In sales you will be reaching out for new business in one of three ways. And unless you’re going door to door you’re either sending out cold emails, or doing cold calls. So, what’s the difference between cold emails and cold calls? And which gets better results?
What is a cold email?
A cold email is a means of initial contact to a prospect or potential lead via email.
It’s usually your first time making contact with a new company before you begin to follow up. Cold emails are a great way to:
- Send attachments to a lead
- Introduce yourself and your company
- Get in touch when it’s convenient to the prospect
- Script a professional and eye catching email
- Establish a relationship via text
Sending cold emails are also a great way to blast through a list of targeted companies.
What is a cold call?
A cold call is when you reach out to new business via a phone call.
Like a cold email, a cold call is a way of making initial contact with a new lead or prospect. Cold calls are a great way to:
- Demonstrate emotion during contact
- Get a feel of the clients personality
- Connect at a more intimate level
- Reach a prospect quickly
Cold calls are a great way to connect with your prospects at a more intimate level which may result in an immediate bond.
What Are Their Cons?
Cold Emails
With cold emails you tend to miss out on that intimate bond. Even if you demonstrate your personality on emails, it’s simply not the same.
Prospects might not even open your email. Cold emails will require you to strategize what you write in the subject line in order to get your prospects attention.
Lack of writing skill will result in your email being trashed. If your email looks spammy or has noticeable grammar and spelling mistakes then it will not be taken seriously.
Cold Calls
Upfront rejection can be discouraging. Cold calls make it easy to put yourself in a vulnerable position.
It’s possible to get the runaround resulting in wasted time. You’ll occasionally run into prospects that will advise to call back sometime next week and keep this going. They get off it or something.
Voicemails might or might not help. The truth is if you’re reaching out with a cold call, the closing process might eventually need to be closed on email with an official documentation such as a purchase order. Cold calls can result in going straight to voicemail which might help move towards the next step, or not.
Which Strategy Gets Better Results?
This depends on what your strengths are.
Before we break down which method is the best choice for you keep in mind that you will face pushback regardless of which strategy you use.
It’s simply part of the process and you should not feel discouraged if you’re rejected or your emails are not being responded to.
On the contrary, such pushbacks should encourage you to get better. Persistence is key.
Cold calls and cold emails both have different sets of challenges, especially if you’re not sure which one is best suited for your personality.
Cold Emails VS Cold Calls: Which One Is For Me?
Though anyone can make cold emails or cold calls, often times we find ourselves attracted towards one or the other. For better results, it is best to identify your strengths which will correlate to finding which strategy can work in your favor.
If you’re an introvert, cold emails will be easier for you to reach out to a prospect. You’re already inside your head a lot. You think before you speak which will make you think twice before sending a mediocre email out.
Introverts will have more fun writing up an email than cold calling companies. You might not be too social but your confidence shows up in writing.
If you love to write and have great communications skills, cold emails can be a great way for you to start reaching out to new business.
If you’re an extrovert, cold calls will be your best strategy to doing business. Your outgoing personality can instantly draw anyone you speak to over the phone.
Use your personality to draw your prospects attention in order to move in the right direction before closing a sale.
If you love to conversate with people and connect with them at a more personal level, you can really use cold calls as a means to start building your clientele using this strategy.
Find Which Strategy Works Best For Your
The only way to find out which strategy gets better results is to identify whether cold calls or cold emails works best for you.
Once you’ve found which strategy gets better results, use the second strategy as a means of following up.
By following up with the second strategy, you:
- Build a more meaningful relationship
- Are more involved with your prospect / client
- Develop client retention skills
- Demonstrate responsibility
- Improve your skill in either cold calls or cold emails
As you can tell, using both of these strategies will increase your results in sales. You might be stronger in one area but can certainly develop your other skills to meet your higher purpose in your career.
Read: How To Reach $10K Per Month In Sales
Cold emails and cold calls both have the potential to build relationships with people who will essentially become building blocks to your empire. Often times we find ourselves needing to step outside our comfort zone in order to make this happen. The challenges we create for ourselves disappear once we face our fears.
I’ve used both cold emails and cold calls to reach the $10K mark in sales. I know you can do it as long as you stay persistent.
Frank Nez
Let us know in the comments section below if you prefer to reach out to new business using cold emails or cold calls! Our readers would love to read about your personal experience.
