3 main B2B sales channels: cold calling (cold calling to find customers), social selling (selling via LinkedIn/Zalo — build trust first), and referral (introduction from old customers). There is no "best" channel — the most effective is a combination: referrals have the highest conversion rate but few; cold calls a lot but low; Social selling is in the middle. Zenify records that the cost of acquiring new customers is 5-25 times higher than retaining old customers (approved).
TL;DR
- Cold call: many leads, low rate — suitable for finding new customers.
- Social selling: build trust first — long-term B2B cooperation.
- Referral: highest conversion — from satisfied former customers.
- There is no "best" channel — coordination is strong.
- Measure each channel to properly allocate effort.
Compare 3 channels
Channel | Quantity | Convert | Cost | Suitable
Cold call | Many | Low | Time | New customers, quantity
Social selling | Medium | Average | Construction time | Long-term B2B
Referral | Little | Highest | Very low | Regular customers, quality
1. Cold call — find new customers
Call the list of potential customers who have never been contacted (see Call out script).
Advantages: proactive, large quantity.
Disadvantages: low rate, easy to be rejected.
Good practice: clean list, first 30 second script, target the right decision maker.
2. Social selling — build trust first
Connect on LinkedIn/Zalo, share valuable content, interact before selling.
Advantage: Suitable for long cycle B2B - familiar customers come before selling (see Sales cycle B2B).
Disadvantages: Needs time and patience, not "fast food".
Good practice: post useful content, valuable comments, personalized opening messages — not "hello seller X".
3. Referral — referral from old customers
Satisfied customers recommend acquaintances/partners.
Advantage: Highest conversion, lowest cost — already trusted by referred customers.
Disadvantage: Limited quantity — must proactively ask for referrals.
Good practice: Take good care of old customers, ask for introductions at the right time (when customers compliment), have a referral appreciation program (see Caring for VIP customers).
How to coordinate
Referral as background: Prioritize taking care of old customers → ask for introductions → best source of customers.
Social selling for the medium term: build trust with potential new customers.
Cold call for quantity: Expand the funnel when more leads are needed.
Attribution principles: Whichever channel has the highest conversion rate × deal value requires a lot of effort — measured by data, not by "feeling".
Measure the effectiveness of each channel
Assign source to each lead (see Lead management).
Compare: number of leads, conversion rate, average deal value by channel.
Adjust effort according to results — not evenly across all channels.