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| | The Marketing, Channels/Partnership & Sales Execs Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts | | re: re: Here's a stretch re: Cold Calling and Dirty Pajamas ... | Views: 547 | | Aug 06, 2004 3:18 pm | | re: re: Here's a stretch re: Cold Calling and Dirty Pajamas ... | # | 
David Badurina | | Hey Jeff,
Just wanted to pipe up after seeing this:
>In my opinion, cold calling is the fastest, most >effective and least costly way to get appointments.
I think we should make a designation here that in many cases, you don't need physical appointments to do
business. In many other cases, you don't need an office, meeting room, or anything but your computer and a clean
pair of pajamas to do business (some people don't even require "clean" - personally I do my best to stay away
from malodorous jammies).
Naturally, the majority falls somewhere in the middle of dirty pajamas and a corner office with a nice view of
downtown. :-)
That certainly doesn't mean that the dirty pajamas folks can't take advantage of more conventional offline
marketing methods (within reason and budget), and likewise larger organizations would be very wise to take a few
clues from small businesses and implement less conventional marketing methods such as simple search
engine optimization, sensible email campaigns, and a little bit of Viral Marketing thrown in for fun and profit.
Perhaps for a business selling IT solutions to local companies in their region, cold calling *seems* necessary
and cost effective because there's no brochure printing, no mailing list management, etc. Phone numbers are in the
phone book (phone book's free!), and one person and a phone is basically just that. At this point, you're
fighting with company gatekeepers, and more importantly time.
Where this becomes a danger is when you're running a one-man-show or a small business where people wear plenty of
hats each. In that case, spending a couple of hours a day - heck, even an hour a day - considering a standard
success rate, the time you've invested and now must again invest in travelling, meeting, and all the while with no
guarantee that you're going to recover any of that lost money is very risky. If you're the customer service rep,
salesman, webmaster, and product designer, even moreso. Time is MORE important than money.
Note - recovering lost money is certainly possible with the right strategy, cold-calling or otherwise. No
argument there from me.
Recovering lost time is not possible. Unless your pajamas are SO pungent and foul that they alter the space-time
continuum. Not likely.
Online alone, if you spend an hour or two writing a couple of small articles with a few targeted keywords you can
potentially generate 100s of leads per day - or more - and those are people that have sought you - interested in your
products or services. People looking for YOU.
Build your site intelligently and you've got potential clients filling out forms asking for you to contact them -
they'll submit data like their address, phone number, company name, website, and even the types of things
they're interested in. How many employees are at their company. How much business they do (generally). Really,
anything you ask them or want to know. Those are warm leads that have given you a treasure of information -
information you can use for phone calls, mailings, email campaigns, anything ...
Best part? Someone filling out all of this information doesn't cost you additional time. All you need to do is
read the email.
I'm not going to throttle cold-calling here because individual comfort levels and success rates come into
play. If you're happy with the success rate compared to time invested, great! What I AM going to throttle here is
the notion that cold-calling should be your primary marketing method. If you're not taking advantage of local
networking groups/events or an online presence, you're hardly being cost-effective or time-effective. Like
anything else in life, it all comes down to balance ...
... or dirty pajamas. ;-)
David Badurina
ViralMarketingTool.com Private Reply to David Badurina | | Aug 08, 2004 5:23 am | | Cold Call Preparation | # | 
Gary Dale Cearley | | I am just wondering whether anyone out there uses a system, either one created by themselves or someone else, that helps them to identify the correct person to contact when making cold calls? I make attempts to identify this person before I call, which takes more time but to me makes my efforts about five times more productive. Noromally what I do is google them or try to ask people in related companies. The only issue is I want to know if there is a streamlined way to do this because the time it takes I believe could be shortened.
Best regards,
Gary DalePrivate Reply to Gary Dale Cearley | | Aug 08, 2004 4:47 pm | | re: Cold Call Preparation | # | 
Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Gary,
Just about any list company should be able to help you answer that question about prospecting new business.
Take a major brokerage firm, for example. They purchase information on wealthy individuals from Dow Jones-related comapanies. The information they receive not only gives the contact information of high net worth inviduals, but their position with the company, job responsibilities, salary, etc. Once you purchase such a list you can usually import it into contact management programs like Goldmine and ACT. What you do with it from there is up to you.
I have heard it said that it takes 7 times for a person to see your message in print before folks will respond. For example, you should not expect a person to respond to a postcard mailing until they have received 7 postcards from the same person encouraging them to take action. I don't know if that is true. But, if there is any truth to it, that would certainly not make prospecting with postcards very cost-effective in terms of getting positive feedback.
