Moving Beyond Cold Calling

Moving Beyond Cold Calling by Dave Bresler

At a recent Around the Horn session, we were presented with a question from the principal of a new company. He told us about his cold-calling efforts, which were largely successful—but he was curious if there was another way to get his venture off the ground. The group came up with several ideas. 

Targeted Seminars 

One attendee suggested hosting or producing seminars for targeted groups. Seminars for targeted groups generally produce great conversion rates upwards of 30%. Someone else suggested that he do a Network!Network! forum. These are our two-hour network-wide events in which we allocate 45 minutes for a member to present on a topic of current business interest. By doing so, the member is able to present himself or herself as an expert in his or her field. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 

A second person suggested that he consider SEO. SEO gets you noticed by promoting your page ranking on search engines—Google is obviously the most prominent. Because Google tends to change its criteria on a fairly regular basis, SEO professionals are very useful in helping to keep your page rankings up—the general consensus is that if you’re not on the first page, you don’t exist. 

Outsource 

Someone else suggested engaging a company that does the cold calling for you based on a script that you provide. This person’s experience was that such companies do deliver on their promise of setting appointments. Certainly, this person said, your time is more valuable than the cost of hiring somebody to do the cold calling for you. 

My Two Cents 

Cold calling is generating less and less traction, because if you can’t reach a live person, nobody will call you back from a message. And there are fewer and fewer live people answering phones for principals these days. 

All of my new clients come from current clients, which makes sense, because I am looking for people just like them. Your best referral source is almost always current clients who are happy with your performance and who will recommend your service with authority.

If you would like to get in on the great advice industry leaders share at every Around the Horn session, contact Network!Network! today!

Dave Bresler
President of Network!Network!
Phone: 914-924-1297
Contact us using this online form.

 

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