Cold Calling - Can business survive without it?

[blackandwhite1986]

There have been a number of threads that I have read over the last few weeks where cold calling is viewed as either an irritation or an essential marketing tool.

Be honest, hypothetically, if cold calling was so heavily regulated to the point of it becoming obsolete in B2B or B2C could your business survive and if so how? What services have you used within your business that have stemmed from a cold call?

My 2p is that no, my business could not survive. The information I require is not readily available in the public domain and especially at the moment, I have to activley seek out decision makers whcih historically has been the best method of generating new business. I could not rely on word of mouth or referals alone

What are your thoughts?

 

[wecandobiz]

I genuinely believe that if companies were not allowed to use the telephone for prospecting, two things would happen:

- junk mail would increase exponentially

- social networking might just appear as a tool to find prospects and build relationships online before a call is made to start the selling process, but far enough down the line that it's welcomed (i.e. the qualification has been done online)

I'd be interested in whether anyone else shares my view.

IH

 

[blackandwhite1986]

i would not want to mix my social networking with business networking. I would be interested to see if a specific business networking equivalent was available though

 

[wecandobiz]

i would not want to mix my social networking with business networking. I would be interested to see if a specific business networking equivalent was available though

Yes, I mean social networking in the context of a technology if you like, but of course business focused. I share your view that the two shouldn't be mixed for the same reason that you don't take your work to the pub, or invite customers round for Christmas lunch.

IH

 

[telemax]

I know this subject is highly polarising but over the last 10 years just from me cold calling I have generated millions of pounds worth of business for customers and companies I have worked for.

The first call I ever made for my own business gained me a meeting, later leading to a half million pound deal with a local council sub contractor.

Sometimes it's the only way of getting through to a decision maker, unless you are fortunate enough to have a huge marketing budget and can afford ad campaigns, fancy web sites and seo etc.

Jonathan

 

[blackandwhite1986]

Good point Jonathan. I'm probably biased because like you it has worked for me.

What would be interesting is if anyone has cut it out completely and have had better results as a result.

I know there are infinite variables to consider but I really consider it an effective method of establishing contact

 

[spigwell]

There have been a number of threads that I have read over the last few weeks where cold calling is viewed as either an irritation or an essential marketing tool.

Be honest, hypothetically, if cold calling was so heavily regulated to the point of it becoming obsolete in B2B or B2C could your business survive and if so how? What services have you used within your business that have stemmed from a cold call?

My 2p is that no, my business could not survive. The information I require is not readily available in the public domain and especially at the moment, I have to activley seek out decision makers whcih historically has been the best method of generating new business. I could not rely on word of mouth or referals alone

What are your thoughts?

Business would obviously survive, It was not so many years ago that telesales business was in the minority and the majority of business fared very well without it. Telesales is an easy way out for the fact finders as they believe all they need to do is phone someone and get all the info they need. Good old fashioned leg work never hurt anyone and indeed the info obtained was actually a lot better as premises sizes, workforce numbers etc had been seen by the fact finder. Most telesales companies or people associated with them readily accept that all of the info is not usually enirely correct but because of the simplicity of the technique would defend it to the hilt, telesales has encouraged laziness and have developed so many excuses for under delivering that the industry is fast becoming a laughing stock and an industry not to be taken seriously.

Now I fully accept that this does not (nor is it meant to) apply to everyone who uses telesales as a fact finder or a way of doing business, but I fully believe that it does apply to the higher percentage of telesales companies. It is a very bad practise to paint everyone in the industry with the same brush but it is becoming harder and harder not to.

Regards
Gary

 

[wecandobiz]

I hate to harp on about this piece but it is worth a read:

ARE SOCIAL NETWORKS THE LAST NAIL IN THE COFFIN FOR COLD CALLING?

Whether the title is actually with merit has been done to death on these forums, but I mention it in this topic because Matthew actually spent a week doing cold calling, then a week using only social media and he didn't seem too worried if the outcome is that telephone cold calling is legislated out.

Cold Calling Results

Outbound calls made 325
Meaningful conversations (pitches) and brand touches 80
Meetings made 4
Sales made (as a direct result of cold calling) 0

From a cold calling perspective I was not surprised with the figures; from experience these are the average conversion ratios. The data cost me 25p per name, phone charges were roughly £100, so all up £180 not including my time. If we took an industry standard salary for telesales of £20K plus, general overhead of office, rates, light, heat, computer etc you will have spent about £1,000 to make four meetings.

