Find Your Cold Calling Partner: Top 7 Services Reviewed

Jump ahead to the vendor comparison.

What are Cold Calling Services?

Cold calling services employ sales professionals to make first contact with prospects via cold outreach. Outsourced sales companies provide additional benefits like SDR training, list building, lead generation, and appointment setting services. 

Benefits of Cold Calling Services

Although specific goals vary, businesses hire cold calling services for the same overall purpose: to fill their sales pipeline with high-quality leads. Cold calling may be necessary if your company needs outbound prospecting to generate leads for growth but struggles with the nuances of cold prospecting.

Partnering with a cold calling company brings the following advantages.

Increased call volume 

If your business is failing to meet its cold call activity goals, look to hire an experienced team to boost your numbers. Cold calling services can accelerate your pipeline by making hundreds of touches weekly.

Improved lead quality 

Cold calling is an effective method for securing high-quality leads because prospects can be qualified in real-time, unlike inbound leads which typically require follow-up. A pipeline full of qualified prospects boosts your chances of closing deals and increasing revenue.  

Lower costs

Putting together a team of SDRs for cold calling can be expensive due to the costs of hiring, training, and adopting sales tools. Meanwhile, outsourcing cold calls to a reputable sales agency gains you access to experts at a lower cost.  

Boosted efficiency 

When you hire a cold calling service, you reduce the workload on your sales team, allowing them to focus on closing deals.

Five Factors to Consider Before Hiring a Cold Calling Service

With so many options to choose from, it can be challenging to find the right cold calling service for your business. To help your search, we’ve listed key factors to review before committing to a cold calling service. 

Industry experience

Before doing business with a cold calling service, research their reputation. What are they known for? Do they follow a process? Are their activities in line with regulatory standards?

These services cater to different industries and may have better track records in niches outside of yours. You need to ensure your potential pick has a proven history of success in your sector or with similar companies. 

For a more in-depth walkthrough on how to vet cold calling services for industry experience, check out this video below:

Customization

Avoid companies that use cookie-cutter or generic approaches. Your ideal cold calling company should be able to customize outreach solutions for your business. 

Customization is critical because the company must represent your brand uniquely. They have to become familiar with your products and services and review testimonials in the various sectors where you’ve worked to reach your potential customers effectively. 

Sally-Anne Blanshard, Director of Nourish Coaching, emphasizes this point: 

“When working with people that’ll represent your brand, it is vital they are clear on your business overview, your suite of products and services, and key people in the company. They may need to know what kind of projects you have been involved with and in what client space/sector. If asked any questions, they should be confident and knowledgeable in this area in order to progress a conversation.”

SalesRoads CEO David Kreiger shares tips on verifying cold calling customization in this video below:

Price

Cost is a huge consideration when hunting for an outside service. A simple price comparison with your budget will determine how affordable a company’s offerings are for your business. They can charge clients in a variety of ways, including:

• Per call: A fixed rate for every call made
• Per hour: A set amount for every hour spent on the campaign 
• Per lead or appointment: Based on the number of leads generated or appointments set during the outreach 
• Monthly retainer: Flat fees paid monthly for a set of deliverables (number of calls, leads, dedicated SDRs, etc.) 

Data and reporting

A great cold calling service gathers reliable data on leads through credible sources. 

Your chosen service should also provide reports on the progress and results at each stage of the campaign. These findings help you adjust and tweak campaigns for a higher return on investment.  

The video below explains the importance of data in cold calling:

Other services

Look at the other sales and marketing solutions cold calling companies offer. Those can include lead generation, list building, account-based marketing, appointment setting, and SDR services. You should be able to leverage these extra services to create comprehensive strategies for scaling and growing your business. 

Best Cold Calling Companies

SalesRoads

Our time to shine! SalesRoads is a B2B sales outsourcing company with over 17 years of experience helping businesses grow through appointment setting, lead generation, and sales development services. We focus on building robust sales pipelines rooted in human-to-human relationships.

