According to a study, 59% of customers stated that they expect a business to be available via voice communication or phone calls in sales.
Sales calls are key in building connections with potential clients and closing deals.
However, not all sales calls are the same—each type serves a specific purpose at different stages of the sales process.
Knowing the differences can help you approach your prospects more effectively and increase your chances of success.
In this guide, we’ll discuss what a sales call is, explore the different types of sales calls, and discuss how you can use them to reach your sales targets.
What is a sales call?
A sales call is a conversation between a sales rep and a prospect, aiming to build a connection, share information about their offerings, and guide the prospect through the sales pipeline.
The ultimate objective of any sales call is to convert the prospect into a paying customer or at least move them further across the sales pipeline.
Additionally, effective sales calls enable you to upsell or cross-sell your existing customers.
Various types of calls in sales are made during the entire sales cycle to accomplish different objectives.
So, let's review the 7 types of sales calls reps conduct during a sales process.
7 Types of sales calls
During the sales process, there are various occasions where conducting a sales call might come in handy, such as during prospecting, discovery, objection handling, and more.
Each type of sales call has a different purpose.
Let's look at different types of sales calls:
1. Cold calls
Cold calling means contacting potential customers without any prior contact or relationship. It's usually done to transform the prospect into a potential lead for the business.
For instance, credit card companies commonly use cold calls in sales to sell cards to random people.
So, there is always the possibility that the person being contacted may or may not be a potential customer for the business.
Purpose of cold calls
Cold calling usually aims to identify a prospect's interests and whether they align with your brand's offerings. Based on this, you can attract and engage with them. So, qualifying the prospect becomes much easier.
Tips to make successful sales calls
Cold calling is dead! That's what is usually said. But that could be more untrue in the B2B industry because nearly 57% or more C-level leaders prefer to get a call from a sales rep.
So, here are some result-driven tips for conducting effective cold calls:
1. Conduct a detailed pre-call research
Before making a cold call, do comprehensive pre-call research to know your ideal prospect profile and buyer persona.
If you know your customer persona, it will help you grab their attention and engage them. It also allows you to pitch customized offers, making them feel important during the cold call.
2. Prepare and practice your cold-calling script
A cold calling script is the best support, as it includes key points that a rep must discuss in a structured way when conducting a cold call.
The sales call script is more of a helpful checklist. It contains descriptive answers to all the FAQs and insights on how to face sales objections. You must learn to cope with rejection and objections during a cold call.
3. Watch out for the right time for a cold call
If you've made some calls and got a poor response or no response, then the timing could be the issue.
To overcome this, analyze your call recordings and discover the hours in a day when your potential prospects picked up and engaged more with you. Accordingly, schedule the calls for such specified times to enhance sales opportunities.
Support of a sales CRM might help boost your sales productivity with features like call recording & forwarding, automatic voicemail drops, call tracking, etc.
2. Warm calls
When a sales professional connects with a prospect who has already shown some interest in the brand's products or services via multiple mediums, such as the website, cold calling, or other channels, it can be identified as a warm call.
Here, the prospects have an existing relationship with the business. For instance, it could be a follow-up to a cold call, a past buyer or opportunity, someone in your network, etc.
For example, if a person signed up for the contact us web form on your landing page, you will make a warm sales call to inquire more about evaluating selling opportunities.
Another example is if a person met you at a seminar, showed interest in your brand, and asked you to give a call in the upcoming weekend. Now, you would make a warm call to confirm their interest in your brand.
Purpose of warm calls
The purpose of warm calls is to entice prospective customers with your products/services and influence them to make a purchase. If not converting them, convincing them to do a demo or in-person sales meeting can be one of the agendas for warm calls.
Tips to make the best warm calls
To help you win, here are the most effective tips when conducting warm calls.
1. Prepare a checklist with key topics to discuss
As warm calls are made to people who might have interacted with your business before, be prepared for success. If you have any information about your prospect's recent activity, leverage it to make the conversation personalized and relevant.
Talk about valuable topics relevant to your potential prospects, highlighting their benefits.
2. Make an impact with your opening lines
Grab your prospects' attention in a warm call with a catchy and meaningful opening line.
A personalized opening line with an informative context about how you can help them overcome their roadblocks can work for you.
To help with that, check out: How to start a sales conversation that captures the interest.
