Cold Calling Alone Isn’t Enough
Cold calling isn’t dead, though it’s clearly lost its edge.
When buyers can learn everything they need before contacting a sales representative and are inundated with sales pitches, depending just on cold calls is no longer a viable outbound tactic. The foundation of sales outreach used to be one piece of a far more complicated picture.
Top-performing sales teams are moving from single-channel outreach to multichannel outbound strategies, a more flexible, tailored strategy that fits prospects where they are. Your outreach should not be limited to a single channel; the modern sales path is not linear.
This article will go over why cold calling by itself is insufficient, what a multichannel approach looks like, and how you might create one that noticeably increases response rates and drives pipeline.
The Limitations of Cold Calling by Itself
Outbound sales teams have long relied mostly on cold calling. However, in 2025, cold calling will no longer be as effective as it once was.
Cold calls can be perceived as intrusive, disrupting prospects during their working day with minimal or no context. Most calls remain unreported due to the prominence of caller ID, spam filters, and asynchronous communication choices. Even when they do, salespeople often encounter mistrust or a cursory dismissiveness.
As customers grow more discriminating and skeptical of unsolicited pitches, response rates for cold calling have progressively dropped. Industry experts have identified best practices for cold calling to address these modern challenges.
These days, a basic pitch over the phone is insufficient, especially in cases with no prior interaction or value created beforehand. That’s not to argue cold calling is useless; it’s just less successful taken by itself.
Salespeople need to adjust their approach regarding how and when they use the phone to be effective. Success with cold outreach today depends on timing, relevance, and personalization; all of which are improved when cold calls are part of a larger, multichannel strategy.
Cold calling is by itself a risk. It becomes a useful touchpoint that supports your message and increases brand recognition when done in line with a planned sequence.
What Is a Multichannel Outbound Strategy?
Like cold calling, a multichannel outbound approach is precisely what it sounds like: reaching prospects across several channels instead of depending solely on one. To include leads in a more dynamic, customized manner, this method combines a range of touchpoints, including email, LinkedIn, phone calls, video messages, SMS, and even retargeting ads.
Simply said, meet your prospects where they are.
People have diverse preferences for communication styles. One prospect might reply to emails, whereas another might only interact on LinkedIn. By varying your outreach strategies and adjusting to the habits of your audience, a multichannel approach raises your chances of establishing a meaningful relationship.
More significantly, it lets you get used to it over time. Your cold call no longer seems so “cold” when a prospect has seen your name in their email, on LinkedIn, and maybe even through a personalized voicemail or retargeting ad. Rather, it becomes a logical follow-up in a continuing dialogue.
Strategic sequencing is not only essential in competitive sales, but also essential if you want to consistently stand out from the crowd.
Benefits of Going Multichannel
A multichannel outbound approach produces quantifiable outcomes and not only looks contemporary. You raise engagement rates and build a more coherent customer experience by spreading your approach over several touchpoints. Using multichannel can help your sales outreach look more like this:
1. Higher Response Rates
Depending just on one outreach strategy runs a risk. If your email happens to land in spam, what would be the next step? If your call goes directly to voicemail, what would be the next step? Using several channels, for example email, LinkedIn, phone, even SMS, you raise your odds of contacting prospects on the platform they actually check. Approaching someone using their favorite media increases both open and response rates.
2. Enhanced Personalization at Scale
Many mediums provide chances for customization. While a LinkedIn message might highlight similar connections or mutual interests, a cold email can include a customized pain issue. By carefully layering this information, multichannel outreach allows you to create a more tailored experience without constantly reinventing the wheel.
3. Better Lead Nurturing
Sales isn’t usually about instant gratification. Often, particularly in business-to-business transactions, it’s crucial to take a long-term approach. Using multichannel techniques lets you progressively warm cold leads. A prospect might overlook your first email, but they are significantly more likely to interact once they view your LinkedIn profile and get a well-timed call. Many touchpoints taken together over time help to create trust.
4. Data-Driven Optimization
You create more engagement data when you distribute outreach over several platforms. You can monitor which sequences perform best, which subject lines convert, which time of day generates the most clicks, and which combo of touches produces the highest reply rate. This information helps you to hone your messaging and focus especially on what works.
Illustration
Visualize this outgoing series:
- Day 1: Personalized email
- Day 3: LinkedIn connection request
- Day 5: LinkedIn message with a quick insight
- Day 7: Cold call referencing email + LinkedIn
- Day 10: Retargeting ad on LinkedIn Ads
Even if the prospect doesn’t respond immediately, this layered approach fosters familiarity, boosts conversions, and sustains brand awareness.
When to Use Cold Calling in a Multichannel Strategy
Cold calling still has value in contemporary outbound; it just requires more deliberate application.
Cold calls are most successful currently when they follow a prospect who has previously seen your name, not as the first touchpoint. Perhaps they opened your email, approved your LinkedIn application, or clicked on retargeting ads. These micro-interactions build context and recognition; hence, when your number shows up on their phone, you are not merely another unidentified caller.
Consider cold calling as a kind of conversational accelerator. This method, which no email or advertisement can completely imitate, allows you to immediately interact with a prospect and obtain real-time insightful information. However, the impact of this opportunity is greatest when you have already established the foundation.
The phone-first outreach of today has to be timely, pertinent, and supported with background. Cold calls should support a story already under development rather than disrupt anything.
Cold calling has the greatest success in a multichannel approach when:
- A prospect has responded to past outreach (clicked, answered, or approved a request), and you have value or insights ahead of the conversation.
- You follow up on a particular, customized offer or discussion thread.
- When done this way, cold calling does not feel like a disturbance. It seems like a logical progression from the relationship you are already developing.
The Future of Cold Calling. What’s Next?
Cold calling is not dead; rather, the days of depending just on it are gone. Personalization, timeliness, and channel variety are now absolutely necessary in the buyer-driven environment of today. They are not options.
By meeting prospects where they are, a multichannel outbound approach helps your sales staff to connect more successfully. Every touchpoint, e.g. a cold email, a LinkedIn message, a strategic phone call, or a follow-up advertisement, helps to establish trust, provide value, and forward dialogue.
Coordination is the key. Cold calling changes from a frigid interruption into a warm, welcome contact when your outreach is timed deliberately and personalized across platforms.
Modern sales is about combining channels for the best impact, not about selecting between them.
Are you prepared to ensure the future-proofness of your outgoing playbook? Build your multichannel engine right now.
Author Bio:
Rizky Darmawan is a digital marketer and research nerd who loves helping brands grow with innovative strategies and creative touch. When he’s not diving into brainstorming ideas, you’ll probably find him gardening in his small yard. Connect with him on https://www.linkedin.com/in/rizkyerde/