Don’t Be Afraid to Make a Cold Call

Cold callI admit it. I’ve suffered with call resistance —- just hated the thought of picking up the phone. I can’t explain why really, I’d just much rather send an email.

For those that have never suffered from it, it’s difficult to explain or understand. Seriously, why wouldn’t anyone get on the phone and make a call to build their business? It sounds so much easier when you ask it that way, but for those that get it, really get it, it’s a difficult and arduous task. We’d much rather take the less direct approach to it all — write a blog, tweet about it, create a video, send a letter.

But sometimes you just have to pick up the phone and call.

There is every type of argument when it comes to cold calling — No one cold calls, right?! Wrong. Even now, in the age of social media, cold calling still exists and sometimes it works.

Let me stop here and say, this is not a blog about the advantages or disadvantages of a cold call.

Some people hate it and some people love it or at least they tolerate it better than others. Some say it doesn’t work and it’s outdated and others say it does. It all depends on the perspective.

As a marketer, I say do what works for you!

And if picking up the phone and making a call works, then go for it. All I can say is good, bad or indifferent, I’m not afraid to make a cold call and here are four reasons why:

  1. It Doesn’t Hurt – I mean it really doesn’t hurt. Honestly, making a call out the blue to someone you don’t know will not physically hurt you.
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  2. Good Things Can Come Out of It – Seriously good things. The last several times I picked up the phone and made COLD calls, I ended up with new partnerships. Just recently I made a cold call and ended up with a sponsor — how about that?!
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  3. People Don’t Mind if You Call Them– I can hear lots of sighs on this one. But what I’ve found is if you target your calls to those that are a good fit, people will actually talk to you. Of course you can’t get on the phone rambling, so it’s important that you build rapport quickly so they don’t see your call as a waste of time.
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  4. If They Do Mind or They’re Not Interested, They’ll Tell You (most of the time nicely) – I made a cold call once and the gentleman said very politely, “I’m not going to be a good prospect for you.” Wow. That was the coolest day ever! That’s when I realized sometimes you have to just get out your own box and your own way and do something different.

Listen, at the end of the day, there are all kinds of ways to build a business.  And you get to decide the best way to do that so use what you’ve got and go for it, even if it’s a cold call.

 

Sheronde Glover is a business consultant, trainer and coach and the founder of Car-Buy-Her, an automotive resource for women.

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Biz Practitioner

Sheronde Glover is a speaker and strategist and the CEO of The Business Practitioner. Sheronde helps organizations, leaders, and teams re-energize with purpose, passion, and action using the ACE (Aim. Change. Excel) framework. Ready to ACE it? Contact us at 678-250-4192.

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