We understand the trust you put in SalesRoads by allowing us to represent your brand. To ensure we meet your standards, each program is assigned a dedicated team of highly-trained, deeply experienced sales professionals. 

We emphasize quality assurance in our cold calling process, which yields stronger agent performances and higher conversion rates. You can contact us to learn more about our services. But we’re not scared of the competition either. Below are some other firms you can check out. 

SalesHive

SalesHive is a lead generation platform that helps businesses automate their outbound sales process. They combine top-notch software and human expertise to provide robust business solutions. 

SAS

SAS is a call center that offers B2B lead generation services for small businesses and corporate enterprises alike. Their sales development managers customize cold call campaigns to your brand language and tone. Businesses can choose between dedicated or shared teams for outreach and customer service processes. 

Upcall

Upcall specializes in outbound call services for lead generation, appointment setting, and other sales and marketing functions. Upcall has obtained results in the real estate and finance industries. 

DialAmerica

As their name implies, DialAmerica is an American-based call center with skilled agents for cold calling and customer support services. They assist businesses in offering technical support, running customer acquisition and retention campaigns, launching loyalty programs, and conducting market research. 

Superhuman Prospecting

Superhuman Prospecting tailors outbound solutions for B2B companies. They help businesses connect with prospects through cold calling, cold emails, social media prospecting, content sharing, and database-building services. 

Flatworld Solutions

Flatworld Solutions is a global outsourcing company with services like cold calling, data entry, software development, and creative design. An affordable option for small businesses, their agents employ various lead generation techniques to convert qualified prospects into customers. 

FAQs

How much does a cold calling service cost?

The cost of hiring a cold calling service varies based on the scope of the campaign, the number of calls made, the industry, SDR expertise, and each appt setting pricing model. Consult with potential partners to obtain an accurate price estimate. 

Where is the best place to find cold call leads?

You can look up numbers in the (online) yellow pages, Google profiles, and other business directories. Also, some databases like Cognism, LeadFuze, Cloudlead, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator gather lead information across different industries. 

Consider list-building services as well to leverage professional expertise and generate highly targeted prospects in your target industry. 

Is cold calling still effective for B2B sales?

Yes, strategic cold calling succeeds at generating new B2B opportunities even today. To realize the “strategic” requirement, Dan Hanley, Sales and Marketing Director at Octane Accountants, recommends answering a few questions before adopting cold calling as a sales tactic: 

• Why do businesses use our product/service?
• What personal and business needs does our product/service satisfy?
• What factors prompt businesses to buy our product/service?
• When do businesses usually buy our product/service?
• Who are the key decision-makers within the target business?
• What are their contact details?

How do cold calling services measure success?

Cold calling companies use metrics to analyze the effectiveness and success of their campaigns. Important KPIs to track include the number of calls made, contact rate, conversion rate, average call duration, and number of leads generated. 

Do cold calling services provide leads, or do I have to supply my own list?

Cold calling services accommodate either option. For a hands-off approach, they can generate a list of qualified prospects from among a target audience and conduct outreach for your business. However, this may be more expensive than providing your own list. 

If you give the service a list, they’ll reach out to the included prospects in what’s called a zero-data campaign. However, the video below explains why businesses should avoid zero-data campaigns:

What is the difference between cold calling, appointment setting, and telemarketing services?

The table below summarizes the differences between these three services:

Can I provide my own script for a cold calling service?

If you have a script for your product or service, cold calling services are happy to use it. However, you should take the opportunity to collaborate with the company and create top-notch scripts for the most successful outreach. 

Bottom Line

Cold calling remains an effective strategy for businesses to grow their customer base and boost revenue. However, due to the challenging nature of the process, many choose to outsource it to maximize their outreach success rates. 

By partnering with the right cold calling service, you, too, can streamline your sales process, increase conversion rates, and scale your business.