Rather than buying a mailing list, I would encourage you to make your own. If your products and services can be targeted to public companies, I would encourage you to use annual reports as a marketing tool. It costs only 23-cents to request an annual report with a postcard. It costs the comapny usually around $2.00 to send you a report. But, more often than not, they are more than willing to do that to get you as a potential investor. So, right from the outset you are way ahead of the game.
Rather than prospecting with postcards or beginning with a cold call, I would encourage you to take a sophisticated approach - use first-class invitations. No postcards or bulk mailers. In fact, be very picky to whom you send an invitation. Make sure of two things:
1) The people to whom you are mailing are all in your target market. That means they can actually use the product or service you are providing.
2) Here's the real tricky part. Mail in multiples of 3 to people who know each other. For example, the members of a board of directors.
3) Encourage interaction between these three individuals with your mailed invitation. This will help create a "buzz" about you since you are the unknown factor. Keep in mind that you are mailing three different people who know each other and work at different companies. Therefore, what you are actually doing is prospecting three different companies using only three invitations to do it. Now, that is truly cost-effective.
Rather than thinking in terms of busines with individuals, think in terms of recruiting companies as clients. You simply decide to go after three companies at a time in terms of three board members from a single annual report. And, it only takes three invitation cards to get the process started. I call it the "Power of 3."
Let me know if you have further questions.
Lamar Morgan
CDMM
"We deliver*...customers!"
> Gary Dale Cearley wrote:
> I am just wondering whether anyone out there uses a system, either one created by themselves or someone else, that helps them to identify the correct person to contact when making cold calls? I make attempts to identify this person before I call, which takes more time but to me makes my efforts about five times more productive. Noromally what I do is google them or try to ask people in related companies. The only issue is I want to know if there is a streamlined way to do this because the time it takes I believe could be shortened.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Gary DalePrivate Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Aug 11, 2004 3:52 pm | | re: Cold Call Preparation | # | 
Kathy Buck | | Hi Gary,
Im sure you can buy lists with contact info on them. To me though part of sales is the research that goes into knowing about what the new lead does and in that research you are likely to find your key decision maker.
To me finding that key person is just part of the sales process. I mean lets face it, how many of us have done the dog and pony show to a manager only to hear a "NO"..do we walk away? Hopefully not, I myself am looking for that persons supervisor *wink*
Cheers from Stormy Texas! ZAP! :o)
Kathy
> Gary Dale Cearley wrote:
> I am just wondering whether anyone out there uses a system, either one created by themselves or someone else, that helps them to identify the correct person to contact when making cold calls? I make attempts to identify this person before I call, which takes more time but to me makes my efforts about five times more productive. Noromally what I do is google them or try to ask people in related companies. The only issue is I want to know if there is a streamlined way to do this because the time it takes I believe could be shortened.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Gary Dale Private Reply to Kathy Buck | | Aug 11, 2004 5:25 pm | | re: re: Cold Call Preparation | # | 
Gorilla Steve | | Course, if that manager ends up being the one who handles things after the supervisor agrees to your pitch - you've just made an enemy in the organization.
My favorite way (if I do not know the exact person I need) is to start at the top and work my way down. This is stronger, since, as each level directs me to the proper person, I use their direction as a referral to warm the lead.
> Kathy wrote:
> Hi Gary,
>
>Im sure you can buy lists with contact info on them. To me though part of sales is the research that goes into knowing about what the new lead does and in that research you are likely to find your key decision maker.
>
>To me finding that key person is just part of the sales process. I mean lets face it, how many of us have done the dog and pony show to a manager only to hear a "NO"..do we walk away? Hopefully not, I myself am looking for that persons supervisor *wink*
>
>Cheers from Stormy Texas! ZAP! :o)
>
>Kathy
>
>> Gary Dale Cearley wrote:
>> I am just wondering whether anyone out there uses a system, either one created by themselves or someone else, that helps them to identify the correct person to contact when making cold calls? I make attempts to identify this person before I call, which takes more time but to me makes my efforts about five times more productive. Noromally what I do is google them or try to ask people in related companies. The only issue is I want to know if there is a streamlined way to do this because the time it takes I believe could be shortened.
>>
>>Best regards,
>>
>>Gary Dale Private Reply to Gorilla Steve | | Aug 12, 2004 5:25 pm | | re: re: re: Cold Call Preparation | # |
Kathy Buck | | Not at all Steve, I've never had a problem. Lets face it we can qualify a person as the decision maker but even the best of us get fooled and are now wasting our time being told by some managment minion "I dont think the owner would like that"...well hey, whats his/her name, let's make sure. Im not makng any enemies by playing a professional game of hop-scotch. Im thanking that person for thier time because I am good and got lots of inside info. When I do contact that owner, Im making that manager look like the hero because the manager told me some problems and I now have solutions. (of course this is all done tactfully)
Question though: How do you find a decision maker working your way down? I mean when you go to the top RE: Owner, GM etc etc, those are your key people and not people below them.
