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Is cold calling right for my business?

Guest post by: Helen Dowling

Article Overview: Cold calling or telemarketing is seen, by a lot of business owners as a good way to market and promote their business. It’s one of those marketing methods that many people try some with great success and others with no results at all. When success occurs though, all business owners want to give it a go, thinking that success can occur for their business too.

Is cold calling right for my business?

Cold calling or telemarketing is seen, by a lot of business owners as a good way to market and promote their business. It’s one of those marketing methods that many people try some with great success and others with no results at all. When success occurs though, all business owners want to give it a go, thinking that success can occur for their business too.

But, cold calling isn’t for every business. Let’s have a look at why it works for some businesses and not for others.

We do a lot of cold calling for clients in my business and there are some businesses that it works better for. These are businesses where the industry is very specialised i.e. it’s worked very well for an asbestos company and a company providing medication training to care homes. It also works well for industries where the person we’re talking to knows immediately what we’re talking about and can make a “yes, this is for me” or “no, it’s not for me” decision.

When you do some cold calling, you’ve got to appreciate that you’re calling the company ‘cold’ – that is, they’ve never heard of you and they have no previous relationship with your company. Their job is to get you off the phone as quickly as possible. So, bearing that in mind, it’s no surprise that the businesses this technique works well for fit in the above categories is it?

But what if your business doesn’t fit into the above categories? Does that mean cold calling won’t work for you?

No…cold calling could work as a method for you, but I would recommend that you also use other marketing methods at the same time to increase the chances of it working.

But cold calling might not be suitable for your business for other reasons too. For instance:

1. Out of 100 names, only 1 or 2 people are likely to be interested in what you do (that’s the average).
2. You might hate picking up the phone and talking to potential people
3. If you hate it, you could consider hiring someone to do it for you, but this of course is additional expense.
4. And even if you do hire someone else, given the average, you might consider it a waste of time, energy and money.

So, is cold calling right for your business? Well, of course only you can make the decision. If you’re going to give it a go, my advice is to be realistic – don’t expect miracles; use it in conjunction with other marketing methods (more about this in other articles) and if you personally hate doing it, consider using a professional.

Remember, cold calling is just one method of marketing – there are over 100 other marketing ideas you could use and some may be better suited to your business than others.

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Article Tags: asbestos, business owners, cold calling, job, marketing methods, medication, relationship, surprise, telemarketing



Related Forum Posts
Re: Who hates cold calling? - I think it really depends on what you are selling. For example, we sell chiropractic software that they can enter and store their notes on. Since the law is requiring them to go electronic by 2014, we have a pretty good chance of calling someone who needs it. I agree that for other products and services cold calling would probably be a waste of time. I think the key to cold calling is knowing how to get past the gate keeper. If you just keep calling people and have no clue how to get to the decision maker, cold calling is a BIG waste of time. There are some really good books out there that will teach a person how to do that if he/she decides cold calling would be helpful to their business.
I hate Cold Calling! - In my past I was really scared to cold calling until I realized that cold calling in my line of work was the only way for me to generate accounts. I assiociated large amounts of pain in my life with not cold calling such as loss of house, car, wife.... The fear of losing all of that helped me over come the fear. Good luck with your problem It might help to think its all in your head and the only thing in the world that you have control over is your own mental thinking.
Re: Who hates cold calling? - Why anyone would use cold calling is beyond me. It's simply an ineffective tactic and a waste of time when you measure conversion rate. If you really understanding your customer segments and how your products and services provide value, there are many more effective strategies than cold calling.
Re: Who hates cold calling? - I can see a role for calling your warm market, people who have opted in to your list or requested more info from your website. But is does cold calling really offer the best return on your investment of time? Sure you can "maintain" a positive mental attitude and eventually find someone to buy your stuff, but it takes an awful lot of "maintaining". I would prefer to spend my time improving my web copy skills so as to achieve a higher conversion rate online and use the telephone to contact those who have requested further info. One guy who has a lot to say on this subject is Daegan Smith ("The King of never calling a single lead"). I am not one of his affiliates, but I do enjoy his email newsletter. You can learn a lot from what he has to say - and from the way that he says it. So if you want to get OUT of cold calling, check out via a Google search what he has to say!
What to avoid when cold calling? - Cold calling is the nemesis of all sales people. What words to avoid, what not to do when cold calling? I will start first: avoid the word "maybe". When you're cold calling, your best chance of success is to be self assured, confident, and 100% well versed in what you are selling. If you're using the word 'maybe' in your sales scripts, you run the risk of sounding wishy washy. It either is or isn't. Pick one. Another word: "hope" When you tell your client you're 'hoping' for something, you're not sure, are you? If you're not sure, then why should they be? Never let a prospect hear that you're not 100% behind your product, your company or your service, or it's entirely likely you will lose the sale. So, what other words should we avoid?


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