Social media

Inbound calls generated 8
Meetings as result of inbound calls 3
Sales as a result of inbound calls 2
Brand touches (from site statistics unique views of content) 422 visitors to my blog alone
Subscribers (RSS) to my content 27 stats from Feedburner)
People following me (Twitter) 12
New contacts 71 (on LinkedIn, Facebook, WeCanDo.BIZ, etc)
Listeners to my Podcast 83
Opportunities to sell found 21
Online conversations had 39
Warm call list (names generated expecting a call) 11

The cost of my social networking blitz to find new business opportunities, other than my time and internet connection are small, if anything at all. Most importantly I made two sales, covering any cost associated with the activity and generating a very healthy return.

Full article linked above.

IH

 

[telemax]

Actually, I think Social Networking is excellent and I make the maximum use of it in my business alongside Cold Calling.

However, this information needs to be put into context. Lots depends on precisely what you are selling and to whom.

As I've said before, social networking isn't going to get an answer from the marketing director of Sainsury's or Vodafone, or any other FTSE 500 type company but that isn't everyone's target market.

For targetting smaller businesses and individuals, social networking can win hands down

 

[wecandobiz]

Actually, I think Social Networking is excellent and I make the maximum use of it in my business alongside Cold Calling.

However, this information needs to be put into context. Lots depends on precisely what you are selling and to whom.

As I've said before, social networking isn't going to get an answer from the marketing director of Sainsury's or Vodafone, or any other FTSE 500 type company but that isn't everyone's target market.

For targetting smaller businesses and individuals, social networking can win hands down

Agreed. But there are many business focused social networks with different audiences.

For FTSE 500 I'd look on LinkedIn, establish how many degrees I am away from them and who I know could broker an introduction. A big number of senior managers in large corporations are there.

For smaller businesses I'd go for my own site at WeCanDo.BIZ.

For consumers I'd probably try to profile them on Facebook.

Much like you'd chose different list brokers based on who you want to telemarket to. In many respects its all the same data, but presented differently because you're engaging in a different way.

IH

 

[telemax]

Actually one of my Canadian Customers uses LinkedIn alongside my services they got a huge customer that way.

I was previously very keen on using Ecademy but unfortunately it seems to have really gone down the pan

 

[UKSBD]

Out of interest, is there a regularatory board for telemarketers?

 

[who_me]

The company I work for has never cold called, consequently we couldn’t possibly know if there is detrimental effect on the business.

All our growth is referral based but it is significant growth. We’re simply not geared up for direct sales, also the conversion value of a single customer wouldn’t be enough to form realistic commission targets in which to encourage a decent sales force.

So yes this business most definitely can exist and prosper without needing to cold call…

 

[davidakerr]

Every time this subject surfaces we get the usual chestnuts about telemarketers.

Is everyone so obsessed with this question that they think only telemarketers make cold calls?

For many years I worked in sales for a large shipping/air cargo company and used the telephone to make appointments with commercial businesses I thought may/could use our services. Now if I do this everyone seems to think it would be an irritation or I would be interrupting their busy schedule. Let me say right now that if I had not done cold calling there are many businesses out there that would not have benefited from the service we provided. We probably saved them thousands of pounds per year simply by asking for a meeting to explain what we did and how we did it.

 

[maxine]

I genuinely believe that if companies were not allowed to use the telephone for prospecting, two things would happen:

- junk mail would increase exponentially

- social networking might just appear as a tool to find prospects and build relationships online before a call is made to start the selling process, but far enough down the line that it's welcomed (i.e. the qualification has been done online)

I'd be interested in whether anyone else shares my view.

IH

Yes I share this view but with two additions:

* SEO - as quite a few companies rely on this alone and do not undertake any other additional marketing activity

* Door knocking - there would probably be a huge queue at reception desks if cold calling became illegal

As for social networking, I believe like Jonathan that it is good to compliment with cold calling. I also believe that it will be a while before this will be viewed as a favourable alternative to cold calling for certain industries and geographical locations (just my view)

 

[telemax]

The company I work for has never cold called, consequently we couldn’t possibly know if there is detrimental effect on the business.

All our growth is referral based but it is significant growth. We’re simply not geared up for direct sales, also the conversion value of a single customer wouldn’t be enough to form realistic commission targets in which to encourage a decent sales force.

So yes this business most definitely can exist and prosper without needing to cold call…

The aim of Cold Calling is to increase customers, an increase in happy customers equals an increase in referrals.

