Telemarketing Speaker Says This Economy Calls For Plan C: Cold Calling!

It must have been in the low 90's in Southwest Florida when in my consulting work

I invested half a day riding along with an insurance rep, prospecting for sales in business parks.

"Hi, I'm Marty So-and-So, and I'm with ABC Insurance, and I'd just like to leave my card and set a time to introduce myself to the boss."

Simple approach, right?

About every third time, we were invited in to chat with the manager or owner, and Marty would ask about the person's business and personal coverage, and see if the honcho wanted a quote.

It might have been sweltering outside, with 2000 degree humidity, but we were cold canvassing, and it wasn't hard labor. Nor was it tedious. It was a lot of fun.

Like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, when you open a door you never know what you're going to get. Sometimes, it's better than what you hoped for.

This week, I've been cold calling by phone, which is a specialty that I teach and write about, extensively. Two of my contacts told me, "Your call is very timely!"

They're in the market, but the odds would have been a gazillion to one that they would have reached out to contact me. There is a lesson in this.

Today, in this tough economy, if you want someone's business, you need to ask for it, directly. And there is no better tool for doing this than through cold-calling.

Cold-calling is more productive than most business development activities because it is confrontational. It compels someone to make a real-time decision, if only to allow you to make a presentation, set an appointment, or close a deal.

Anyone can avert his eyes from the TV, or from an ad in a newspaper or magazine. They can jettison emails. But if you're engaged in a conversation, certain elements of civility enter the scene. Most folks will allow you to briefly state your credentials and indicate how you can be useful to them and to their companies.

Like sound-bites, sales-bites, when successful, buy time for you to elaborate, to develop your case. If you're doing well, people forget you were a stranger moments ago, that you're selling, because they're in the process of voluntarily buying.

Today, without directness, the most profitable sales aren't made.

You have probably read that it costs more to sell a new customer than to keep a current one on the books. True, but our existing customers are probably tapped-out, and can't give us more business.

Why expend your discretionary energy throwing bouquets at their feet?

Plan A used to be advertising. Plan B was social networking. Both relied on attracting business, which is costly, indirect, inefficient, and iffy.

Isn't it time for Plan C: Cold Calling?

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top speaker, sales, service, and negotiation consultant, attorney, TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books. He conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. His new audio program is Nightingale-Conant's "Crystal Clear Communication: How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech & Writing." He can be contacted about professional speaking and consulting opportunities at gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Telemarketing Speaker Says This Economy Calls For Plan C: Cold Calling!

By: Dr. Gary S. Goodman

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