3. Try to discover problems with open-ended sales questions
Warm calls are opportunities to identify your prospect's intent regarding buying your products/services. To win, ask open questions. For example, how can I make this call worthwhile for you?
Open-ended sales questions will help you engage with them better and more chances to discover their stress points and requirements.
3. Prospecting sales calls
These are the initial sales calls to find possibilities to pitch in your product or service.
There is a thin line that differentiates cold and prospecting calls, which you can understand better with a quote by Michael Phelan.
"Prospecting means seeking out the right prospect to pitch to; it requires research and intelligence. Cold calls are a blunt sales tactic to call potential buyers randomly, hoping that many of them might be in a buy mode."
However, cold calls and prospecting aim to discover the prospects intent toward buying.
Purpose of prospecting calls
To build interest among the listening prospect about your product/services, convince them you can solve their problems.
Tips to make the best out of prospecting calls
While conducting prospecting sales calls, try to focus on understanding the prospects' needs and pain points to connect with them more personally. Here are a few detailed tips to make the best out of prospecting calls:
1. Connect to prospects on LinkedIn
With over 810 million Linkedin users, your B2B prospects will definitely be present there.
You'll be able to find and connect with the decision-makers before your prospecting call on LinkedIn.
Here is the smart way to find your prospect's profile on LinkedIn: Find information like:
- Based on location
- Based on previous education/college name
- Based on the companies they served
- Based on their skill endorsement
- Look at your competitor's network
2. Ask targeted questions and listen to the response
Don't just assume; discover the prospect's needs and stress points. The best way to engage during a sales call is to ask targeted questions.
Here are a few targeted questions you should find answers to understand prospect's intent better:
- What are their top priorities at the moment?
- What are the challenges they are facing currently?
- What is the biggest roadblock in their growth?
- What solutions are they now relying on to overcome the roadblocks?
- Are they satisfied with those solutions?
- What would make them consider switching providers?
- What features are they expecting in the new solutions?
- What results would they wish to see if they start using product X in the coming quarter?
4. Sales appointment calls
A sales appointment call is made to finally discuss the prospect's stress points and how the brand can help solve them.
Poorly organized meetings have an adverse impact on customer relationships. So, remember this the next time you schedule a meeting and utilize efficient software to help you plan and manage those leads.
Before implementing appointment setting for sales calls, efforts were mainly on scheduling follow-ups and missing opportunities to discuss the product's features and benefits.
During sales appointment calls, the decision-maker and sales rep agree to have a purposeful discussion.
For example, a prospect is looking for a CRM for their financial advisor business. He was in conversation with a software company for a month. He then took a 15-day free trial of CRM software. After the free trial, the prospect received a sales appointment call for further discussions regarding the purchase or addressing any queries.
Purpose of sales appointment calls
A sales appointment call is made once your reps have established a relationship with their prospects. The purpose is to indicate the features and benefits of your products/services to them. This way, you will move one step ahead in closing the deal.
Tips to make the best out of sales appointment calls
Understand your prospect's needs and mold the conversation during sales appointment calls. Check out these quick tips.
1. Watch out for your tone and context
Although the prospects are interested and open to a sales appointment call, you cannot pressure them.
Always be courteous, and it is better to ask, "Is it the right time to talk?" even if it is for a scheduled call.
Be consultative during this call instead of being pitchy for sales. To convince them, include elements such as client stories, facts, and more. This way, you can get a chance to convince them to purchase from you.
2. Use social proof
About 88% of buyers trust online reviews equally to personal recommendations. So, it is best to leverage all the social proofs you have to build trust and persuade your prospects to buy.
Share case studies revealing the challenges faced by your customers and how you helped to overcome them. This is a great way to take your prospects into confidence. Plus, convince them that your offer is the right fit for them.
You can talk about your happy customers during the call and send them the link via text or email after the meeting.
3. Use technology for a faster process
For setting up many sales appointment calls each day, the sales automation CRM is the right tool to go with.
You can set up an automatic pre-recorded voicemail drop if the prospect doesn't respond. Plus, you can set reminders to schedule sales appointments. Saving you from losing opportunities.
Use a meeting scheduler to book a new sales appointment or to reschedule if the prospect missed the scheduled one.
Technology like a sales automation CRM helps you to conduct error-free tasks and supports you in meeting your sales quotas.