I just don't think in the current climate any business should just rely on one marketing method. When the phone stops ringing not getting on the phone or knocking on peoples doors has been the death of many a business

 

[wecandobiz]

Yes I share this view but with two additions:

* SEO - as quite a few companies rely on this alone and do not undertake any other additional marketing activity

* Door knocking - there would probably be a huge queue at reception desks if cold calling became illegal

As for social networking, I believe like Jonathan that it is good to compliment with cold calling. I also believe that it will be a while before this will be viewed as a favourable alternative to cold calling for certain industries and geographical locations (just my view)

Perhaps, although with company car tax running as it is, plus the cost of fuel, door to door visits may soon become uneconomic too!

IH

 

[adventurelife]

Depends on the type of business. I used to sell office products and we had huge new business teams who cold called and drove significant revenue. I have tried it in my current business and it does not really work that well.

Therefore I do think it is essential for some but not for others

 

Large business's Yes, small business's and start up No.
Consider a small business that has little brand awareness, the best way to get your business out their is to hit the phones, its also one of the cheapest ways or at least brings the best ROI. Large corps use telemarketing which shows that it is a good source of generating opportunities otherwsie they would spend their money elsewhere.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Can we quantify a "cold call"? Is this simply phoning a business 'out of the blue' or do we include a follow-up call to a letter?

If the former then yes, my business can survive without it, as we NEVER do that.

If the latter, I am not 100% certain but I still think it could. I do a lot of networking and my "other" business (APA Secretarial) is well known amongst researchers at universities so we pick up a lot of work from there.

I've done several letter/follow up call campaigns and while they've got me an occasional new client they've never really been that successful.

Whether that's because we're doing something wrong with the letters and follow-up calls, I'm not sure; but that's why I'm seeing a marketing chap this afternoon.

 

[Sandra Vee]

Hello,

Can I just ask......do you pay out alot of money for seeking out the names of decision makers?

 

[wecandobiz]

Hello,

Can I just ask......do you pay out alot of money for seeking out the names of decision makers?

Around 35p a contact with Corpdata. This is for a senior decision maker, but there is nothing to say they have a need of course. And there's no lead without a need!

IH

 

[telemax]

Hello,

Can I just ask......do you pay out alot of money for seeking out the names of decision makers?

Often I use Google Finance or Reuters, They are free and are a fantastic up to date resource of company directors

 

[Neil Warren]

I think it might be helpful if we tried to define a few of the terms being used here, for example: -

Cold Calling - is this any and every example of a telephone call, made B2B or B2C, where the recipient of the call was not expecting it or had not specifically asked for that call to be made?

Business - do we mean any and every UK enterprise?

Survive - as in stay in business at all, fail to grow, fail to grow at anticipated levels?

The reason I suggest this is because you can already see a spectrum of answers coming out, most of which have "depends" in there somewhere. And it is easy, and divisive, for people to pick their own specific example from somewhere on that spectrum, and answer yes or no accordingly, and that they find "cold calls" "offensive/intrusive" or "vital/successful". The other threads were illustrative in highlighting those divides, but in here you might want answers about why, and how, for (some) business making cold calls is essential - and that's small start-up as well as mega-corp -and for some it is a lazy or comparatively ineffective way to market - along the lines of bulk mail shots, huge fax or email broadcasts or total blitz marketing of any kind.

And on data, Sandra, there are thousands of lists to choose from, with varying prices from free, as indicated, through to £1 per record or more. It all really depends on how much information you are after per name, and how hard that information is/was to come by. And your decision as to whether or not that's worth it in your specific circumstance will, or should, have a relationship to the other costs involved in sending your mail shot or making your telephone call (and is it a one-off or a multi-use approach), allied to the likely hit rate from targeting that activity more or less precisely. In my opinion anyway!

Regards to all - Neil

 

[blackandwhite1986]

Good point Neil,

I should point out that yes, I cold call, however, it is targetised as I research each company for as much detail as I can to ensure that we are of relevance to them before seeking out a decision maker.

I find cold calling suits our company as (much like this thread) there are an infinite amounts of variables.

As such, within a phone call we can find the decision maker and should they be interested, answer their questions there and then rather than going back and forth.

We find mail shots are great as a follow up as we can customise to an individual customer or prospect. Unfortunatley for us mail shots leave little room for the information that we would like to include.

 

[GreatSEO]

I think cold calling works if it is done properly

I think telemarketing works if done properly

I think telesales works if it iss done properly

Social networking sites have generated me business but not half as much as telemarketing.

Putting it bluntly any of these forms of marketing work for the right type of business in the right area etc.

Hope this helps

Regards

Dave

 

[simonr]

I think Dave hits it on the head....
" Putting it bluntly any of these forms of marketing work for the right type of business in the right area etc. "

We never use it (never needed to and never would, even if we needed to! ). Nor have I ever bought anything from a cold coller: surely I'm not unusual in the latter at least?!?

