What is cold calling? Definition, rules and how B2B teams do it

What is cold calling? The meaning of a cold call

Salesforce's answer to "what is cold calling?" is short: a salesperson calls a prospect who has never dealt with the company before. The goal is a business relationship that can, in time, lead to a sale.

Wikipedia adds that it is mostly done by phone, which makes it a form of telemarketing. "Cold" means there was no contact before the call.

Sources: Salesforce: how to nail your next cold call, Wikipedia: cold calling

Why does cold calling matter for a B2B GTM team?

A call gets you a live answer. For a go-to-market (GTM) team, the people who find and win customers, that means hearing objections as they come.

Buyers do take meetings: RAIN Group found that 82% of buyers accept meetings with sellers who reach out. The cost is time. HubSpot notes that calls take real time per prospect, while email reaches hundreds at once. So save calls for your best-fit accounts.

Sources: RAIN Group: 114 essential sales statistics, HubSpot glossary: cold calling

Cold calling vs cold email vs LinkedIn: which should you use?

Use all three, each for its own job. Calls get fast answers from a short list, email reaches many people, and LinkedIn puts a profile behind your name.

The US rules differ too. Most business-to-business calls are exempt from the Telemarketing Sales Rule of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). But the CAN-SPAM Act covers business-to-business email, opt-out rules included.

Sources: FTC: complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule, FTC: CAN-SPAM Act, a compliance guide for business

Is cold calling legal? US and UK rules from official sources

Yes, cold calling is legal in the US and the UK, within rules on who you may call, when and how. This summary of the regulators' own rules is not legal advice.

• US, FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule: most calls between a telemarketer and a business are exempt. Since May 2024, though, its ban on misleading claims covers business-to-business calls too.
• US, National Do Not Call Registry: it covers personal numbers, and its ban does not apply to business-to-business calls. Sellers calling consumers must check it at least every 31 days.
• US, FCC rules under the TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act): autodialed or prerecorded sales calls to mobiles need the person's prior written consent.
• US calling hours: no sales calls to a home before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time.
• UK, live calls: sole traders can join the TPS and companies the CTPS, the UK's do-not-call registers. For B2B calls, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says to screen against both, plus your own list.
• UK, every call: say who is calling, show your number, and give an address or freephone number if asked. Automated calls that play a recorded message need the person's specific consent.

Sources: FTC: complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule, FTC: new protections for businesses against telemarketing fraud (2024), Federal Register: 2024 Telemarketing Sales Rule amendments, FTC: National Do Not Call Registry FAQs, FCC rules under the TCPA: 47 CFR 64.1200 (Cornell LII), ICO: telephone marketing

Where do cold callers get phone numbers?

From three places: numbers you already hold, numbers a company publishes, and data providers that sell contact data. Here is the whole job in OXYGEN, from list to call.

• Build the list: Company Search finds the companies, and "Find decision makers at companies" finds the people to call.
• Find the numbers: a Mobile phone column tries data providers in turn, cheapest first, and can add each number's line type and carrier. It charges only when it finds a number, about $0.99 on average.
• Screen them: paste numbers you must not call into the do-not-contact list. The dialer never calls them.
• Queue the calls: a Call task step in a sequence puts each lead in a call queue. A rep dials from the web softphone, a phone that runs in your browser and is still in beta.
• Call in hours: by default, the dialer calls only from 09:00 to 20:00 in the lead's time zone. Each number's default cap is 100 calls a day.

What does a good cold call script sound like?

A good script is short: who you are, one reason for the call, one question, then a small ask. In Gong's study of 90,380 cold calls, opening with a clear reason for the call made success 2.1 times as likely. Here is one for a sales training firm.

• Opener: "Hi Dana, it's Sam from Acme. I saw you're hiring five sales reps."
• Reason: "I'm calling because we help new reps book their first meetings sooner."
• Question: "How do new reps learn to prospect at your company today?"
• Ask: "Would a 20-minute call next Tuesday be worth it?"
• If it's a no: "Fair enough. Should I call back next quarter, or take you off my list?"

Sources: Gong: cold call opening lines, from 90,380 calls

What mistakes do cold callers make?

Most come from calling without a plan: no research, the wrong hour, too big an ask or giving up too soon.

• No research: Salesforce suggests writing a new script for each prospect, from what you learned about them.
• Selling the whole deal on the first call: HubSpot calls that too much, too soon. Ask for the next step instead.
• Calling at the wrong hour: check the prospect's local time before you dial.
• Ignoring a no: when someone asks you to stop calling, add them to your do-not-call list that day.
• Giving up after one call: RAIN Group puts the average at 8 touches (calls, emails or messages) to get a meeting.

Sources: Salesforce: how to nail your next cold call, HubSpot: cold calling, what it is and how to do it right, RAIN Group: 114 essential sales statistics

Related terms: warm call, SDR, prospecting and more

Cold calling is part of sales prospecting, so these terms come up with it.

• Warm call: a call to someone who has already shown interest in you.
• Sales prospecting: finding potential customers and starting conversations that can turn into sales.
• SDR (sales development representative): the rep who often makes cold calls and books meetings.
• ICP (ideal customer profile): the kind of company most likely to buy.
• Gatekeeper: a receptionist or assistant who decides whether to put your call through.

Sources: HubSpot: warm calling tips

What OXYGEN does not do here

• No contact database of its own: phone numbers come from data providers, on credits, and some people have none to find.
• It does not check the National Do Not Call Registry, the TPS or the CTPS for you. Add those numbers to your do-not-contact list.
• Calls are in beta: a rep dials each call in the web softphone. OXYGEN's command line (CLI) and AI-assistant tools (MCP) manage the call queue but never dial.
• Buying a phone number to call from needs a paid plan.
• A new number dials below its daily cap while it warms up, and each number has its own monthly charge.