You may remember from your school history lessons that Graham Alexander Bell invented the telephone.
Bonus points if you recall that he registered the patent in the 1870s (it was then successfully granted on March 7th, 1876). Afterwards, businesses and wealthy individuals were the first to own telephones, but it didn’t take long before some savvy sales professionals figured out they could use this new technology to call potential customers.
Naturally, cold calling, as it’s become known, has evolved since then. However, the underlying principle remains the same: a salesperson makes an unsolicited call to a potential customer to promote a product or service.
This proved an effective means of building sales pipelines for many years – especially as the telephone became commonplace in homes around the world.
Over time, though, with the invention of digital technologies and tightened regulations, effectiveness has waned. Research from LinkedIn suggests only 2% of cold calls result in conversions, with cold calls annoying customers and harming the confidence of sales teams (the same LinkedIn research found 63% of sellers say cold calling is the worst part of their job).
So what’s the solution?
Warm calls.
But what are warm calls? How do they differ from cold calls? And how do you turn a cold call into a warm call?
In this article, we answer all of those questions and more. So if you’re a sales professional, we suggest grabbing yourself a coffee and getting comfy. This is an essential read.
What’s the difference between a cold call and a warm call?
Cold calling is the act of working through a list of prospective clients or customers, phoning each one in turn, and delivering a pre-written script to try and sell a service or product.
Cold calls are unsolicited. The prospect isn’t expecting a call and hasn’t shown any clear interest in the product or service previously. You’re calling them simply because you think they might be interested.
A warm call, by contrast, relies on preparation to build a more targeted list of prospects, further research to learn more about each prospect beforehand, and – critically – some form of pre-call contact between the prospect and you (or your business).
In contrast to cold calling, this means a prospect is likely to be more amenable to a call – and perhaps even expecting one. With your research in hand, and prior contact established, you’re calling them because you know they’re interested.
As a result, warm calls tend to have much higher success rates.
| Aspect | Cold Calling | Warm Calling |
| Definition | Unsolicited calls made to prospects with no prior contact or interest shown. | Calls made to prospects after prior contact or indication of interest. |
| Prospect Awareness | Prospect is unaware of your business or offer. | Prospect is familiar with your business or has engaged with it previously. |
| Preparation Level | Minimal preparation. Uses a general script. | Extensive preparation. Includes research on the prospect and tailored messaging. |
| Approach | Broad, untargeted approach to generate leads. | Targeted approach based on identified needs or expressed interest. |
| Success Rate | Typically lower, as prospects may be uninterested or unprepared for the call. | Higher, as prospects are more receptive and expecting the conversation. |
| Goal | Introduce your product/service and create initial awareness. | Build rapport, deepen engagement, and move toward closing the sale. |
| Examples of Pre-Call Contact | N/a. | Email, social media interaction, website enquiry, referral, or event attendance. |
How do you turn a cold call into a warm call?
Okay, let’s take a look at the two steps you can take to turn cold calls into warm calls – improving your sales process and making better connections with your prospects.
1. Learn about your prospects
A warm call starts with truly understanding who you’re trying to contact.
This means moving beyond generic prospect lists and embracing a tailored approach that places quality over quantity. Here’s how to prepare effectively:
- Research the businesses on your prospecting list: Do they actually need your product or service? Why do they need it? Would it help them scale, become more efficient, or solve a problem? Is it a good match for their size and market? In other words, can you solve the prospect’s pain points?
- Filter out businesses and prospects that aren’t a good fit: Well done. You’ve just saved yourself a tonne of rejections straight off the bat. More importantly, you should be left with a streamlined list of high-value prospects.
- Research the contact: Who are you contacting? What’s their role? Are they definitely the right decision-maker for your product or service? Do they have a LinkedIn profile? The 3×3 rule is a great way to learn more about a prospect without spending hours on it.
- Check recent news: Look for press releases, blog posts, or LinkedIn updates to find potential conversation starters.
All of this may increase time spent on research (meaning a lower volume of calls each day), but it can really pay off later when you’re able to tailor your messaging, prepare for potential objections, and demonstrate a true understanding of the prospect’s needs. A prospect will likely receive hundreds of calls and emails each week – they will only listen and respond to those which cut through the noise.
