cold Calling: What’s the Difference?

The single most significant difference is in how a prospect is engaged.

Cold calling is defined as a person or calling system to make a telephone call in an attempt to have a live conversation.  When the telephone rings and the prospect picks up, the salesperson can then ask questions,  present a compelling offer, and overcome objections straight away.

B2B ringless voicemail is unique in the way that it is performed. Instead of connecting the recipient with a live conversation,  it pushes a voicemail message directly to their voicemail inbox,  without the typical ringing that accompanies a regular outbound call (Supported by the relevant carrier and technology).

Which renders the two methods suitable for different stages of the sales process.

How Cold Calling Works

Cold calling is one of the most familiar forms of sales outreach. A representative typically works through a list of prospects and calls them individually.

When the prospect answers, the salesperson can:

• Introduce the company

• Ask discovery questions

• Identify the prospect's needs

• Explain a product or service

• Handle objections

• Schedule a meeting

• Move the prospect toward the next sales step

The biggest advantage is the opportunity for immediate, two-way communication.

However, cold calling can also be time-consuming. Sales representatives may make dozens of calls before having a meaningful conversation. Prospects may be busy, unavailable, or unwilling to answer an unfamiliar number.

That can make cold calling less efficient when used as the only follow-up method.

How Voicemail Drops Work

Voicemail drops are to convey a short message without speaking live. 

The sales team can develop one message that explains who they are, why they are calling the prospect and what the prospect needs to do next.  Assuming the technology and the rules allow for it, the campaign can then send marketing messages to targeted contacts.

The message can, for instance,  serve as a reminder of a previous contact, provide information about a service or invite the prospect to join a conversation.

The job can be done at the most convenient time for the prospect and not make him feel under pressure when having to answer the phone.

Which Approach Saves More Time?

Voicemail Campaigns-Any time reaching repetitive outreach to your customers builds is a costly time-consuming venture. Voicemail Campaigns potentially can save your sales team a great deal of time. 

Imagine you are a sales representative with 100 prospects to follow up. Calling all of these prospects requires each call to be made,  the prospect to be reached,  the prospect to take the call or leave a message and the call to be registered in the database.

An automated campaign would decrease much of the dull task of the “filler work” (sending out a generic follow-up message).

 This doesn‘t mean that calls should go away entirely.  Rather,  let the sales team automate some of the outreach,  and leave the conversations that need a human to actually be human.

Which Method Gets Better Engagement?

There is, however,  no one-size-fits-all answer as the level of engagement varies according to the audience, message, industry, offer, timing and execution. 

The greatest strength of cold calling is that when the prospect picks up, a sales pitch can be instantly delivered and adapted.

Voicemail drops are an advantage for something else though, because with this you do not actually have to be there when they pick up. A short blast of information can be enough for them to make their decision as to whether they want to respond or not. 

To address this issue,  companies should experiment with various strategies rather than expecting to discover one effective method.

Personalization Matters in Both Methods

Whether a business uses calls or voicemail campaigns, the quality of the message matters.

A generic sales pitch can quickly be ignored. B2B prospects generally respond better when outreach is relevant to their situation.

Sales teams can improve their messaging by considering:

• The prospect's industry

• Their role or responsibilities

• A known business challenge

• Previous interactions

• The reason for the follow-up

• A clear next step

For example, a message to a business owner could focus on reducing operational costs, while a message to a sales manager could focus on improving lead follow-up.

Personalization does not necessarily require a completely different message for every individual. Businesses can create different versions for specific industries, customer segments, or sales stages.

When Should You Use Cold Calling?

Cold calling is useful where the objective is a sales conversation.

It can work well when:

• A prospect has a high propensity to buy

• It appears to be a product it is not; how is it to be explained.

• The sales person has to ask the discovery questions

• There are objections which deserve some direct responses.

• Our aim is to arrange a meeting.

The sales process is a relational one:

Whether having a conversation in real-time is a benefit of calling or not, it is definitely one of its biggest selling points.

When Can Voicemail Drops Be Useful?

Voicemail campaigns can be useful for structured follow-ups and situations where prospects are difficult to reach by phone.

They may be considered for:

• Following up after an initial contact

• Reconnecting with older leads

• Sending reminders

• Supporting lead-nurturing campaigns

• Reaching a large contact list efficiently

• Maintaining consistent follow-up activity

The message should be short and useful. Instead of trying to deliver an entire sales pitch, the objective can simply be to create a reason for the prospect to take the next step.

Why a Combination Can Work Better

It‘s not just cold calling or voicemail drops. 

By mixing together a combination of these approaches, there are many sales teams which will have the ability to create a more realistic outreach strategy.

If however I want to increase the chance that a prospect will see my message, then one thing I could do is to adopt a sequence of actions such as.send first an initial contact, send a short voice message where relevant, and then have a salesperson contact the most interested prospects.

This, in turn, generates a system in which automation complements the sales force instead of alienating it. 

So the important part is to have a clear sequence.  Once an agreement is reached, teams need to know when they should call, when they should send a message, when they should follow up and when they should stop harassing the prospect.

Cost and Scalability

Another significant difference lies in the scalability.

Cold calling needs more face to face input. As the list of contacts increases companies might find themselves needing more sales staff or calling ability to keep up with the pace of calling.

Automated Voicemail campaigns may also allow larger lists to be managed that wouldn‘t necessarily be practical to have a salesperson manually deliver each message to. 

The key is, businesses should focus on the overall cost other than the number of messages that could be sent.  A good outreach needs the quality of contact data,  targeted message, campaign management, tracking, and follow-up.

Compliance Should Always Come First

Businesses should also understand that automated calling and voicemail technologies are subject to legal and carrier requirements that vary by country, state, industry, recipient type, and campaign purpose.

Before sending automated messages, businesses should verify applicable consent, identification, opt-out, calling-hour, and telemarketing requirements. They should also maintain accurate suppression or do-not-contact lists where required.

Efficiency is valuable, but responsible communication is essential for protecting both the business and its audience.

Final Thoughts

The two types of outreach are solving different problems. Cold calling is effective if the prospect is interested in a human-to-human conversation whereas the automated voicemail campaign provides an opportunity to break the drudgery of the follow-up calls while providing the prospect the opportunity to listen at their convenience. 

Ultimately, the most effective B2B sales teams may discover that the winning formula is to use calls where speaking to a human makes a difference,  and automated outbound communication where it can be more effective.

The right ringless voicemail is designed to be a complement, not a replacement,  to integrity when working with your prospects.