Cold Calls v Mailshots

[elite123]

Whats the best way ?

Mailshots you can target more people with but calls you can get the right person !

Views ?

[uksbc]

i would also be interested in this question

the way i have always looked at it is this

mailshots - investment in advance (postage, printing etc) for an unknown return
cold calling - less risk but "soul destroying" if not going well!

[gapgb]

Try both, a mail shot followed up with a call will make the mail shot results a lot better. It can also make the call slightly easier because you can at least say you are following up an information request you received which may make the receptionist more amenable to putting you through.

[emubill]

I prefer the cold call approach. I appreciate the comments about soul destroying, but there are ways to overcome that.

With mailshots i have found about a 1% reponse in all the different businesses that I have been involved with.

The cold call approach has had a greater variance in the response.
Currently I am targeting SME's locally offering them savings on phonecalls and internet services. The response has generally been:-

50% speaking to the right person on the first call.

of these

10% say things like "if I want a service I will research it and call companies to see me" - fair comment and the choice.

30% too busy - can I leave some info. - I don't leave anything as this is usually a knee-jerk reaction to get rid of sales people. Do offer to make an appointment at a more convenient time.

60% have presentation there and then or at a later date.

Usually convert 50% of those people that I present to.

With mailshots there can be alot of effort and costs with little reward - I also tend to wonder if anyone has seen the mailsho. With cold calling alot of the questions I have about the marketing are answered directly


Nige

[ebonybailey]

If There was a way I would speak to everyone on UKBF to help them with there telemarketing.

Calls are the best way to gain new business, this is fact.
Soul destroying? Not true if done correctly, the best way is not to treat it as a sales call at all, put in your mind that you are calling these people to help them not sell to them your tone will change and your focus, add a joke or two into the conversation make them feel at home, have a phone name, unfortunately my real name IS michael Jackson but you could make a famous name up just to joke about it and make people feel at ease.
Decision Maker contacts are the best way to promote your business having direct contact with these people is always the best way.

Michael

[daveashton]

Sorry Michael

Cold calling is dead. Prospect Profiling is the Now and remote data collection promotion (RDCP) the future.

Also mailing is often part of the solution but targeted based on a profile (also makes it very personal) not scattergun

[ebonybailey]

I would agree with the second part, mailing then follow up has a slightly better responce then calling alone.

[clairemackaness]

Cold calling is dead. Prospect Profiling is the Now and remote data collection promotion (RDCP) the future.

Do you feel like explaining this to those of us who dont speak marketing language?

[daveashton]

Sorry

Knowledge is power......

Knowing when someone is looking to buy and what thier purchasing criteria is along with budget etc obviously makes selling a lot easier.

Now getting that data is not easy which is why people are going to companies like Contact Foundry to get it for them.

The new way of thinking takes this 1 step further but to date works less well for the B2B market.

The theory

If we give x away in return for data, that person/ company is then optimised and put into the sales process. So for example I was offered 6 bottles of wine by a leading bank, not for buying, but for just answering a few questions online.

Now for some of Contact Foundry's larger clients who sell a wide range of products and services a B2b profile could cost from £5.00-400.00 each.

What other ways could that data also be collected especially if it does not require staff input? and hence reduce the costs further of getting the information?

These methods are called RDCP

[usefulbloke]

We've tried it in just about every order. We've had direct mail response rates of 6% - we've also had responses of zero.

For a while we used telesales to qualify a list then direct mail and email to send the interested parties their information, to be followed up again by telephone. That can work.

Direct sales is just one way of generating sales leads and enquiries. There are plenty of others. Success boils down to two things: Preparation and repetition. I happen to know a bit about this, I helped develop a course about it and i do it for a living...

PM me, I might be able to help.

Al