"Cold calling is killing me"

The Greater Ottawa Carleton Home Builders' Association Boat Cruise last summer. Relationships developed within this association have been vital to my business -- If you are going to cold call the association's members, (or for that matter, if you plan to call the members of any association) however, results will be much better if you join first.

This posting on contractortalk.com touches close to my heart.

Cold Calling is Killing Me

Okay I printed out the entire list off the local Home Builders Association website. On the "L's" right now and dammit I'm tired, I could work a 10 hour shift and not be so wore out haha. Out of about 50 so far I have a few e-mails to send two guys to meet and that's about it.

I have also have put out upwards of 3000 door mailers/flyers and 3,000, two months ago, and 6,500 more to come.

Dammit this stinks we have NEVER had to go out and look for work and we have been in business for eight years. Any ideas, guys.

As the thread progresses, we learn that the contractor had moved from Atlanta where his business thrived on word-of-mouth, to Knoxville, TN, where he is struggling to build relationships.

My quick and somewhat superficial advice: Join the HBA before making the cold calls to fellow members, and possibly look for relationships based on shared geographical experience.

The latter idea is something anyone who has moved should consider. I will never forget the clearest example of its importance.

I was watching (alone) a cricket game in Bulawayo Rhodesia/Zimbabwe in 1979 when I heard a voice: "Mark, is that you, Mark?" I looked at the person, and needed a few minutes to connect the dots. A couple of years ago, we had worked together but not closely on the student newspaper at the University of British Columbia.

My former student newspaper colleague had somehow found his way to the same remote (at least to anyone from Vancouver) African city at the same time. He had become a police officer (to be closer to a South African woman he knew) and I had found employment as a sub-editor on the local newspaper . Despite our different careers and place in life, we naturally had plenty in common, now, and so formed a close friendship which continued through our time in Africa and upon our return, at least until our paths separated again.

With the Internet, news groups, and existing client bases from your "old towns" you can I believe forge useful relationship-building connections by relating the old and the new, and then your word of mouth will take hold.

My first suggestion, to join the HBA before cold calling its membership, is more obvious but in some ways more challenging to execute.

The reason is that just joining a HBA or any association with the hope of creating immediate business is likely to be disappointing and frustrating.

Certainly the renovation contractor would be much better placed to get his foot in the door and the opportunity to win some bids -- certainly, the HBA in our area, the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association, adheres to its motto: "Be a Member -- Do Business with a Member", and the amount of business we've obtained through the years through this membership is impressive.

But association memberships, and many other marketing methods, require you to focus on what you can give rather than what you can sell; you need to think in terms of contribution, support, sharing, and the like -- and I know these qualities are probably farthest from the mind of the contractor simply trying to find enough business to keep the doors open.

Still, I think the contractor would find real value in joining the group -- and possibly connecting with his community associations in the areas where he lives or wishes to serve. The latter are much less expensive, and a little voluntary work can go a long way to cementing relationships. Maybe, in fact, he'll find some people he knows from Atlanta at an association event -- and start building even closer relationships.

The "on behalf of" call -- and other ineffective sales tricks

As Chase and Daniel Smith continued to work at Construct Canada yesterday, I spent some time in the office putting out fires and catching problems. Screw ups in our invoicing system, a mistakenly placed ad (which I caught with the help of our administrator just in time), and the writing of marketing materials for future projects took up much of my time.

And there was the inbound call I did not return.

"Hi, I'm calling on behalf of the Society for Marketing Professional Services . . .",
I listened a few more seconds, then hit "delete".

But wait. Readers here know that I'm a true believer in SMPS and will do everything I can possible to support the organization. Surely, it would take me only a few minutes to return the call. I'm busy, I know, but not that busy.

But I had good reason to delete the message, and this is my message to my staff and anyone else that sells for a living.

