Why You Should Cold Call Before You Ever Mail
Its method that complements my skills. I'm a marketer, a salesman, and a copywriter.
This cold call approach enhances all three aspects of any project. Marketers sometimes think if you cold call, that's all you do to get business but I don;t see it that way.
I try to get the synergistic benefit of ALL marketing tactics and leaving out cold calling is a mistake, imo.
For me, it's saved a small fortune in wasted, poorly targeted mailings and mis-targeted offers (This is key, btw). Had I known this approach and believed in it from the beginning, I would have not wasted $20K on one project alone. I still cringe when I think about that one.
So here's what I have found:
It pays to cold call some of my likely prospects BEFORE I ever invest in a decent size mailing. The benefits are many. First, I can save a great deal of money, if my targeted offer is wrong. By talking to a few prospects who I believe are prefect for the offer, I'll quickly and efficiently learn whether I'm right or wrong.
If I go out to 8 or 10 reasonably qualified prospects and get highly negative responses I will go back and re-structure my offer or perhaps abandon it entirely. I can accomplish this in an afternoon or maybe two at most. It has proven to be the best 'time investment' I can make.
Secondly, when I ask the right way, the same prospects who tell me the offer is not attractive will often tell me EXACTLY what the offer should be. This, obviously changes my plans, and causes me to redesign/rewite my offer and mailing before spending a nickel.
If I had just mailed what I thought would work, and I got 'zilch' for a response, I would assume it failed, of course, but I wouldn't know WHY. I wouldn't know which way to go next. I could guess again, and do another mailing, but I'd be shooting in the dark. (hint: that's whats wrong with most mailings - they are done 'blind', so to speak.)
Yes, I could try calling the non-responders and seeing what they would tell me, but why invest the cash first? Cold calling BEFORE the mailing investment saves me a lot of money, and gives me market intelligence I could not acquire any other way.
This approach has led to more successful mailings, better intelligence, more targeted offers and way fewer bombs. That's just one way old fashioned cold calling still works today. ...and a way you may not have thought of.
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Bruce
Jake Conway
Website Design In Michigan