I’m not here to burst anyone’s bubble (well-maybe I am) but if you are still relying on cold calls to grow your business, you might as well go back to being a door to door salesman.  Now before you get all pissed off and leave nasty comments on here, let me explain what a cold call is.

According to wikipedia: Cold calling is the marketing process of approaching prospective customers or clients—typically via telephone, by email or through making a connection on a social network—who were not expecting such an interaction. The word “cold” is used because the person receiving the call is not expecting a call or has not specifically asked to be contacted by a sales person. A cold call is usually the start of a sales process generally known as telemarketing.

You should also know that around 80% of all calls go unanswered. The number is even higher if the call is from an unknown or unsaved number. Think about how many times a day you hit the ignore button on your phone.  What makes you think your prospects are any different?  You can bet that any online and phone habits you may have, exists in your prospects as well.  

Let’s take it a step further and explore email as well.  Email has on average about a 40% open rate.  Matter of fact most companies and marketers train their email prospects NOT to open their emails.  This bad habit is in turn trickling down and driving open rates on emails way down.  Not to mention spamming and all that wild shit.  I counted how many unwanted emails I got this morning already before I wrote this and I have already unsubscribed from three spam emails this morning.  “Thanks a lot e campaign pro – assholes” *I hate that they sold a list with my email on it… evil bastards, but that’s another story.

So I’m not all doom and gloom about modern communications.  I’m actually writing this to give you some direction towards a more pleasing way of connecting with people.  That is, until the spammers get on to it and fuck it up for the rest of us.  

This year Time Magazine reported that 2011 was the last year we talked.  We now use more text, IM and email than we do voice minutes as a nation.  Text messages have over a 90% read rate.  You know as well as I do, that when you get a text, you read it.  Let’s just hope text spamming is a long ways off. But yet, just like when companies resisted using email to sell, they are against using text as well.  Now I’m not talking spam texts, I’m talking about after a lead comes to you, texting them instead of calling.  it’s WAY more effective.

Even more so in the realm of effectiveness is inbox messaging on social media sites like Linkedin and Facebook.  Again, don’t spam.  i’m talking about striking up real relationships by sending a person a direct message.  Share something with them. Tell them you like their shit. Whatever it is just reach out to them but don’t put your best sales pitch forward.  You got to ease into it.  You need to “lube it up” so to speak.  …You have a dirty mind…

So instead of fighting the forces against you on the phone doing cold calls, use the power of social connections to strike up a chat.  From there pick up the phone and you now have a “warm call” to deal with.  Much easier to close.  Remember kids, when closing someone on social media it’s important to be cool.  just sayin.

If you want to know more about leveraging the world of technology to grow your business.  By all means fill out the form below and let’s get all strategory together.  Hell, if we like each other we may just be able to work together and make some of that good old stuff they call money 😉