Emailing and Calling Your Leads Doesn’t Work Anymore, Try This Instead

We’ve stopped calling our leads and made more money. Here’s what we do instead

I’m sure you’ve told yourself and received advice from many different people telling you to:

“Call all your leads! Follow-up relentlessly! Dial, dial dial! Just email them over and over!”

And that still didn’t work for you. Presumably, you got a 10–15% connect rate on your calls, even on leads who’ve opted in through your ads. So, if 100 people came through your funnel, you may talk to only 10–15 of them. And I don’t mean, you book them into the calendar, I mean you’re just talking to them.

Additionally, only 20% of people are opening your emails and less than .5% will even click or book a time.

Now, that’s not efficient, nor is it serving you or your team. Back in the early to mid-2000s, this was not the case. Picking up the phone and dialing used to be the best way to reach your dream customers.

But not anymore.

The change in the marketing and sales landscape has led to:

Reduced Trust: People are more skeptical of unsolicited calls, often viewing them as intrusive and annoying.
Ease of Blocking: With advancements in technology, it’s easier than ever for people to block unknown numbers or send them straight to voicemail. In fact, as of 2020, 94% of calls from unknown numbers go to voicemail​ (UpLead)​.
Reduced Attention: People today have less patience for phone conversations, especially with strangers. Research shows that prospects’ interest in a cold call wanes after just nine minutes​ (FounderJar)​.
Knowing this, there must be a better way. We’re generating 2000+ leads monthly for us and our accounts and we rarely call these leads or email them ourselves. Yet, we’re booking in over 15% of these leads. The same amount that calling them would get you to just connect with!

This isn’t a pipe dream, this could be reality. Today, I want to make you a better operator, and business owner, sleep more soundly at night, and give your sales team busier, more rewarding days.

In fact, we’ve filmed a detailed training that goes over exactly how we’re booking 100+ qualified calls for just one of our partners. Check it out here.

But if you want to do a quick roundup, let’s not waste any time.

 
The Problems with Traditional Methods

Traditional lead nurturing methods, like cold calling and email campaigns, often fall short and they are becoming increasingly less effective. Cold calling, as mentioned, suffers from low engagement rates and high rejection rates.

Studies show that it takes an average of 18 calls to actually connect with a buyer, and only 1–2% of cold calls ultimately result in a meeting​ (UpLead)​​. This method not only consumes a significant amount of time and resources but also leads to frustration among sales teams who are often met with repeated rejection.

On the other hand, email campaigns, while less intrusive, face their own set of challenges. With average open rates hovering around 20%, most of your messages never get seen by potential leads​ (SalesRoads)​. Even if an email is opened, the average click-through rate is even lower, often less than a percent. This means that a vast majority of your carefully crafted emails go unread, failing to engage your audience effectively.

Even if you were to build a cold email system, there’s an incredible sunk cost associated. Not only do you have to set up all the domains and emails to land in the inbox, (easier said than done) you must also figure out what blanket message will convert your audience. I’ve done this before and sent over 1 million cold emails using email systems. And they mostly fell flat. This is from someone who writes copy and builds marketing systems for a living. That’s why we don’t offer it as a service anymore.

It just isn’t effective.

Additionally, the delayed nature of email communication can lead to prolonged response times and missed opportunities. Unlike phone calls or texts, emails can sit in an inbox for hours or even days before being read. This lag can be detrimental in a world where prospects expect quick, personalized interactions. Research indicates that 78% of consumers buy from the first responder, emphasizing the need for speed in lead engagement​ (www.smallbizgenius.net)​.

Prospects today expect immediate, relevant interactions tailored to their needs and preferences. Traditional methods struggle to provide this level of personalization and timeliness. Cold calling often feels impersonal and intrusive, while emails lack the immediacy required to keep leads engaged. This gap between expectation and delivery can result in lost leads and diminished sales effectiveness.

Moreover, the modern consumer is inundated with information and marketing messages from multiple channels. Cutting through this noise requires a more sophisticated approach than traditional methods offer. Personalized, timely interactions are key to capturing and maintaining a lead’s attention in a crowded marketplace. Traditional methods, with their inherent delays and impersonal nature, often fail to make the necessary impact.

