Research shows that the average conversion rate for cold calling is around 2%, but some companies report conversion rates as high as 10%. And there’s a reason they perform as much as five times better than the average. They use the right tools: a crucial factor that determines cold calling effectiveness.
Today, the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence technologies is empowering sales and marketing teams to enhance cold calling processes through AI cold calling. By automating a wide variety of routine tasks associated with sales calls, from scheduling to lead scoring, AI cold calling tools are helping salespeople become dramatically more efficient.
The key to successfully adopting these tools lies in understanding how they’re best used, the benefits they offer, and the best AI cold calling software currently on the market.
What is AI Cold Calling?
AI cold calling is the practice of integrating AI tools into traditional cold calling techniques. Cold calling AI tools can help with tasks such as call scheduling, automated dialing, lead scoring, information verification, and more.
As technology advances, new opportunities for this technology continue to emerge. With the rise of open-source generative AI models like GPT and Llama, marketing teams and sales reps can leverage the technology to communicate with customers or prospects before passing them over to a live representative.
Today, AI isn’t necessarily making cold calls on your team’s behalf, but it is automating a lot of the steps that take place before, during, and after your sales reps pick up the phone.
4 Key Benefits of AI Cold Calling
Much like many promising AI technologies, AI cold calling tools offer a wide range of benefits to their users. Below, we’ve summarized some of the most impactful.
1. Automating Outreach at Scale
Automating outreach processes is useful when teams start to scale their processes and add more volume to their sales pipeline. By automating outreach processes and ensuring teams always follow the same steps to achieve a goal, business leaders can ensure a consistent approach that makes it easy to onboard new team members.
AI cold calling tools provide this structure by handling tasks such as auto-dialing, pulling up prospect files, and automating note-taking during the call itself. Generative AI agents can utilize omnichannel communication to set up calls more efficiently by contacting prospects over voice calls, chats, and texts.
2. Validate Leads Quickly
Qualifying leads has always been a top priority for sales and marketing teams, and in today’s high-volume, digital-first world, that’s more true than ever. Research shows that using marketing automation tools for lead nurturing is associated with a 4x increase in qualified leads. AI marketing tools allow sales teams to streamline the lead qualification process.
Some cold calling AI tools employ a lead-scoring algorithm that considers the features of your ideal customer profile to help prioritize outreach. Use these insights to prioritize your sales team’s workload or to allocate high-quality leads to your best sales people.
3. Increased Productivity
Naturally, when teams adopt AI tools, they unlock an increased capacity for outreach. By automating many of the routine processes involved, AI cold calling tools help sales reps use their time more efficiently and reach more prospects.
Think about it this way: if an AI cold calling tool could save each team member just 30 minutes a day, that’s two and a half hours a week, 10 hours a month, or 120 hours a year: an extra three full working weeks!
Plus, the more data that AI cold calling tools collect, the better the models can learn and adapt to new scenarios to better serve your company.
4. Improved Personalization
Taking a personalized approach is one of the keys to any successful cold calling strategy. However, in fast-moving sales organizations, it can feel nearly impossible for live sales reps to have enough time to research every prospect before calling. AI models can ingest vast amounts of data to understand your prospect’s specific needs quickly.
By leveraging data from AI cold calling tools, you can take a more tailored, personalized approach toward every cold call.
Best AI Cold Calling Tools
It’s clear that using AI for cold calling provides many benefits over a more traditional approach. But where can you access these tools, and which ones are the best for different tasks?
Good news: We’ve compiled a list of some of the best AI cold calling tools to help your team get started. While there are plenty of services available, the four included in our list below are the best options for sales teams looking to improve their cold calling processes.
1. Aircall
Aircall includes various features like setting customized call schedules, assigning team members personal extensions, and parallel calling. The call transcription capabilities also allow your team to analyze call data and derive meaningful insights more quickly than listening to every call. It’s used by thousands of teams around the world and receives solid reviews on sites like G2.
Pricing: The professional plan for AirCall costs $79 per license per month. Plans can be paid monthly or annually, and include call analytics history for up to 6 months. The professional plan allows for integrations with Hubspot, Salesforce, Slack, and more.
2. Outplay
Outplay can be used for both outbound and inbound calls. You can manage your outreach calls from your web browser which further simplifies the process. In addition to automated calling, Outplay allows managers to coach sales reps with its live call monitoring feature. There's also a local number feature that allows your sales reps to call from a local number, rather than a toll-free number, boosting answer rates.
Pricing: Outplay offers several packages related to AI cold calling. The Pro Conversation Intelligence program is $49 per month per user. Users can sign up for a 14-day free trial with no credit card required to test out all of the features of Outplay.
3. JustCall
JustCall AI provides real-time script assistance for agents to adjust conversations to prospects’ interests and needs. The software also allows you to score calls to identify successful conversation tracks for qualifying leads. Additionally, it integrates with Hubspot, Microsoft Teams, and Monday.
Pricing: Different plans are available, but if you want access to AI coaching and insights, the ProPlus plan is the right choice. This plan is $89 per user per month, billed annually (minimum of two users).
4. Observe AI
Observe AI also features real-time coaching opportunities and dynamic scripts for sales reps. It includes objection handling prompts to ensure cold calls are handled correctly. Another exciting feature of this AI cold calling software is the ability to check script adherence to reduce compliance risks.
Pricing: Observe AI does not include a free trial or a free tier, and users must schedule a demo to get exact pricing for the different solutions.
Supercharge Your Sales Team with AI Cold Calling
Every day, new AI solutions are released for sales and marketing. The continued development of new technologies in this market offers exciting opportunities for sales teams, especially when it comes to improving the effectiveness of cold calling strategies.
Not only does cold calling AI improve productivity, but it also results in more qualified leads than traditional cold calling. If your business needs guidance building out a comprehensive lead generation strategy, reach out to GoDelta. Our digital marketing professionals take a results-driven approach focused on delivering tangible growth for your business.
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