Cold Calling Sucks! Asking cool friends for introductions is way better.
With exception of a few cases, for most Small Business Owners & Entrepreneurs – Cold Calling is one of the worst Sales & Marketing Strategies ever.
I hate doing it personally too and I have had countless clients that have hired me very nervous thinking they have to do Cold Calling or I am going to tell them to do so.
When I give them a bunch of strategies and tell them NOT TO DO COLD CALLING I can see the immediate sigh of relief and if they are female – I may get a hug at the end and if they are dudes I may get a “Bro-Down” fist punch or an extra strong handshake.
I have found better strategies to always have been Business Networking, Referral Networks, LinkedIn & Blogging to name a few and there are lots of reasons why Cold Calling Sucks and here is why:
Weak ROI & Return on Time: If you are starting out and have no choice – it can make sense, but later on – it’s a very bad idea. It usually is very low returning in terms of time.
Can be weak to get appointments: If you are say making phone calls – this often sucks makes no sense at all. You can be calling for days to get nothing – or very low value appointments.
You look desperate: If you are so damn successful, then why are you desperate on the phone?
If you do get a meeting, much less conversion: Put 5 x Cold Meetings up against 5 x Warm Meetings – you would be 0 – 1 / 5 cold, and maybe 1 – 3 / 5 warm.
Soul Destructive: Very few people only enjoy it. Most (including me) hate it and find it a non-fun painful experience.
My advice? Unless you are in say a very tight niche (as there are some cases where it does work) really try and stay away from it. Get introductions to people – that is the best way to do it. If you have no one to get introductions from, go Networking – make friends, help them and ask for help in meeting the right people.
When you go in warm with a great intro, your odds of success goes through the roof!
Love you work, thanks for the read!
About the Cold Calling Hating Author:
Edward Zia is a Marketing Mentor, Commentator and 4Networking Leader who really doesn’t like Cold Calling and loves tactics & thinking that helps Small Business Owners nail their Sales & Marketing. Read more of his blog to learn more and if you like what you see – check out his Premium Home Study Course, “The Awesome Marketing Vault” >> Right Here!
The Awesome Marketing Vault by Edward Zia! Plenty of Great Ideas in my Home Study Course – Right Here!
4 Responses
Must disagree but would love to know your source for stats as my experience is 15 calls per hour will generate one lead and half of all leads will convert to sales. It also takes an average of 5 touches for someone to trust you to do business with you.
I like your stats Greg.
15 calls to generate a lead and half the leads converting to sales.
I’m also with you on the average of 5 touches for someone to trust you to do business with you.
You must be one hell of a caller with lots of experience.
These stats show that cold calling is very worthwhile for sales that generate hundreds of dollars at a time. Would you agree?
For the average person offering less expensive items the cold calling would seem more daunting and I would have to agree with Edward’s position on this.
That is a very good one Greg and I am with Alfred on this one – you are a top operator and I believe if anyone can do this you can!
In having done this myself, many clients having tried Telemarketers and the general view many of us have adopted. I know you are good at what you do Greg – how do you go about it? What type of Sales are you talking?