5. Follow-up calls
Follow-up calls are made to potential prospects to learn about their decision regarding the purchase. In addition, these are calls made to know if the prospect with whom you are engaged in a conversation has any purchasing plans soon.
Purpose of follow-up calls
Follow-up calls aim to identify the lead's position in the sales process. Remember, a follow-up call is meant to go beyond the decision stage. Sometimes, follow-up calls are required in the consideration stage, too.
Tips to make the best out of follow-up calls
Quick and on-point follow-up calls to propsects help to close more deals. Here are some tips to win doing follow-up calls.
1. Plan your follow-up calls
Conducting follow-up calls anonymously or randomly would harm your brand value and could irritate your prospect. So, create a reason to follow up during your sales phone calls.
For example, after giving a demo, you might indicate that we would love to take your valuable feedback to improve.
2. Avoid these follow-up opening blunders
Follow-ups need a good start; otherwise, all your efforts so far will be in vain. Most sales reps stumble and begin their follow-up calls like:
- "I was calling to follow up on our proposal."
- "I just wanted to ensure that you've received the email."
Never do this! These are poor opening statements. Instead, speak something that holds your prospects to listen.
3. Conduct follow-up calls on time
Conduct your follow-up on time; don't be a minute late.
Because your competitors are also after your prospect, ensure you don't give them a chance to win. An on-time follow-up call can bring the deal to your company.
And we know that following up with leads is a tiring process. So, why not use a CRM that can ease your communication process?
6. Service calls
A service call is conducted after the deal is closed. You can call it a follow-up call after purchase.
Purpose of service calls
It is made to ask whether they face any issues or how they feel about the product/service.
Tips to make the best out of service calls
Service calls play an important role as it helps to establish an image of a dedicated brand. Here are some tips for conducting service calls.
1. Conduct service calls on time
Take the service call. Your clients always want to feel valuable and important; a service call is a way to do so. Plus, it helps you to build a brand rapport.
2. Ask for referrals
Getting referrals is always good news for sales reps. It is more like a bonus to one single effort. If you serve the best to one customer, they might recommend you to their near and dear ones.
7. Closing calls
A closing call is the final interaction where the sales rep secures a commitment from the prospect to proceed with the purchase decision.
This traditional sales call is essential for successfully concluding the sales process and converting the prospect into a paying customer.
Purpose of closing calls
The primary purpose of a closing call is to address any final objections and confirm that the prospect is ready to move forward with the purchase. It's the crucial step that turns a potential lead into a customer.
Tips to make the best out of closing calls
Closing calls are vital for building confidence in the prospect and securing a win for the sales team. Here are some tips to ensure a successful closing call:
1. Handle objections carefully
Be prepared to answer any last-minute concerns. Listen to the prospect's needs and address any doubts they might have with reassurance, emphasizing how your product or service will solve their pain points.
2. Emphasize benefits and reinforce the value
Remind the prospect why they considered your product or service in the first place. Reinforce the value proposition and how your offering aligns with their goals.
3. Set clear next steps
End the call with a clear roadmap. Outline what the prospect can expect after purchasing, such as onboarding, training, or follow-up support, ensuring a smooth transition from prospect to customer.
By making the closing call effective and reassuring, you help solidify trust and build a win-win situation that benefits both the sales rep and the new customer.
Conclusion
Each type of call serves a unique purpose, from sparking initial interest to building trust and ultimately sealing the deal.
You need to understand all the types of sales calls. You must understand what your prospects want to discuss in each type of sales call.
By recognizing when and how to use each call type, sales professionals can tailor their approach to meet client's needs more precisely, improving their chances of success.
Whether an inbound or outbound sales call, thorough research, pre-preparation, tactics, tools, etc., are required.
If all is done correctly, closing more deals and meeting sales quotas becomes easier.
Frequently asked questions
1. What is a sales call?
A sales call is a conversation initiated by a sales representative to connect with a prospect and guide them through the sales process toward a purchase decision.
2. What are the types of sales calls?
The types of sales calls include cold calls, warm calls, prospecting calls, sales appointment calls, follow-up calls, service calls, and closing calls.
3. What is the purpose of a sales appointment call?
The purpose of a sales appointment call is to schedule a meeting to discuss the product or service in detail and move the prospect closer to a purchase decision.
