The Expert Podcast

• Topic: Cold Calling: Sales or Marketing?
• Key Questions:
  • When is cold calling truly a sales tactic, and when is it something else?
  • Should your company even be doing cold calling at all?
  • If you are cold calling, who should be doing it—salespeople, marketing, or someone else?
• Marketing vs. Sales:
  • Marketing: Aims to create awareness and visibility for your company and products (e.g., ads on TV, radio, Google, Facebook).
  • Sales: Involves responding to inquiries and closing deals—getting people to buy something, not just know about it.
• Cold Calling as Marketing:
  • Cold calling people who haven’t expressed interest in your product is more about marketing—getting your name and product out there, not closing deals.
  • Cold calling should be part of your marketing efforts, not your sales efforts, to improve both areas.
• Who Should Do Cold Calling?
  • Salespeople are trained to close deals, not to introduce products to non-buyers.
  • Cold calling often leads to a higher failure rate for salespeople, which can demoralize them.
  • Marketing people, on the other hand, can handle cold calling as part of raising awareness without facing the pressure of closing deals.
• Training Salespeople vs. Cold Calling:
  • Salespeople should focus on closing deals with interested customers, not cold calling, which might waste their skills.
  • New salespeople should not be thrown into cold calling as it can discourage them and hinder their development.
• Conclusion:
  • Cold calling can be more effective when viewed as a marketing effort, not a sales tactic.
  • Mixing marketing and sales roles can lead to inefficiency and frustration for both teams.
• Call to Action:
  • Share your thoughts in the comments: Do you agree with seeing cold calling as marketing instead of sales?
  • Let us know how you approach cold calling in your business.