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Cold Calling is Dead. No it isn't. Cold is dead. Calling is not.
| Guest post by: Jeff Ogden |
Article Overview: Cold calling has been a traditional way to find new sales leads. But it has changed dramatically in recent years as the Internet enabled self education. In this article, the President of Find New Customers explores the new world of cold calling.
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Free Download - Marketing Made Simple TV is looking for a few good sponsors By Jeff Ogden |
Cold Calling is Dead. No it isn't. Cold is dead. Calling is not.
Everywhere you turn it seems that people are saying cold calling is dead. Case in point, this website says you can sell a lot without making a single cold call. But it is really true that you can no longer pick up the phone and use it for selling?We disagree. The phone still plays an important role is creating and cultivating sales opportunities. It's plays a key role in your B2B lead generation strategies. But the word to strike from the vocabulary is "Cold."
The crux of the matter is that the "naked cold call" is dead. That's the proverbial "Smile and Dial." It's the case where the seller knows nothing about the prospective buyer. No more "Hi, this is Bob from Pointless Technology. We're the leading vendor of really cool stuff. Could I speak to the owner?" That simply no longer works.
The harsh reality is that the price of admission went up. Way up. People who pick up the phone in answer to your call expect you to know something about them. They expect you to know what is happening in their business. They expect you to know what issues they face.
A good phone call goes more like this. "Hi, this is Bob from Pointless. In reviewing your website I noticed that you are expanding to China. How do you deal with the cultural and language issues with that expansion?" As you might guess, that is much more likely to get a positive answer. You need to take your time and prepare for calls like never before. It's the only way to make the phone successful.
So how do you get those insights - in order to prepare for your calls? You can research them on their websites, Linkedin, Facebook, Blogs, etc. You can view their Linkedin profile, comment on their blog or follow them on Twitter. Or tools like iSell by our client, OneSource, can do that heavy lifting for you.
The bottom line is this: The phone still works. But take the cold out of cold calling. Warm calling works a lot better.
Jeff Ogden, President
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About the Author: Jeff Ogden RSS for Jeff's articles - Visit Jeff's website With 8 out of 10 companies saying the lack of quality sales leads is their biggest problem, they need help. SiriusDecisions also found that fewer than 1 out of 10 companies that implement lead management software went beyond the basics. They need help. We help companies implement world class lead generation programs. Companies need quality sales leads, so they need sales lead generation programs including social media marketing. They need to implement lead nurturing programs. We are considered one of the best leads generation companies in business today. Click here to visit Jeff's website   Definitive Guide Making Quota 7 Keys to B2B Marketing Succes 7 Keys to Lead Nurturing How to Find New Customers |
Related Forum Posts
Re: What to avoid when cold calling?
- At the time of Cold Calling we should avoid price increases for products and unavailability.
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
Re: Cold Calling
- Cold calling is an extremely difficult job to do and unless one learns that being told no by people is not a direct refusal aimed at the cold caller but at whatever is being sold, it can be very soul destroying work to do. One needs to have absolute confidence in themselves and a pretty thick skin.
MichelleJ
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