“Cold calling really makes me feel uncomfortable.” So don’t.


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This came to me from a reader in response to the Boot Camp and yesterday’s “5 ways to get work” post .

If you read Boot Camp, then what I suggest  I don’t really consider a sales cold call…because you’re not selling anything. You’re just calling to ask a few questions.

I think what this reader might really mean, though, is “I don’t want to call this complete stranger.”

That one is a little more difficult. This would be a truly great world if people just knew about you, and lined up at your door each morning at 9 a.m., just waiting for you to provide them with fantastic copy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way (well, it does sometimes…and this week’s upcoming addition to the library will help a bit with that).

You don’t have to call, of course. If you can hunt down an email, you can drop them a line…or really drop them a line and write them an introduction letter or send them a postcard.

However, none of those options are going to give you as good results as a single phone call. With one call, you can gain a rapid understanding of whether there is a need and/or an interest for your services.

The only other alternative I can think of is if you can arrange a referral to this person. You know, they say that a person is only separated by any other person on the planet by six degrees of separation. So, maybe you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows this person.

But that still seems like a lot more work than making a simple three-minute phone call where you don’t even ask for any business. What’s the worst that can happen? He’ll say “No thanks. I’m not interested.” In which case, you haven’t lost anything. He wasn’t your client before. He’s not your client now. Nothing has changed…except now he knows you’re out there.

And once you’ve made that first call…than any future calls won’t be cold calls!

So, no, don’t make a cold call and ask for business. I don’t recommend that, because people would rather buy from people they have a relationship with. So, instead, call to try and establish a relationship. Call to introduce yourself to a new colleague, not a new customer.

Does that help at all?

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One Response to ““Cold calling really makes me feel uncomfortable.” So don’t.”

  1. Michael Kelberer on March 26th, 2008 6:39 am

    I would add one more thing to the excellent advice to call to start a relationship, not to sell: do a little research first. Between company web sites and LinkedIn, I usually find something that the person I’m calling and I have in common (if nothing else, we’re both in LinkedIn), so when I call its a “warm” call.
    Also, we’re not telemarketers – we’re calling “peer to peer” to office a business service. I rarely encounter anyone upset that I call. When I say “I’m a freelance copywriter,” the response is almost always positive.

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