4. How do you improve your call sales?
To improve your call sales, try preparing a script, researching your prospects, asking open-ended questions, actively listening, and sending a follow-up email summarizing the call.
Key Takeaways
According to a study, 59% of customers stated that they expect a business to be available via voice communication or phone calls in sales.
Sales calls are key in building connections with potential clients and closing deals.
However, not all sales calls are the same—each type serves a specific purpose at different stages of the sales process.
Knowing the differences can help you approach your prospects more effectively and increase your chances of success.
In this guide, we’ll discuss what a sales call is, explore the different types of sales calls, and discuss how you can use them to reach your sales targets.
What is a sales call?
A sales call is a conversation between a sales rep and a prospect, aiming to build a connection, share information about their offerings, and guide the prospect through the sales pipeline.
The ultimate objective of any sales call is to convert the prospect into a paying customer or at least move them further across the sales pipeline.
Additionally, effective sales calls enable you to upsell or cross-sell your existing customers.
Various types of calls in sales are made during the entire sales cycle to accomplish different objectives.
So, let's review the 7 types of sales calls reps conduct during a sales process.
7 Types of sales calls
During the sales process, there are various occasions where conducting a sales call might come in handy, such as during prospecting, discovery, objection handling, and more.
Each type of sales call has a different purpose.
Let's look at different types of sales calls:
1. Cold calls
Cold calling means contacting potential customers without any prior contact or relationship. It's usually done to transform the prospect into a potential lead for the business.
For instance, credit card companies commonly use cold calls in sales to sell cards to random people.
So, there is always the possibility that the person being contacted may or may not be a potential customer for the business.
Purpose of cold calls
Cold calling usually aims to identify a prospect's interests and whether they align with your brand's offerings. Based on this, you can attract and engage with them. So, qualifying the prospect becomes much easier.
Tips to make successful sales calls
Cold calling is dead! That's what is usually said. But that could be more untrue in the B2B industry because nearly 57% or more C-level leaders prefer to get a call from a sales rep.
So, here are some result-driven tips for conducting effective cold calls:
1. Conduct a detailed pre-call research
Before making a cold call, do comprehensive pre-call research to know your ideal prospect profile and buyer persona.
If you know your customer persona, it will help you grab their attention and engage them. It also allows you to pitch customized offers, making them feel important during the cold call.
2. Prepare and practice your cold-calling script
A cold calling script is the best support, as it includes key points that a rep must discuss in a structured way when conducting a cold call.
The sales call script is more of a helpful checklist. It contains descriptive answers to all the FAQs and insights on how to face sales objections. You must learn to cope with rejection and objections during a cold call.
3. Watch out for the right time for a cold call
If you've made some calls and got a poor response or no response, then the timing could be the issue.
To overcome this, analyze your call recordings and discover the hours in a day when your potential prospects picked up and engaged more with you. Accordingly, schedule the calls for such specified times to enhance sales opportunities.
Support of a sales CRM might help boost your sales productivity with features like call recording & forwarding, automatic voicemail drops, call tracking, etc.
2. Warm calls
When a sales professional connects with a prospect who has already shown some interest in the brand's products or services via multiple mediums, such as the website, cold calling, or other channels, it can be identified as a warm call.
Here, the prospects have an existing relationship with the business. For instance, it could be a follow-up to a cold call, a past buyer or opportunity, someone in your network, etc.
For example, if a person signed up for the contact us web form on your landing page, you will make a warm sales call to inquire more about evaluating selling opportunities.
Another example is if a person met you at a seminar, showed interest in your brand, and asked you to give a call in the upcoming weekend. Now, you would make a warm call to confirm their interest in your brand.
Purpose of warm calls
The purpose of warm calls is to entice prospective customers with your products/services and influence them to make a purchase. If not converting them, convincing them to do a demo or in-person sales meeting can be one of the agendas for warm calls.
Tips to make the best warm calls
To help you win, here are the most effective tips when conducting warm calls.
1. Prepare a checklist with key topics to discuss
As warm calls are made to people who might have interacted with your business before, be prepared for success. If you have any information about your prospect's recent activity, leverage it to make the conversation personalized and relevant.
Talk about valuable topics relevant to your potential prospects, highlighting their benefits.
2. Make an impact with your opening lines
Grab your prospects' attention in a warm call with a catchy and meaningful opening line.
