Our client OneSource did not want to run this, but I have no such restriction on my own blog. Regarding my good friend Trish Bertuzzi of the Bridge Group, her post was the germination of the idea, but it is a totally custom article.
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?
The book Unmarketing by Scott Stratten had an interesting diagram that shows Cold Calling at the bottom of the barrel. (Please be aware that I own this book.)
We disagree. The phone still plays an important role is creating and cultivating sales opportunities. 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.
