We’ve all experienced it. Answering your phone to an unknown voice trying to sell you on a product or service that you have zero interest in.

But wait, technology has advanced.  Now, we have caller ID to scan the call before we even answer.  Minutes after ignoring the call, we get a voicemail with the salesperson stating they will try back later.  Sure enough, they keep calling and calling, and we keep getting more frustrated.

Cold calling has been a large sales tactic for many years. With call centers located all over the world, people are paid to sit and call unknown numbers and try to sell them on the latest and greatest.

While this technique was previously effective, it is quickly becoming a way of the past.

It has come time to forget cold calling, and start calling warm leads.  With inbound marketing, generating content that people desire and find useful attracts potential customers to your website.  Once there, draw them into premium content through landing pages and calls-to-action, while providing the premium content for some simple information in return.  This lead generation technique starts to build a contact database of leads who have shown interest in your company.

As time progresses, and prospective customers continue to interact with your digital marketing, your leads become warmer and warmer, without even picking up the phone. When a prospective customer becomes a warm enough lead, it is then time to follow up with the lead via phone or email, but have a connection and starting point with that lead already.  They know you.  They know your company.  They have shown interest in you.

Does it get better than that?

People are no longer frustrated at your brand because you kept annoying them with consistent phone calls, but rather, they reached out to you first because they need you.

Stop being interruptive, and start pulling.

To learn more about inbound marketing, check out PayProMedia and HubSpot.