Presumably though, the utilitity of cold calling relates to what you're selling and how easy it is to explain in two seconds - and the value of a sucessful sale. Thus a printer could explain his proposition in two seconds but the call wouldn't be worth it because he would probably only make a few hundred quid on each sale.

S

 

[Neil Warren]

I think Dave hits it on the head....
" Putting it bluntly any of these forms of marketing work for the right type of business in the right area etc. "

We never use it (never needed to and never would, even if we needed to! ). Nor have I ever bought anything from a cold coller: surely I'm not unusual in the latter at least?!?

OK, so you have now! Well alright, not "bought" exactly (yet anyway) but we have started a business relationship based on a cold call I just made and, for those of a nosey disposition, you can see the results by looking at the Directory listings for Curved Vision on these pages

http://www.modernselling.com/busine...ts/event-management-production-companies.aspx
http://www.modernselling.com/busine...m-suppliers/presentations/design-content.aspx
http://www.modernselling.com/busine...ation-development/training-consultancies.aspx

And the point here is that, having checked out Simon's home page, I see that he offers services based around presentations, where he can help organise the event for you, or the content of your presentations, or train you how. And I'm offering him a media outlet that takes that offering out to the wider UK sales profession audience. I therefore have a pretty good amount of knowledge/research about him and Curved Vision, I know that my initial telephone contact is not going to require any major research or decisions by him, and (at this stage anyway) there is not even a budget requirement. So the call was mutually useful, and accordingly successful.

This is still not the situation pertaining to all cold calls, I know (and before anyone else shouts to tell me), but hopefully illustrates that it can work, even in circumstances where you might think it would not. And thank you Simon for being gracious enough to take the call and respond positively.

Best -Neil

 

[simonr]

Adjusting spam-filters as we speak.....

To be honest, it was a bit of a no-brainer as you were offering me something which might be useful and for which I didn't have to pay. It's a nice example of the difference between a Cold Call and "telesales" in that regard, because you weren't trying to sell anything (in the short term) just establish a relationship. That's a worthwhile point in its own right.

That said, of course, it wasn't a completely cold call. You'd got an 'in' because you could make reference to this thread: in a very vague way we had a relationship and so the call was 'tepid' if you see what I mean. That's very different from people who are on auto-diallers and start with "You've been specially selected for our promotion of new doors and windwos in your area...." (particularly if they also identify themselves as "Adam" after a momentary pause while they read it off the notice on the wall of their Hydrobad office! )

Simon

 

[spigwell]

" (particularly if they also identify themselves as "Adam" after a momentary pause while they read it off the notice on the wall of their Hydrobad office! )

Simon

Yea let's blame Adam. I always had my suspicions about him, nose to close to his lips and eyes looking in two directions at the same time.

 

[Neil Warren]

I think what really gives them away is that they all use the same surname....

Herehowarutoday

As in... "It's Adam, (or Keith or Philip) Herehowarutoday. Sounds a bit too Malaysian or something for my ear.

 

[spigwell]

I think what really gives them away is that they all use the same surname....

Herehowarutoday

As in... "It's Adam, (or Keith or Philip) Herehowarutoday. Sounds a bit too Malaysian or something for my ear.

More plausible than Smith or Jones

 

[markthedoc]

I run a web design business and have often thought about cold calling new businesses and existing businesses without a website. No hard sell involved just a polite call to see if they're interested in my services.

Has anyone else in a similar business tried this and if so did you have much success?

 

[Neil Warren]

Hi Mark

You'll find a lot of web guru's in here, so maybe someone else can help you more.

On the specific of using cold calling to sell your service, I'd have thought you'd struggle to get a good return. It might be that you can match up some data on local firms that don't have a web site, but even then I'd suspect a lowish hit rate, given that they probably don't have one for a well thought out reason - which they'll give you. Possibly new start-up local firms without a web site?

My expectations, these days, would also be that "experts" in your field can demonstrate the validity of their offering. So one major question might be "what do I want a web site for?" which you'll presumably answer with "to bring you more business - via the web"? In which case I'd expect you to demonstrate that that's how you get your business (mostly - or a lot). So, if I then search in Google for "web design liverpool" there you are - but what about "cheap web design" or "web sites for new companies" etc.?

If I'm after "seo services" for example - the guy who runs White Hat is a good mate of mine - and he gets guzillions of enquiries through that - albeit that the quality is a bit dodgy for his purposes, these days. But you get the point?

If you're selling telemarketing services then sure, phone away, but I think your strengths would be better promoted through your area of expertise.

Regards - Neil