A personalized opening line with an informative context about how you can help them overcome their roadblocks can work for you.
To help with that, check out: How to start a sales conversation that captures the interest.
3. Try to discover problems with open-ended sales questions
Warm calls are opportunities to identify your prospect's intent regarding buying your products/services. To win, ask open questions. For example, how can I make this call worthwhile for you?
Open-ended sales questions will help you engage with them better and more chances to discover their stress points and requirements.
3. Prospecting sales calls
These are the initial sales calls to find possibilities to pitch in your product or service.
There is a thin line that differentiates cold and prospecting calls, which you can understand better with a quote by Michael Phelan.
"Prospecting means seeking out the right prospect to pitch to; it requires research and intelligence. Cold calls are a blunt sales tactic to call potential buyers randomly, hoping that many of them might be in a buy mode."
However, cold calls and prospecting aim to discover the prospects intent toward buying.
Purpose of prospecting calls
To build interest among the listening prospect about your product/services, convince them you can solve their problems.
Tips to make the best out of prospecting calls
While conducting prospecting sales calls, try to focus on understanding the prospects' needs and pain points to connect with them more personally. Here are a few detailed tips to make the best out of prospecting calls:
1. Connect to prospects on LinkedIn
With over 810 million Linkedin users, your B2B prospects will definitely be present there.
You'll be able to find and connect with the decision-makers before your prospecting call on LinkedIn.
Here is the smart way to find your prospect's profile on LinkedIn: Find information like:
2. Ask targeted questions and listen to the response
Don't just assume; discover the prospect's needs and stress points. The best way to engage during a sales call is to ask targeted questions.
Here are a few targeted questions you should find answers to understand prospect's intent better:
4. Sales appointment calls
A sales appointment call is made to finally discuss the prospect's stress points and how the brand can help solve them.
Poorly organized meetings have an adverse impact on customer relationships. So, remember this the next time you schedule a meeting and utilize efficient software to help you plan and manage those leads.
Before implementing appointment setting for sales calls, efforts were mainly on scheduling follow-ups and missing opportunities to discuss the product's features and benefits.
During sales appointment calls, the decision-maker and sales rep agree to have a purposeful discussion.
For example, a prospect is looking for a CRM for their financial advisor business. He was in conversation with a software company for a month. He then took a 15-day free trial of CRM software. After the free trial, the prospect received a sales appointment call for further discussions regarding the purchase or addressing any queries.
Purpose of sales appointment calls
A sales appointment call is made once your reps have established a relationship with their prospects. The purpose is to indicate the features and benefits of your products/services to them. This way, you will move one step ahead in closing the deal.
Tips to make the best out of sales appointment calls
Understand your prospect's needs and mold the conversation during sales appointment calls. Check out these quick tips.
1. Watch out for your tone and context
Although the prospects are interested and open to a sales appointment call, you cannot pressure them.
Always be courteous, and it is better to ask, "Is it the right time to talk?" even if it is for a scheduled call.
Be consultative during this call instead of being pitchy for sales. To convince them, include elements such as client stories, facts, and more. This way, you can get a chance to convince them to purchase from you.
2. Use social proof
About 88% of buyers trust online reviews equally to personal recommendations. So, it is best to leverage all the social proofs you have to build trust and persuade your prospects to buy.
Share case studies revealing the challenges faced by your customers and how you helped to overcome them. This is a great way to take your prospects into confidence. Plus, convince them that your offer is the right fit for them.
You can talk about your happy customers during the call and send them the link via text or email after the meeting.
3. Use technology for a faster process
For setting up many sales appointment calls each day, the sales automation CRM is the right tool to go with.
You can set up an automatic pre-recorded voicemail drop if the prospect doesn't respond. Plus, you can set reminders to schedule sales appointments. Saving you from losing opportunities.
Use a meeting scheduler to book a new sales appointment or to reschedule if the prospect missed the scheduled one.
Technology like a sales automation CRM helps you to conduct error-free tasks and supports you in meeting your sales quotas.
5. Follow-up calls
Follow-up calls are made to potential prospects to learn about their decision regarding the purchase. In addition, these are calls made to know if the prospect with whom you are engaged in a conversation has any purchasing plans soon.
