Cold Calling
Susan has just posted on her experiences on cold calling and it prompted me to tell you something that I’ve been meaning to for a few days now.
Firstly, I don’t think cold calling is the most succesful way to market your business, it works but the return on effort (ROE) isn’t very high. If you can think of another way, do it. Why is calling a stranger expecting them to be interested in your product the way to introduce your business? Your business, which prides itself on offering a tailored, efficient, and PERSONAL service, won’t be done justice in this way. If it works for you then well done but I would guess that out of 10 people, a small fraction of those would be receptive to your call.
Anyway, here’s my experience. I won’t keep you long but hopefully you’ll get why I found it amusing.
Avast (or at least that’s what they told me) gave me a call a few days ago. They were touting their business services and the guy on the phone rambles for a long while without asking me who I was, what I do, and whether I had a few minutes to spare him.
When I got the chance to answer a question, I asked him where he got my details from. Quite openly he told me he had been browsing the web and came across our site.
“So, this is an unsolicited call?”
“Um, well I found your details on your website.”
“So, this is an unsolicited call?”
“Er, yes”
“So you are an Anti-virus company making an unsolicited call.”
“Do I need to say anything else?”
“Um” (uncomfortable shuffle from his side)
“Goodbye!”
If you let your guys make cold calling then ensure they do it properly and don’t feed them to the lions.
That’s that damn British politeness getting the best of you again.
Someone does that to me…I just hang up.
As an IT service provider, we’ve been looking at options for a “marketing campaign”, for which a component of the plan is a “cold calling” effort (targeted, and phone-based, but still cold-calling). For an IT service provider, what would you consider to be a good model? For instance, local chamber-events are only going to generate so many leads. Word-of-mouth - while excellent - isn’t reproducible in the sense that you have a model, with someone you can allocate to working – for instance, I can’t hand-off “word-of-mouth” sales to new-hire-Bob, even if he has sales-experience.
Dear Anonymous (not even a first name?),
Our other office adopts the cold calling method which whilst being labour intensive does work for them. If you choose this route make sure your employed caller is motivated and kept happy. I’ve chatted to enough cold callers to realise that it isn’t fun being turned down repeatedly.
The way that I work is by networking with local organisations and partnering within our community. A lot of my work started out as paying it forward. If you can earn credibility in this way then you will find that recommendations will flow in for you. For the last two years, all of our business has been gained by word-of-mouth. It makes for affordable and yet effective marketing.
I’d be happy to give you some ideas if you want to contact me directly?
Susanne
What and keep me from lurking forever?
Anyway, I must be overlooking your email address - otherwise, I’d just shoot an email instead of a comment. We’re involved in our local community, but are interested in a more directed sales-effort, something that we can build a model against for more aggressive growth. I’b be very interested in getting some feedback - Thanks!
Comments on the blog are great not only for me but also for fellow readers. Keep the comments coming!