Cold calling should never be replaced by email or other forms of social media. They do of course have their important and rightful place when it comes to new business development, but, especially when you are targeting Senior Management within respectable corporate businesses, this is not the first step.
Whilst there is a place for email and other forms of digitised communication, even the best written emails still have a sense of being impersonal, insincere, “salesy” and unable to convey the right elements of a credible, trustworthy business. A well-built, well designed website can create these important impressions, but only through conversation can a real sense of your Company´s culture, values and credibility be relayed.
Connecting in person can be the most instantly powerful method when done expertly and professionally.
Personalities play a crucial part in building and cementing relationships. With so much competition out there, no one needs to do business with someone they don´t gel with, respect and trust. People like to deal with people, especially if they like them.
The ability and knack of bonding with the Gatekeeper is not only an important step to connecting you with that often rather illusive and hard to reach decision-maker; it can only successfully happen through a conversation where you can establish the necessary mutual respect that could lead you through that door.
A solid well-built relationship, even at the early stages will give you the longevity of contact that you need to enable the door to fully open. Whilst we would all like this to happen on the first call, inevitably there will be numerous circumstances that are related to the prospect´s business and out of our control that may prevent this happening in the immediate or short term. Only via a two-way, ongoing conversation where both personalities can begin to fuse with an exchange of questions and answers, can the pathway for moving forward be built.
Talking directly with someone enables you to engage and gradually you can become the business friend. Through this friendship you will be able to glean much more knowledge about the business or department you wish to connect with, or even be directed to a more suitable and influential contact. You will be more likely to find out what´s currently going on, the future plans and how, when and where you may be able to do business together.
Through carefully devised on-going recall programmes, verbal communication enables you to become that all familiar voice, meaning when the time is right, the opportunity of new business will come your way.
By connecting on the telephone you are able to put your best listening skills into practice, ask pertinent questions and build important and relevant marketing intelligence that will help you ensure future contact is maintained in a timely manner.
Cold calling will inevitably result in a great deal of rejection and “no´s”, but you need to know when to be persistent and the difference between “no” or what they really mean is “it´s the wrong time`”. When you are seasoned and experienced in the art of relationship building you can weed this out by asking the right questions or instinctively knowing the difference.
To this end, we can never stop calling people.
2 Comments
I am totally in agreement, the old fashioned, professional and warming approach by a high level skilled business development person, always hits at the right time, the right results. This is a tried and tested, personal method. JRF Global are proficient, loyal and consistent in reaching out to the correct people, thoroughly and with a sense of urgency to be valued in building relationships for the future.
Highly recommended!! It is always is a pleasure to liaise with an organisation who have experience and a well oiled engine, to makes things happen!
Thank you Amanda and as you know this has always been our ethos and will continue to be in the future. As you say, “the old fashioned” approach is still the best in my experience and opinion.