Purpose of follow-up calls
Follow-up calls aim to identify the lead's position in the sales process. Remember, a follow-up call is meant to go beyond the decision stage. Sometimes, follow-up calls are required in the consideration stage, too.
Tips to make the best out of follow-up calls
Quick and on-point follow-up calls to propsects help to close more deals. Here are some tips to win doing follow-up calls.
1. Plan your follow-up calls
Conducting follow-up calls anonymously or randomly would harm your brand value and could irritate your prospect. So, create a reason to follow up during your sales phone calls.
For example, after giving a demo, you might indicate that we would love to take your valuable feedback to improve.
2. Avoid these follow-up opening blunders
Follow-ups need a good start; otherwise, all your efforts so far will be in vain. Most sales reps stumble and begin their follow-up calls like:
Never do this! These are poor opening statements. Instead, speak something that holds your prospects to listen.
3. Conduct follow-up calls on time
Conduct your follow-up on time; don't be a minute late.
Because your competitors are also after your prospect, ensure you don't give them a chance to win. An on-time follow-up call can bring the deal to your company.
And we know that following up with leads is a tiring process. So, why not use a CRM that can ease your communication process?
6. Service calls
A service call is conducted after the deal is closed. You can call it a follow-up call after purchase.
Purpose of service calls
It is made to ask whether they face any issues or how they feel about the product/service.
Tips to make the best out of service calls
Service calls play an important role as it helps to establish an image of a dedicated brand. Here are some tips for conducting service calls.
1. Conduct service calls on time
Take the service call. Your clients always want to feel valuable and important; a service call is a way to do so. Plus, it helps you to build a brand rapport.
2. Ask for referrals
Getting referrals is always good news for sales reps. It is more like a bonus to one single effort. If you serve the best to one customer, they might recommend you to their near and dear ones.
7. Closing calls
A closing call is the final interaction where the sales rep secures a commitment from the prospect to proceed with the purchase decision.
This traditional sales call is essential for successfully concluding the sales process and converting the prospect into a paying customer.
Purpose of closing calls
The primary purpose of a closing call is to address any final objections and confirm that the prospect is ready to move forward with the purchase. It's the crucial step that turns a potential lead into a customer.
Tips to make the best out of closing calls
Closing calls are vital for building confidence in the prospect and securing a win for the sales team. Here are some tips to ensure a successful closing call:
1. Handle objections carefully
Be prepared to answer any last-minute concerns. Listen to the prospect's needs and address any doubts they might have with reassurance, emphasizing how your product or service will solve their pain points.
2. Emphasize benefits and reinforce the value
Remind the prospect why they considered your product or service in the first place. Reinforce the value proposition and how your offering aligns with their goals.
3. Set clear next steps
End the call with a clear roadmap. Outline what the prospect can expect after purchasing, such as onboarding, training, or follow-up support, ensuring a smooth transition from prospect to customer.
By making the closing call effective and reassuring, you help solidify trust and build a win-win situation that benefits both the sales rep and the new customer.
Conclusion
Each type of call serves a unique purpose, from sparking initial interest to building trust and ultimately sealing the deal.
You need to understand all the types of sales calls. You must understand what your prospects want to discuss in each type of sales call.
By recognizing when and how to use each call type, sales professionals can tailor their approach to meet client's needs more precisely, improving their chances of success.
Whether an inbound or outbound sales call, thorough research, pre-preparation, tactics, tools, etc., are required.
If all is done correctly, closing more deals and meeting sales quotas becomes easier.
Frequently asked questions
1. What is a sales call?
A sales call is a conversation initiated by a sales representative to connect with a prospect and guide them through the sales process toward a purchase decision.
2. What are the types of sales calls?
The types of sales calls include cold calls, warm calls, prospecting calls, sales appointment calls, follow-up calls, service calls, and closing calls.
3. What is the purpose of a sales appointment call?
The purpose of a sales appointment call is to schedule a meeting to discuss the product or service in detail and move the prospect closer to a purchase decision.
4. How do you improve your call sales?
To improve your call sales, try preparing a script, researching your prospects, asking open-ended questions, actively listening, and sending a follow-up email summarizing the call.
Krish Doshi
Krish Doshi is an SEO Specialist and content enthusiast at Salesmate, focused on optimizing content and driving digital growth. When he’s not working, he enjoys exploring new technologies and trends in digital marketing.