Kathy
> Steve Podielsky wrote:
> Course, if that manager ends up being the one who handles things after the supervisor agrees to your pitch - you've just made an enemy in the organization.
>
>My favorite way (if I do not know the exact person I need) is to start at the top and work my way down. This is stronger, since, as each level directs me to the proper person, I use their direction as a referral to warm the lead.
>
>
>> Kathy wrote:
>> Hi Gary,
>>
>>Im sure you can buy lists with contact info on them. To me though part of sales is the research that goes into knowing about what the new lead does and in that research you are likely to find your key decision maker.
>>
>>To me finding that key person is just part of the sales process. I mean lets face it, how many of us have done the dog and pony show to a manager only to hear a "NO"..do we walk away? Hopefully not, I myself am looking for that persons supervisor *wink*
>>
>>Cheers from Stormy Texas! ZAP! :o)
>>
>>Kathy
>>
Private Reply to Kathy Buck | | Aug 17, 2004 1:03 pm | | re: Cold Call Preparation | # |
Matt Miller | | Hi Gary,
K2 Sourcing sells primarliy B2B currenlty to manufacturers. Once we determined the message and the person to target, we went out an rented a name list. For B2b selling, zapdata.com, which is part of D&B, worked well and was extremely affordable.
The system we used to find the correct person was to call multiple titles and determine who we were getting transferred to. We also tried selling to their bosses, but quickly learned that while the refernce name might be useful to help get the appointment, that the real decision maker is who we need to convince.
Matt
> Gary Dale Cearley wrote:
> I am just wondering whether anyone out there uses a system, either one created by themselves or someone else, that helps them to identify the correct person to contact when making cold calls? I make attempts to identify this person before I call, which takes more time but to me makes my efforts about five times more productive. Noromally what I do is google them or try to ask people in related companies. The only issue is I want to know if there is a streamlined way to do this because the time it takes I believe could be shortened.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Gary DalePrivate Reply to Matt Miller | | Aug 18, 2004 3:37 pm | | re: re: re: re: Cold Call Preparation | # |
Gorilla Steve | | Well...again, if the manager/director you spoke to is in fact the one the owner counts on to make these decisions, and he says no to you, and you then go to his boss, who ultimately sends you back to this person with his blessing...what you've done is go over this person's head. So even if you do get the one job - you've caused this person to lose face. This person will take a lot of massaging if he is ever to become your ally. Much better to start at the top and get a series of warm referrals down to the manager/director. Now you're talking to him for the first time with blessings - he has no reason to dislike you, and every reason to like you. Plus, if his initial reason to say no to you is he's afraid to take your idea to the boss - you just came from the boss - you saved him that discomfort.
It's just how I like to play. Everyone has their own plan - if yours is working - more power to you. :)
> Kathy wrote:
> Not at all Steve, I've never had a problem. Lets face it we can qualify a person as the decision maker but even the best of us get fooled and are now wasting our time being told by some managment minion "I dont think the owner would like that"...well hey, whats his/her name, let's make sure. Im not makng any enemies by playing a professional game of hop-scotch. Im thanking that person for thier time because I am good and got lots of inside info. When I do contact that owner, Im making that manager look like the hero because the manager told me some problems and I now have solutions. (of course this is all done tactfully)
>
>Question though: How do you find a decision maker working your way down? I mean when you go to the top RE: Owner, GM etc etc, those are your key people and not people below them.
>
>Kathy
>
>> Steve Podielsky wrote:
>> Course, if that manager ends up being the one who handles things after the supervisor agrees to your pitch - you've just made an enemy in the organization.
>>
>>My favorite way (if I do not know the exact person I need) is to start at the top and work my way down. This is stronger, since, as each level directs me to the proper person, I use their direction as a referral to warm the lead.
>>
>>
>>> Kathy wrote:
>>> Hi Gary,
>>>
>>>Im sure you can buy lists with contact info on them. To me though part of sales is the research that goes into knowing about what the new lead does and in that research you are likely to find your key decision maker.
>>>
>>>To me finding that key person is just part of the sales process. I mean lets face it, how many of us have done the dog and pony show to a manager only to hear a "NO"..do we walk away? Hopefully not, I myself am looking for that persons supervisor *wink*
>>>
>>>Cheers from Stormy Texas! ZAP! :o)
>>>
>>>Kathy
>>>
>Private Reply to Gorilla Steve | | |
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