How to Cold Call without Cold Calling

I'm going to try to write a blog post on my BlackBerry in class; we'll see how this goes.  I'd like to start by thanking Sam Richter (Take The Cold Out of Cold Calling) for tips on finding information using the internet.

Cold calling: does that make you cringe? Especially for people starting out, cold calling can be on the same level (well for males, I don't have a comparison for females, so feel free to chime in!) as approaching women--only I wouldn't recommend using liquid courage for cold calling. Luckily for me, I have supreme confidence and the utmost charisma, so both cold calling and meeting girls is easy as pie. I'm basically the Don Draper of our generation.

Except not. I don't like cold calling. So, I create my own reason for calling with pre-emptive research.

First things first, find your prospect. I've learned you should try to sell as high as possible. (Thanks Dan Grigsby!) Don't be afraid to contact the CEO. He or she will delegate as he or she sees fit. And remember, if you truly believe your product or service will be beneficial, you are not wasting their time.

How do you find the name? Google. Or Reference USA, Million Dollar Directory (huge subscription fees though...unelss you're a student at a university). Try things like:

• [title] + [company name] -- CEO Target -- The first link is to an article with his name, Gregg Steinhafel
• Check Google Finance (also a good place to find the company's main phone number)
• Check LinkedIn to see if you can find a specific employee or at least a title

Now you have a name, it's time to find their email address. Once again, Google. Try things like, "*@*acmewidgets.com" to figure out the email format. Then you can use http://www.coveryourasp.com/ValidateEmail.asp to validate the format. For example, I searched "gregg *@*target.com" and instantly got his email.

Now create your email. The three key elements are:

1. Subject -- it has to be compelling enough to open. Don't use standard, vague subjects like, "Product X", or "Feedback on an idea". Be specific: "Hear from your customers via text message".
2. Keep it brief (but not too brief) -- You have to get the person excited somehow. Is this a new product concept? Be up front and tell them you're looking for their feedback as you think they could benefit from the product in X, Y, Z ways. Also, make this as personalized as possible. Don't copy/paste and mass email--that's treading on SPAM, and SPAM sucks. I generally keep it to about 3-4 paragraphs with a 2-3 sentences per, but experiment with this.
3. Tell them you'll follow up with them in 2 days -- 2 days means business days. I wouldn't even bother mentioning anything about them getting back to you. If you really strike interest, they'll do that on their own.

The nice thing about this approach is you can do this outside of normal business hours, so you can focus on meetings and phone calls during normal business hours.

Make a simple spreadsheet with the 'contact name', 'title', 'company', 'email address', 'phone number', 'email date', 'follow-up date', 'meeting set?', and 'notes'. This will be your daily "CRM" system.

In regards to the phone number, once again, Google. I've even used Google Finance to find the companies main number, and then sometimes you'll get an automated company directory, which, if you know the persons name, you can at least get through to their assistant.

Now the fun part: making the call. Have a list of questions you want answered, and if you think it'll help, jot down some notes of what you want to say. On the follow up date, re-read the introduction email as a refresher of what you said, and then make the call. What do you say? "Hi. This is Geoff from Profit Increaser, Inc. I was wondering if you had a chance to read the email I sent you a few days ago?"

Then you'll get "Yes...blah blah blah." Or, "No I don't think so..."

If its the former, give them your one sentence pitch, and then immediately start asking questions, prefacing it with something like "just a few really quick questions" to assure them this won't take long. Don't bother asking if they have a few minutes. If they didn't, they wouldn't have answered. (I don't mean to be rude here, but asking the person if they have a few minutes gives them a perfect opportunity to end the conversation, which is bad.)

Now be sure to keep everything brief and high level. The goal is to get a meeting.

If you get the person's voicemail, leave them a quick message and tell them you'll follow-up in a few days. Also, I will generally send a follow up email referencing the original email and the voicemail you just left.

So, hopefully you'll get a few meetings. Once you got your sales meeting, now its time to push the sale and hopefully close it. How do you do that? No idea.

But seriously, every meeting is on a case-by-case situation. Just remember to sell the benefits (Thanks Lief Larson!), and more importantly, have a list of questions to get them talking about their business. Then offer your solution.

As a last resort, use this gem of a closing line: Go with your gut instinct, unless it's a 'no', in which case keep thinking about it until you rationalize a 'yes'.

Have anything to add? Please comment below!