First round of cold calls was a fail

Originally Posted by Battlespeed

Is "cold calling" really the approach you want to take?

1. It's the classic form of "interruption marketing", which is so inefficient that you would only use it when you cannot reach prospects any other way.

2. "Cold (phone) calling" is generally perceived as an old-fashioned and even obnoxious sales tool, and yet you're putting yourself forward as a marketing expert who can tell me how to use modern technologies that my clients and prospects will appreciate. Think about it. You're coming across to me as exactly the opposite of what you're selling, aren't you?

3. "Mobile website" still means nothing to many business owners even in the year 2011 - even if they surf the Web on their own iPhone or Android (they don't realize the sites they visit have been optimized for mobile, or what's involved). So, you often find yourself in the position of a man trying to explain astrophysics to his cat - in a few words.

What if you took a different approach so you're doing "warm calling" instead of "cold calling"? With "warm calling", both parties are much more comfortable (context!) and you're making fewer contacts, but they're much higher conversion rates.

Here are some ideas:

1. You might start with business owners and/or professionals (dentist, etc.) with whom you already do business. After the toofie cleaning, you say "By the way, Doc, I was on your website looking up the number to make this appointment and I noticed that it wasn't very easy to navigate on my iPhone (or I think that your Places page could probably do a lot more for you, etc), and this stuff is right in my wheelhouse. Take a look at this when you get a minute and if you're interested in optimizing your site/page for mobile surfers, I'll take care of everything for you and give you a very special rate."

What you hand him is a 2-page mini-presentation. The first page is similar to a "squeeze page", but not as verbose (or as hard-sell). You simply provide him with some information about the massive shift to mobile surfing, mobile local search, etc. (you do have these statistics, right?) - so that by the time he turns to the the second page, he wants to know how he can get in on the "trend".

The second page is "before-and-after" selling. You show how his current website (or Google Places page, etc.) looks inside a mockup of a cell phone, and how it would look after it's optimized. (You can set up templates that will let you create these things in a few minutes.)

Your closing paragraph:

"I know we're both busy but I believe I'll have some open time this month when I could take care of all of this for you. I'll give you a ring as soon as my schedule firms up - or you can call me at 555-5555."

Of course, your "schedule firms up" in a couple of days and you call him.

This idea can be made as sophisticated as you like if you use a CD or put it on a USB stick instead of paper...and the stick makes a nice "bonus" giveaway so get some from a promo distributor, screen-printed with your info, of course. 2 GB sticks are cheap.

2. Along the same lines: After you do business with someone, ask them if they'd mind if you created a video testimonial for them because you're so happy with what they did for you.

You do the testimonial and when you're handing them the USB stick/CD, you say "I did this in a format so you could put it up on your mobile site - or, you can also put it on your YouTube channel or your Google page...oh, you don't have one? You know, we should do everyone out there surfing the Web on their phones a favor, and help them find you! I do all that mobile stuff for my clients, blah-blah - and to show my appreciation for the great (whatever) you gave me, I'd be honored to take care of everything for you at a very special rate". You get it.

3. When you're finishing up a transaction: "Could I get your personal (never say "private"!) email address? I was thinking about the great business you run here and I had an idea that might be very interesting to you...but I don't want to say what it is exactly until I've had a chance to think about how it might work for you. I promise that I'll shoot you an email tomorrow or the next day at the latest..."

You "shoot them" a mini-presentation, of course - or, when you get more sophisticated at this, a simple link to their customized presentation.

4. You notice a newspaper ad (or an ad in a shopper magazine, etc.) for a business where you do business. It doesn't have a QR code. You scan the ad and then, in Gimp or Photoshop, you insert a fake QR code (fake, of course), circled in red. You think of two or three ideas about how the QR code could help this business, and you get this revised ad in the owner's hands ("Why is he showing me my own ad?" will get his attention, I promise!) - either by simply dropping it off, etc. You could even mail it, marked "Personal", with a short cover letter which, of course, closes with your promise to call and "share some other ideas with you". Your letter naturally emphasizes that you're a customer and that's why you happened to be thinking about him.

5. And, if you must make unexpected phone calls, make them "warm calls", not "cold calls". By this, I mean that there is rarely any reason to be completely ignorant about any business that you're calling. At the very least, you can rapidly review their website before you call. You should be able to (1) identify who owns this business, (2) learn what this business is "about" - how do they see themselves competitively? and (3) be able to say something complementary and relevant to their competitive position.

For instance, a retailer is proud of his product selection, so you say "I was really impressed by your product line..."

Or, a plumber emphasizes his 24-hour availability, so you say "You can bet that I've bookmarked your website for when I need a plumber at 3 AM..."

Or, a guard company is proud of their guard training so you say "You do seem to train your guards really well..."

Or - whatever they're proud of.

Just some ideas, but I'd work on ploughing the field a bit before you try to throw seeds in the ground. Think about "warm calling".