Do Cold Calls Still Work?

Do Cold Calls Still Work or Do They Bother People?

Do Cold calls still work?  Yes.  They do.

And they do bother some people.

Recently I made the mistake of engaging on a website where someone went off an a long rant about how awful telemarketing is/telemarketers are.  If you’re wondering, it wasn’t a good idea.  Lesson learned.  A takeaway here for those learning more about prospecting:  you can almost never dislodge a firmly held belief with even the most rational or practical of arguments.

That’s one of the ways cold calls still work.  They help you find and separate the prospects who are open to your ideas from the prospects that won’t budge in their belief systems.  Cold calling isn’t built for educating people who aren’t interested in learning a better way, it’s built for finding the highest percentage sales opportunities as quickly as possible.  Do Cold calls still work?  They do, and you can eliminate a lot of stress when you free yourself from the idea that you can magically manipulate the market or your prospects into doing anything they’re not ready and willing to do already.

How do you know people want to buy managed services?

That’s easy.

They’re already buying them.

Here at Managed Sales Pros, we prospect by phone because we sell phone prospecting.  We practice what we preach. And do our agents bother people?  Sure.  Some people.  But it doesn’t bother everyone, so don’t let that limiting belief or your own personal bias restrict your ability to generate new revenue.

Cold Calling Is Just One Piece of Your Marketing Plan

Do Cold Calls Still Work for MSPs? Yes. One of the most fatal mistakes we can make as an entrepreneur is to assume all people buy like we buy.  (Another is to assume all people will operate their business using the same moral compass we do.)

Overcoming The Fear Of “No”

Plenty of things bother plenty of people.

To make thing even more difficult, everyone is bothered by different things.  I’m a dog person.  I like babies.  I hate crowds.   Friends of mine don’t like children, have several cats and love events that include large crowds.

Yet, I can still connect with, relate to and enjoy the company of people who have different beliefs.  You can connect with prospects who don’t like being cold called a bunch of other ways. Do cold calls still work?  Yes.  They’re essential for triaging your leads and grouping leads into their preferred contact methodologies.  If your prospect doesn’t use social, the best Facebook marketing strategy in the world won’t reach them.

I can’t assume all my potential clients are like me, but I also have no way of knowing who likes what without engaging with them at least one way, at least one time.

Being told “no” is helpful.  It allows you to stop wasting time on contact leads the wrong way, or contacting unqualified leads at all.  “No” saves time.  “No” can also mean “I don’t like being contacted this way!”

A Universally Appealing Approach to Marketing

So how do you build a marketing strategy that will appeal to everyone?

Short answer?  You can’t.  Tolstoy said it best:

“There are as many kinds of minds as there are heads.”

Is cold calling the only way to find new business?  No.  We go to trade shows, we email, we use social media.  We encourage our clients to explore multiple channels to grow their businesses as well.  If you’re avoiding one particular channel because you think it bothers people, remember – you aren’t your client base.  You aren’t buying your service. Not everyone wants to be sold to the way you like to be sold to.

• You’ll miss the mark with some and you’ll hit the mark with others.
• Some people will hang up in a snit, and some people will take your calls.
• Prospects will curse you for interrupting their day, and some will thank you for sharing a new idea with you.
• Many people will quietly delete unwanted email, and some will report your emails as spam.
• Some of those people will become clients.

Your marketing strategy should include documented process on how to manage the leads that don’t like to be cold called.  Instead of letting them slip away, disposition those leads to be contacted in another way.  Unless you’re saturating the market (a bad strategy that would include multiple calls within short time frames) most companies will not remember the name of the IT company that called them 90 days ago.

Do Cold Calls Still Work?  You’ll Have To Try It To Find Out

If your referrals are drying up, or you’re not getting the results you want from SEO or email campaigns, and you need to start generating new leads, you need to try new things.  And to learn what will work best for you, you’ll need to try several.

You’ll need to try them several times. Whatever methods you’re trying, I wish you much success with them!  There’s lots of business out there, let’s go find it.   If you’d like Managed Sales Pros to help you, you can email hello@managedsalespros.com, or fill out the form below and we’ll get right back to you.