What if cold calling isn’t dead—but everything we know about it is?
From dissecting permission-based openers to dunking on dated tactics, sales experts Justin Michael and Charles Needham make a bold case for why the phone isn’t dead as a sales channel—it’s just misused.
Justin Michael, aka the John Wick of executive coaching, is a longtime B2B seller and sales trainer, as well as the Founder of the Justin Michael Method and co-author of The Cold Call Algo. Along with being Justin’s Co-Author on Cold Call Algo, Charles Needham is a bona fide B2B Sales Badass in his own right, being the Founding Account Executive at TitanX and the Founder of Needham Advisory Group. Joining co-host Matt Amundson for this episode, Charles and Justin dig into the unique benefits of cold calling, the evolving role of Sales Development Reps, and where sales orgs should be trying to implement AI sales tools.
Critical Takeaways
- Encouraging SDRs to see cold calling as a means for intelligence gathering rather than merely scheduling meetings can lead to better insights and long-term relationships.
- The traditional methods of cold calling, like repetitive sales scripts, are losing effectiveness. Incorporate permission-based openers and insightful questions early in the call to create curiosity and engagement.
- Leveraging AI to clean and target data can dramatically increase the effectiveness of your outreach strategy. By focusing only on prospects who are likely to answer, teams can improve their connect rates and overall outcomes.
- Train teams to focus on tonality and pacing during calls. Using neutral, calm tones, can help in calming down the prospect's initial resistance and opening up a more natural conversation.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:09 Introducing Justin Michael and Charles Needham
02:55 Discussing B2B Sales Strategies and Cold Calling as an effective sales channel
03:37 Justin's B2B Sales Stories and Experiences
08:07 Charles on Modern Sales Challenges for SaaS Startups
13:22 The Emerging Role of AI in B2B Sales Today
17:10 Cold Calling Sales Techniques and Best Practices
30:29 Debating Cold Call Openers
32:53 Unified Theory of Cold Calling for B2B sales
39:03 Mastering Tonality and Rhythm during B2B Sales Calls
56:26 The Future of Cold Calling
Sign up for our Newsletter: https://thetransaction.substack.com/
Epic Quotes
- “Cold calling is a mechanism to survey the market and have conversations, rather than going in there like 8 Mile Eminem style—one shot, one opportunity to book a meeting.” - Charles Needham
- “Problems are isolating by nature. So if you can show someone that it’s common, they’ll open up more.” - Charles Needham
- “ People buy emotionally, they justify with logic.” - Justin Michael
Connect with Justin Michael
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljustin/
- Website: https://www.salesborgs.ai/
- Get the Book: https://coldcallalgo.com/
Connect with Charles Needham
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-needham/
- TitanX Website: https://www.titanx.io/
Shoutouts
- Kai-Fu Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaifulee/
- AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order by Kai-Fu Lee: https://a.co/d/ex6F2Yz
- David Dulany: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkdulany/
- Wyzer.ai
- Mike Bosworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebosworth/
Love the show? Give us a shoutout on LinkedIn and tell us what you loved!
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com