You've got your list of names and numbers ‒ carefully curated, of course. Now it's time to pick up the phone and explain to someone you've never met why they should purchase something from you.

Is cold calling still an effective sales tool in the current marketplace? After all, delivering an effective pitch to someone who's not familiar with what you have to offer is a daunting task.

The good news is that cold calling is still a proven way to turn prospects into customers. In fact, the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research found that 62 percent of buyers want a seller to reach out to them during the decision-making process.

Discover how this approach can still help heat up your sales.

We know. These three terms basically mean the same thing.

But we want to underscore an important point: Your cold-calling success depends on how well you curate your list of prospects.

Your time is limited, and you don't want to waste it pursuing markets that simply don't fit your product. Instead, start by identifying your best customers. What characteristics do they possess? Populate your prospect list with potential customers who share these attributes.

The attributes may be broad ‒ such as, say, identifying a few verticals to target ‒ or more granular, depending on the types of common characteristics you determine. If you can throw a local geographic component into the mix, all the better; many potential customers prefer to do business with local companies.

Of course, your goal might be to create new customers and make sales. But your cold call shouldn't start there.

Instead, shift your mindset, and put yourself in their shoes. If you were the one receiving a cold call, would you want to be fed a hard sales pitch? Or would you prefer receiving information that would help you solve a problem or make a decision?

When you know your audience (that is, when you've done the research ahead of time), you'll know what your prospects need.

As a first step, provide solutions and offer information that helps prospects solve a problem or fill a need. Now, you've made a connection and moved toward building a relationship that may lead to making an appointment or even closing a sale.

You may already know that, statistically speaking, research says the best time to cold call is Tuesday at 10 a.m. (Monday at 10 a.m. is the next best time to call).

However, certain so-called "trigger events" can also increase your likelihood of success. Such events open the door so you can step in and show what you have to offer. Keep your ears and eyes open for things like certain life events, contacts moving into a new role, or even a new product/service roll-out.

You can even use today's technology to increase your success. For example, you may want to test the waters by sending an introductory email or text. Making a cold call immediately after a prospect opens a message gives you a foot in the door.

Cold calling offers a tried-and-true way to build your company's marketing and sales potential. With a sharp focus, value-providing mindset, and opportunistic eye for occurrences that present an opening, you may find that cold calling results in hot prospects.