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Cold Calling for Business Owners

Written by: Dave Ferguson

Article Overview: Simple networking practices for business owners and managers.

Cold Calling for Business Owners

Connect with Prospects Using Some Simple Networking Practices

The world we live in has become increasingly wired and because of that people and companies are better connected technologically. While these advancements have added a tremendous amount of efficiency to our lives and businesses, they have also played a role in disconnecting many of us from each other, and therefore from opportunity. From a business standpoint, many owners, managers, and executives have been weaned in the high-tech age and lack the critical knowledge and skills to network. If you are not attending activities where you can network and market, the chances are very high that your business is not going to grow. We work with our clients on the art of networking and beyond. We like to call it, "cold-calling for business owners." Today we give you a sneak peak at our unique module on this topic.

When you hear the term "networking", most business people automatically assume it's an event sponsored by the local Chamber. While this is usually the case, we coach our clients to "always be networking", just as we coach them to "always be marketing. Whether you are at a function with 1000 business people in attendance or playing golf as one in a foursome, most of what we teach applies. In many cases, we actually go with our clients to larger networking events and coach them behind the scenes, so that they can learn "on-the-job" rather than in a workshop or one-on-one situation.

Today, we share with you, free of charge, some of what we teach in our COLD CALLING FOR OWNERS Module. These are absolute networking MUSTS for anyone serious about meeting the right people:

1. Plan your networking experiences. Go where there is potential to interact with new customers and/or strategic alliances. There are many events to choose from, do your homework before you schedule yourself for the event.
2. Dress appropriately. We like to call this, "dressing for success". Wear something that makes you look and feel positive. Limit the amount of skin you show.
3. Don't be the first person to the event, but don't be the last one to arrive either.
4. Make sure you have a large supply of business cards on hand.
5. Use a name tag and wear it on the right side.
6. Move through the venue and shake hands with as many people as possible. Smile!
7. Introduce yourself with your name and business name.
8. Ask for their business card, and it should cause them to ask for yours.
9. Ask them what they do and show genuine interest in their business.
10. Be prepared to answer the question, "so what do you do?" (We work with all of our clients on this).
11. Use "we" or "our"; not "I", "me", or "mine".
12. Concentrate on talking to one person at a time but don't get caught up talking to any one person too long. Your goal is to meet as many potential prospects as possible.
13. Make notes on the back of business cards you collect, so that you remember your conversations.
14. Don't eat finger food and limit the alcohol intake. We actually recommend you don't drink alcohol at networking events. Would you trust your million dollar portfolio to a financial advisor that was smashed at the last networking event you attended?
15. Once the party is over, your follow-up is critical. We have a great system for this that we share with all our clients.

Deliberate, organized networking can be one of the strongest lead generators for your business. Our clients are coached to ensure they aren't put in an uncomfortable situation that could damage their reputation. We share these Cold Calling MUSTS for Business Owners with you so that you can make the most of your networking opportunities. Go out and prosper!

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Article Tags: attendance, business owners, business standpoint, critical knowledge, efficiency, experiences, foursome, job, local chamber, marketing, nbsp, networking events, ol type, playing golf, prospects, sneak peak, span style, style text, term networking, text decoration



Related Forum Posts
Re: How to develop sales contacts? - Everyone has the right idea here. Depending on your business, there are different techniques that you could use. For consultants and sales heavy businesses, there are three tactics that I have found especially useful in my business: 1. Attend Networking Events 2. Cold Calling 3. Referral Program 4. Affiliate Program (most successful) The affiliate program was successful for me, as I hooked up with a franchise consultant, and he gave multiple unit businesses that needed my credit card processing services. I highly suggest you hook up with a sales partner, and give him a cut of the monthly revenue.
Re: Direct Mail Postcards - Post cards would be really expensive to send from Japan...but one way to advertise that is not expensive from overseas is by Cold Calling using cheap VoIP equipment. I know Japan has a really good internet connection, so as long as you are willing to stay up late, it might be an option. I cold call from Thailand far, far away from any city using a CDMA wireless internet connection and have had pretty good results. I find tho, that cold calling works best for business 2 business (b2b), rather than b2c products. --matt
Re: Cold Calling - As long as people are out of jobs, you'll probably have a lot of people who say they want to work for straight commission, but if they don't get paid fairly quickly, they usually move on. We've run into that and went through about 500 people (whose resumes looked really good) until we found about 3 good resellers. People just don't want to work for anything. Or they do a good job getting the business but don't do the follow up necessary to make the sale......so they move on thinking they need money NOW. Our business requires all cold calling as well. It's really tough for people to perfect that but there are a lot of good books out there. On is Cold Calling Techniques, by Stephan Schiffman
A ton of Great Women - You might want to profile Teresa Cascioli of LakePort Brewery. She has an amazing story! I met her at at the celebratory luncheon for the Profit/Chatelaine Top 100 Women Business Owners. The Top 100 list is also a great resource for inspirational stories of Women Entrepreneurs.
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.


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