Is Cold Calling your Leads Still Works?

The best strategy is to warm them up using proactive marketing before you make the "cold" call. Send them an email or a snail mail so that you don't suprise them when you call.

nice advice.....

It may be beneficial to use more than one strategy in getting to to potential customers like direct mail and using present customers to get leads. Questionnaires can help where applicable but spread your nets wide

It does work.

The catch is you must have the right attitude, which is (being reductionist) "rejection is not personal" and "I enjoy cold calling"

I also think you should have many means to prove you're the right person to do or provide what you're selling, that means a nice integrated marketing strategy.

I've worked at a calling center before and was able to get leads quickly. In fact, I was the top sales person there but I'm someone who is shy and simply can't take rejection. Wow, I wonder how I even did that job - lol. Anyways, cold calling is a great way to handle business if you know how to do it correctly.

As for me - I prefer sending them my website and skip chatting.

It all depends on how you value your time. If you are bootstrapping your business, cold calling as well as local networking events should be looked at more seriously as the barrier to entry is minimal and the potential to monetize your efforts presents itself.

Getting More Out of Cold Calling

1) What is the goal of your pitch? Instead of focusing on "solutions" or "what you can do" to increase traffic, visibility, or conversions for the prospect, talk about what the business owner is most interested in, Return on Investment.

2) Watch some sales training videos. Inspiration is just a click away! Check out: SandlerWorldwide's Channel - YouTube to take your sales game to the next level.

3) Discuss the obvious. If you find that a local business is placing ads on Craigslist every day, discuss that on your call. Creating ads / Internet marketing practices may not be their forte or it may have become too time consuming for the prospect. Letting the prospect talk about their experiences and what is challenging for them will dictate the way you close the call.

4) Define the objective. Tell the prospect what you are looking for on the first call. Is it an appointment? A follow up call? Be clear as to how you plan on following up after the prospect has been qualified.

5) Guard the proposal, sell the proposal. Always schedule an appointment (phone, Skype, in person, etc.) to discuss the proposal. Let the prospect know that you are "going to work for them" and will get back to them with a solution. Don't expect the prospect to bite on a proposal sent by e-mail if you made an introduction through a cold call. They'll most likely not e-mail you back or forget the conversation you had. Show the value of your time in drafting the proposal. Proposals need to be sold, period.

Dialing for dollars is not easy! Remember, cold calling is a skill that will help you in all areas of your business and will get you comfortable with presenting your offerings to people that may not be familiar with Internet marketing. Good luck!

I agree with most of the people that cold calling is still a great way to get good leads. The beauty of it is that it can be combined with other marketing means, like SEO or snail mail, to get the results you need.

good share

Hmm, best advice for cold calling,

Dont send them beforehand Material, this calls spam! Never call Tuesdays, people are busy and not in the mood to talk. Have a short introduction, smile and laugh during the call... some of mine tips of making good cold calls!

Cold calling sucks big time... people don't like it when you call, they feel it is a invasion of privacy, and there right i always hang up right away when a cold caller calls me... I do get my clients with mail and video... there is no need to get abused for obtaining a view clients IMHO

If you're going to do a cold call, I think you need to have something very specific to offer, which is more like a tweak to someone's business than a big proposal to overhaul the whole damn thing. Then, if you can get your foot in the door and do a small job, you might be offered more work. In any event, you're looking at a lot of calls before you get so much as a lead. You're better off approaching people you know - your dentist, your accountant, etc. and trying to see if you could do something for them. Get a few jobs, a reputation... then people will cold call you!

As far my experience with generating leads and turning them into customers I would say just one thing that no matter which way/method you are applying, what matters is how effective you are with whatever you are doing. When I used to bag clients I many times had a little war of words with them and truly speaking this was one of my strategies to bag him/her. Well this strategy has mostly worked with male clients over the age of 35 almost. After my all trials whenever I found that now he/she will put off the phone I just start with Why don't you will take? What's you problem and all? Lolz I know it is funny but my this attitude was liked by many of my clients who themselves were bagged by this strategy. You just tell yourself one thing that how I can't bag him and rest will automatically follow.