Cold emails, no cold calls. Is this bad or good?

Hey guys.


So I've been an SDR for about 7 months now. The way we reach out to prospects is strictly cold emails. We use Apollo to mass enroll a bunch of ICP's into a bunch of emails. We don't do any cold calls. Only time I cold call is when someone cancels a meeting, they rarely email me to call them, or if I'm desperately trying to get a meeting.


My question is, compared to your sales experiences, do you find a sales job with no cold calls a hindrance on your sales career? Maybe I'm thinking too conventional about it. But I find it to be the complete opposite to all the other sales reps I talk to at other companies. Not to mention our meeting KPI's are ridiculous--14 qualified meetings a week.


What do you guys think? Are cold calls important to a sales career?

๐Ÿ”Ž Prospecting
๐Ÿ“ž Cold Calling
โ˜‘๏ธ Qualification Calls
16
jefe
Arsonist
8
๐Ÿ
I mean if you can book everything off emails alone, that's great, BUT it's definitely not the norm, so could very well hold you back in future organizations.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
6
๐ŸฆŠ
I'm more successful with emails, however I still make calls.
jefe
Arsonist
5
๐Ÿ
I think that's pretty common. But to make no calls at all can be dangerous - especially starting out and especially as an SDR
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
This is my experience as well. But nothing at all wrong with picking up the phone and having that in your toolkit as well.
tightlines
Politicker
3
Account Executive
14 qualified meetings a week is crazy, but cold calls are important yes. It's interesting that your company doesn't do it, and still expects 14 meetings/week. How many people are keeping up with that?
khan
Fire Starter
2
sdr
Yeah, it used to be 16. But because nobody was consistently hitting goal, they lessened it to 14. And honestly only like 2-3 SDRs are able to be consistent with that goal. The rest of us have been down bad.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
What are you averaging? I mean, it seems that the cold emails aren't 100% working, so it's time to pick up the phone and connect, IMO.
khan
Fire Starter
0
sdr
Low bro, won't hold you. I probably average 6-8 meetings a week. I'm thinking sales ain't for me.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
0
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Is it because you donโ€™t feel successful, or because you donโ€™t like doing it?

If itโ€™s because you arenโ€™t feeling successful, youโ€™ll probably see a tend in all of us explaining that the sales approach at your company is lacking. So perhaps it isnโ€™t that sales isnโ€™t for you - it could be the company. Sometimes fining a better place to work with better practice will improve everything for you.
LordOfWar
Tycoon
2
Blow it up
calls > email for individual success rate, but email > calls for volume.

I target my emails and will call for the big or most tangible opportunities.
NotCreativeEnough
Big Shot
2
Professional Day Ruiner
getting meetings is what's important. In my opinion, who cares how you get them as long as you get enough to meet/exceed your numbers.
khan
Fire Starter
1
sdr
Yeah, true. That's kind of the mentality here. They're scaling pretty fast. SDR team was like 4 last year, now it's nearly 25.
TheIncarceration
Politicker
1
SDR Manager
Out of curiosity, what are you selling?
khan
Fire Starter
0
sdr
We sell video content for marketing campaigns/strategies. So testimonials, brand videos, social media ads, animations, etc.
SoccerandSales
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
I think long-term, the main issue with no cold calls are going to be the loss of skills associated with them. It also may make any lateral moves to other SDR roles difficult, but with the amount you are booking, I imagine you can talk your way around it.
khan
Fire Starter
2
sdr
Yeah that's what I think, too. Only thing is, I want to move up from the SDR position to the next level. And other companies that hear I don't do cold calls feel I'm not capable of jumping to AE or even Jr. AE. I feel like I just have to convince them, though.
SoccerandSales
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
Not sure your thoughts on this, but why tell them you don't cold call?
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Exactly! Don't volunteer information that might be difficult to explain.
khan
Fire Starter
1
sdr
You're right. I have an inclination to be too honest. But as of late, I've to learned to withhold this information when interviewing, or just lie and say 50 cold calls a week or something.
SoccerandSales
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
Lying is a slippery slope, but half-truths arenโ€™t bad. You DO make calls but you donโ€™t have a specific number you are help to, just say that
khan
Fire Starter
2
sdr
Yeah that's true, I like that reframe better. Thanks!
StartupMan
Good Citizen
1
Head of Sales
14 a week is insane lmao my company is 6 discos a month
StartupMan
Good Citizen
1
Head of Sales
Iโ€™ve booked 2 discos via email in my 1 year as an SDR. Mostly all through calls for me
Douglo
Opinionated
1
Sr Account Executive
It is possible but the amount of emails you will need to write will take longer than if you just picked up the phone. You're also not learning one of the most important skills in sales.

So will it work? Sure, to be honest my later half of a SDR career thats what I did. Is it good? No.
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
Phone call is always a good personal touch point that might help you get more qualified leads for your AE
ego
Politicker
0
Bartender
Do you guys have a dedicated team thatโ€™s generating domains and warming up emails for you?
Nairobi
Politicker
0
AE
I don't think it makes any difference if you are getting results. It also mostly depends on what your ICP is more responsive to! If it's email, good; focus on email. If it's cold call, cool, call.

I was the top performer at my last company by only sending emails. I tried cold calling at the beg, but it didn't work for my ICP so I focused on emails and LinkedIn because that's what prospects replied to!
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
0
Sales Rep
A good book is a good book, a good movie is a good movie.

Doesnt matter the medium, only the quality and result
Killebrew
Valued Contributor
0
VP
Depends what kind of sales career. With your KPI I'm assuming it's not Enterprise, so maybe you can get away with emails only.
ER0173
Opinionated
0
Sr. Business Development Manager
I will say, I don't like cold calls, but they are a necessary evil. The key is to be strategic in your target, your approach and your messaging. But emails -and even LinkedIn messaging- are a great alternative.
Maximas
Tycoon
0
Senior Sales Executive
Usually I start with making the calls first,then emails to be used mainly later for follow-ups.
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