Relevant Chews

Casual Thought Friday… how relevant is cold calling in today’s B2B Sales Strategy?

Results would indicate it is about or less effective than direct mail, which puts it around 4% effective at best. Of course there are amazing success stories, and yours truly has had more than a few. But the cold hard fact is you won’t be able to grow your business in 2010 or beyond without a marketing plan that supports dialing for dollars.

As for scripting the call, this is not the time to tell your story or cite your brochure. If there was a Biz Dev bible, it would say cold calling is about as relevant as your ability to create value (give me a reason to care) in 30 seconds or less. The person on the other end of the phone has other priorities, so out of consideration you should be able to deliver your best message in this time frame. And this also includes leaving a voicemail.

If you are lucky enough to spend more than 5 minutes on the phone, then hopefully you took advantage of the time to let them talk. The more you know the better, because you want to pitch big picture vision at the C level and sell at the influential level.

The objective of a cold call is a warmer introduction. Close the call with a “first date” invite or find out if they are attending any networking events in the near future. You don’t need a login and password to be social. The handshake may be old school, but all new business relationships begin face to face.

Good luck, and be compelling out there!