Not what most people say you should do
After generating and qualifying leads with the support of AI, you make the cold call. Now, I am reading more and more recommendations for cold call automation through AI. AI makes the call for you. The buyer is not actually talking with any seller, but with an AI agent that helps see if there is a positive response. If there is, then AI connects you with the agent.
This avoids wasting your time. This avoids painful rejections. This makes your work easier.
But terribly less effective. I am not going to support the use of AI for cold calling. The reason is simple: All the elements that make a cold call effective, such as establishing a quick connection, quickly building trust, earning attention, and raising curiosity, completely evaporate when AI makes the call. You are also sending a terrible message to your prospects. You are so not worthy of my time, but I let AI call you.
Beware of any data and arguments proving the questionable effectiveness of AI cold calling. This is the argument they will tell you. AI calling for you is half as effective, but it saves you so much time that, in the end, you close more deals. The percentage of effective cold calls decreases, but the conversion rate increases because you now have more time to work on your leads, ultimately leading to higher sales.
It’s a flawed argument. It does not consider the branding damage of those who are not converted into clients. Having AI make cold calls on your behalf can decrease the credibility of your company, as it spreads negative information about you.
So, no AI for cold calling?
There is one beautiful use of AI for cold calling.
We have discussed different cold calling openers. We have seen the pros and cons of several of them. AI helps because it can build extremely powerful openers that are specifically tailored to the client company or the person you are talking to, eventually increasing the likelihood that they pay attention.
You want them to listen? Instead of using the same opener for every company, tailor it to every company.
Personalized opener, in which you mention something you know related to the person you are talking to.
Contextual opener, in which you mention an event that has implications for the company you are talking to.
Insight opener, in which you mention an insight about the company that few people are aware of, and that makes you stand out as someone who has spent time researching the company.
Direct problem opener, where you already know which specific problem the company has, and you mention it right away. Not the generic, which could be surmised simply from the business in which they are or their segment attributes. Their specific problem, which can only be inferred if you have gathered information about them.
In the past, collecting this information would have taken forever, and the recommendation was to avoid any type of these openers. AI has changed the game. Now it makes sense to use them because AI can do the work for you. No matter how small the company, AI can find you information to tailor the opener to the client.
And you become way more effective.