2. Establish a connection
Now, as we’ve discussed earlier, the key difference between a cold call and a warm call is that, on a warm call, the prospect is at least somewhat aware of you or your business beforehand.
If you’re not in a position to personally connect with prospects (perhaps it’s just not part of your job role), then almost all of your calls will be cold. As such, this section won’t be that useful for you, but there is still plenty you can do to improve the effectiveness of your calls. Check out our guide: 14 Cold Calling Exercises To Boost Success Rates
If you do have a bit more autonomy though, here are some ways you could establish a connection:
- Email: Send a personalised message introducing yourself and your value proposition.
- Social Media Engagement: Interact with their posts on LinkedIn, naturally and free of an agenda (in other words, don’t send a connection request and then immediately slide into their DMs trying to sell your product).
- Referral or Mutual Connection: Find someone who can introduce you. Having a shared contact adds credibility and familiarity.
- Offer A Valuable Resource: Share something helpful before calling, such as a whitepaper, blog post, video, free tool or a template they might find useful.
- Attend Events: Meeting in person at a networking event or conference can make a huge difference.
- Run A Poll or Survey: Send a brief, relevant survey about their industry or role. Share the results with them afterwards as an excuse to reconnect and transition into a call. Industry benchmarking reports can be particularly effective as businesses love to see how they compare to their competitors (plus it gives you an easy “in” if they fall short of industry averages).
- Email Marketing Follow-Up: Use email tracking tools to identify prospects who’ve opened your emails or clicked links, then follow up with a warm call referencing their activity (careful though, they may be surprised to find out you’ve tracked their behaviour).
- Brand Awareness Ads: If you have the resources, ask your marketing team to target prospects with ads across social media that introduce your company or solution. Although this doesn’t build a personal connection, it means they may recognise your brand on a call – making things feel less “cold”. Plus, if they engage with the ad, you have even more reason to contact them.
That’s all there is to it. At this point, if you’ve made contact, then your prospect is warm and you can proceed with your sales call as normal.
Just remember to use the information you’ve learned from step one to tailor your script (learn more about writing a call script) and lean on your pre-call connection to build rapport and get their attention.
What if I can’t establish a connection?
Sometimes, the prospect you’re trying to reach will be nearly impossible to connect with beforehand or get on the phone – particularly if they’re very senior.
It can be a waste of time even trying to reach these people. Persistent efforts to do so could even land you with a bad rep. So one workaround is to start lower down the chain.
Let’s say you sell HR software.
You could start by calling your prospect’s assistant, a receptionist, or an office administrator. They can often provide valuable insights, such as the software currently in use and the number of employees using it.
Then, ask if they can refer you to someone else in the HR team to discuss the current software a bit more (not necessarily your prospect, but that’s great if they do).
You can use that opportunity to introduce yourself, confirm all the details you have so far, and then ask something along the lines of:
“I have a competing solution, which I think would work really well for you. I know you’re currently using X, but when the license comes up for renewal, would it be okay if I called back to explain a bit more?”
Ideally, try and get the date of the renewal so you can mark it in your calendar.
At this point, you’ve spoken to a couple of members of the team, been friendly and cordial, and set up an opportunity to call back in the future when they’re going to be more open to a call. This could get you a direct line to the decision-maker when the time comes.
Finishing Off – Warm Calls Are Worth the Effort
Turning cold calls into warm calls isn’t just about improving your conversion rates, it’s about transforming the way you approach sales altogether.
Warm calls show your prospects that you value their time and are genuinely interested in solving their problems, not just pushing a product. This approach fosters trust, sets you apart from competitors, and creates a solid foundation for long-term partnerships.
While it requires more effort upfront, the payoff is undeniable: higher engagement rates, more productive conversations, and, ultimately, better results for your sales pipeline.
So, as you pick up the phone for your next outreach, remember that a little preparation and connection-building can go a long way in turning a cold call into a warm opportunity.
If you need help with improving your cold or warm calling, then why not get in touch?
We run cold calling training courses in London (or at your offices if required), suitable for fresh and experienced sales professionals. With over 20 years of experience in sales training, we’ll help you and your team develop the skills and processes to generate much stronger results.
