Sales outreach that boosts replies and fills your rep’s calendars

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Cold calling is still the most effective channel for outbound success. Your reps will get feedback in real-time, be able to leverage their tone of voice, and stand out. Digital channels are flooded with spam and irrelevant outreach, so using the phone makes it easier to get noticed.

The real success in cold calling lies in the execution, though. At Cognism, we rely on quality over quantity. Here are six things that characterise our cold calling strategy:

1. Targeted prospecting.
2. Personalisation and relevance.
3. Strategic multithreading.
4. Incentivising the behaviour we want from sales reps.
5. Dynamic prioritisation.
6. Regional and cultural adaptation.
   
   

Why?

Because our SDRS are:

• Calling the right contacts (decision-makers, not gatekeepers).

• Using verified mobile numbers (with 87% connection rate).

• Focused on conversations, not just booking demos.

Everyone’s got different ways of working, but it’s helpful to encourage time blocking call hours and make a phone call the first outbound step. Use Cognism’s Diamond Data® to maximise your connect rate.

Old comp models based on the number of meetings booked drive low-intent leads. Sales productivity comes when SDRs are more laser-focused.

Instead, Cognism SDRs are compensated on:

• Qualified meetings: This helps change the narrative by incentivising SDRS to fill the pipeline with more likely-to-close deals.

• Multithreading and deal influence: Our SDRs work closely with our AEs, to weave more personas into the deal and create stickiness.

• Revenue-based kickers: This brings the focus back to revenue.

This shift led to a 2x increase in conversion rates. Incentivise your team based on quality, not volume. Empower them to engage across buying committees and support deal progression.

Without a clear ICP, even the best script won’t convert. 

Cognism SDRs work with RevOps to:

• Run account prioritisation exercises.

• Focus on strategic personas (e.g. sales managers vs VPs).

• Tailor messaging by role and seniority.

Here are the account prioritisation exercises we run:

1. Account sourcing: RevOps will initially source the account based on the account score (departmental headcount, industry, company size and high ACV potential).
2. Account prioritisation: RevOps will then top up this score through account prioritisation. This includes factors like if they are coming to the end of their contracts with competitors, and showing intent thorugh Bombora. 

Sales managers care about rep time, and VPs care about team efficiency. Each persona cares about different priorities. Here's an example of a message we'd use for each:

SDRs don’t have time to fumble the bag with bad data. Sales Companion arms them with:

• Real-time contact data.

• Buying signals (job changes, hiring trends, funding alerts).

• Technographic insights (e.g. CRM renewal windows).

Did you also realise that the average cold call lasts just 83 seconds? Adopting qualification methods like BANT makes it hard for SDRs to create value in such a short space of time. You need your team to adopt outreach sales strategies on cold calls like:

• Asking open-ended questions: They must use a conversational technique and active listening to uncover deeper needs, motivations, and challenges.
• Prioritise value over transaction: Create a need by educating the buyer on their problem and guiding them towards a solution that will drive their business forward.

Just because one of your reps books a meeting doesn’t mean the job is done. Multithreading is growing in importance, particularly if you target mid-market and enterprise. For example, deals above $100K require 10+ stakeholders to win. We’ve found that multithreading boosts win rates by 32%. 

Enterprise deals have a larger and more diverse buying committee; 50% of buyers say that the decision to acquire new software requires 6+ people.

How Cognism approaches this in their sales outreach strategy:

• Reps are trained and compensated to engage beyond the first meeting.

• Sales Companion recommends key contacts within target accounts.

• Cold calls unlock strategic personas earlier in the cycle.

FAQs

Here are some often asked questions about sales outreach strategies.

What is a good sales outreach strategy?

Good sales outreach strategies focus on quality over quantity; they focus on shifting to a more targeted way of prospecting to provide sales reps with a greater chance of success.

Why is cold calling still so effective?

Cold calling offers the fastest path to decision-makers. It cuts through the noise of email and social media and leads to more immediate, high-quality conversations.

How do I get reps to stop relying on automation?

Shift compensation toward quality metrics and give reps tools like Sales Companion to focus their efforts on meaningful outreach.

Find more GTM Plays for Sales Managers in the hub. 👇