While traditional methods like cold calling and email campaigns have their place, they are increasingly ineffective in today’s marketplace. The high rejection rates of cold calling and the low engagement rates of email campaigns highlight the need for a more dynamic, immediate, and personalized approach to lead nurturing. This is where an automated funnel coupled with SMS bots comes into play, offering a solution that aligns with modern consumer expectations, behaviors, and your company’s resource utilization.

Introducing Our New Strategy

To combat the inefficiencies of cold calling, we’ve pivoted to using SMS bots to nurture leads. Here’s why it’s a game-changer:

Higher Engagement Rates: Text messages boast an impressive open rate of around 98%, compared to just 20% for emails and even lower for cold calls (Layerise).
Instant Communication: Texting is immediate and often preferred by prospects who can respond at their convenience. Regardless of the age demographic.
Automation: With an SMS bot, you can automate the initial outreach, follow-ups, and even appointment scheduling. This not only saves time but also ensures no lead falls through the cracks.

How It Works

Initial Outreach: As soon as a lead opts in, the SMS bot sends a personalized welcome message, starting the conversation in a non-intrusive way. This typically is a very open-ended question as it relates to their current situation.
Nurturing: The bot continues to engage the lead with relevant content and responses based on their interactions. This keeps the lead warm and builds trust over time.
Booking Appointments: Once the lead shows interest, the bot can automatically schedule a call or meeting, seamlessly integrating with your calendar.
By leveraging this strategy, we’re able to engage more leads, book more appointments, and ultimately close more deals — all without the inefficiencies and frustrations of cold calling. If you’re ready to make your lead generation process work, it’s time to make the switch to SMS bots.

If you can’t leverage AI in your SMS campaigns, consider developing SOPs for your sales team to work texting into their workflow.

I can guarantee you it will boost the booking rate and you will get more opportunities on your calendar and your teams’ calendar.

 
TL;DR

Cold Calling Issues

1. Low engagement rates and high rejection rates.
2. Takes an average of 18 calls to connect with a buyer.
3. Only 1–2% of cold calls result in a meeting​ (UpLead)​​ (www.smallbizgenius.net)​.
4. Time-consuming and leads to frustration among sales teams.

Email Campaign Challenges

1. Average open rates hover around 20%, with even lower click-through rates​ (SalesRoads)​.
2. Delayed response times can lead to missed opportunities.
3. Lack of immediacy and personalization fails to engage leads effectively.

Modern Consumer Expectations

1. Prospects expect quick, personalized interactions.
2. Traditional methods struggle to meet these expectations, resulting in lost leads and diminished sales effectiveness.

Market Noise

1. Consumers are inundated with information and marketing messages.
2. Requires a sophisticated approach to capture and maintain attention.

Ineffectiveness of Traditional Methods

1. High rejection rates of cold calling and low engagement rates of email campaigns highlight the need for a more dynamic approach.

Introducing SMS Bots

1. Higher Engagement Rates: Text messages have a 98% open rate​ (Layerise).
2. Instant Communication: Preferred by prospects for convenience.
3. Automation: Streamlines outreach, follow-ups, and appointment scheduling.

How SMS Bots Work

1. Initial Outreach: Sends a personalized welcome message upon opt-in.
2. Nurturing: Engages leads with relevant content and responses.
3. Booking Appointments: Automatically schedules calls or meetings.

Results

1. More engaged leads, more booked appointments, and ultimately more closed deals.
2. Eliminates inefficiencies and frustrations of cold calling.

Proof

Ever since we’ve implemented this, we’ve been crushing across all of our accounts, to say the least. And I can confidently say this because, in the last month alone, we’ve sent nearly 8,000 text messages. On top of that, here’s the raw numbers:

• 21% booking rate
• 75% reduction in CAC
• 212% increase in lead response rate
• 32% increase in show rate
• The partner with the best return only spent ~4k in ads to get 116                qualified calls and add 100k in new revenue

To see exactly how this works and how we’re booking 100+ qualified calls and adding 100k in new revenue with just one of our accounts,