If you can't clearly state why you are calling in a message, and you dare to say you are calling "on behalf of" a respected organization, you are most likely selling some way overpriced marketing or promotional stuff, but don't have the courage to be direct about it in your call. You really don't know me, do you . . . Since the answer is 'no', I might as well save my time and not answer at all.

(If the rep is persistent and calls again, I will return his call, but the answer will still be 'no.')

Frankly, I'm afraid that in the past, our less-than-effective sales reps fell into the same trap when they called from a qualified, relationship-focused list we provide them. It almost is the natural thing to do, to find yourself reading from a mental script, and repeating your 'standard' message.

In some cases, I suppose, the process still works. A few will buy, and a few will say 'Yes"; so you can handle the "Nos", the "no answers" and the banality of rejection.

The same generally ineffective (but far too common) sales process applies in many other situations.

Every year, at Construct Canada, a few people approach our booth -- and every other one in the show -- cheating the rules and trying to sell us something. If they are caught, they can be kicked out of the show. We are usually reasonably courteous to them, however, because they are in our face.

Other reps send scripted, "personalized" emails, which reek of standardization. (The really bad ones don't even bother with purported personalization. They join the ranks of services which tell me I've won a million in the lottery, or can have my sexual powers increased with little blue pills.)

And bad canvassers, knock on my home door, with the clipboard in hand and big name tag on their shirt. (I slam the door on them, though readers here know that I acknowledge canvassing can be cost-effective and in fact a truly valid business survival strategy in certain circumstances.)

If you are a sales representative, you must be getting a little frustrated with this posting. How can you reach the real decision-makers when they give you this sort of rather blunt and unfortunate response.

I will give you one simple, but effective, answer.

Know who you are calling, and why, as an individual, and know why they really should listen to you before you make that call.

Think of this carefully.

If you spend more time carefully considering and relating to the needs of your potential client you will have a much greater chance of achieving a valid connection and results.

You may say this model works for extremely high ticket relationships, and not smaller ones, and I agree, to a point. But some effort to learn about the individuals you are calling can be relatively easily achieved often with simple online resources (linkedin.com is truly effective) and the time you spend on this research will be far better spent than griding through the lists.

Back to my first example.

I'm not exactly invisible on the Web, of course. The caller working the SMPS list could have quickly learned of my relationship with the association and some of the things I've done, and communicated by a personal email before phoning.

(We are currently evaluating a sales candidate who passed this initial screening test brilliantly. Seeing the public advertisement for the salaried opportunity, he checked, discovered much about me, and then sent a highly personalized email. I invited him to continue with our evaluation process, which he is doing, now. He has earned his introduction.)

Simply put: If you are a sales representative and have a "call list" put the phone down and hold off the introductory email until you actually know who you are calling. And when you do, have a valid reason for connecting, hopefully to give value rather than sell stuff. I promise I won't hang up on you or ignore your call if you follow these rules.

Getting your phone calls returned

Mel Lester posts some worthy suggestions in his blog entry: Getting your phone calls returned. Lester wisely points out that you won't get far cold calling with a scripted message that doesn't meet your prospective client's interests.

Yeah, coming up with a good reason for the client to return your call (what I call your "entree") isn't easy. But it works. It requires more work up front. So you can make 20 shotgun calls to prospects and maybe get 3-4 to return your call. Or you can offer your entree to 5 prospects and get 3-4 to return your call. Which seems the better strategy? By the way, your chances of eventually making a sale are substantially increased when you take the more client-focused approach, starting with that initial contact

Alas, these days, the number of "bad calls" seems to be increasing disproportionately. This is because the in the era of email, the phone is used much less for casual conversations, and much more frequently for important or meaningful connections. Almost all uninvited and scripted calls are from inept marketers, and are simply not worthy of a response.

As a good example, today, one of my top sales representatives received an unsolicited call from someone representing one of our competitors, pitching advertising in an association publication.

Alas, the caller had absolutely no knowledge of our real relationship with the association -- or, for that matter, our business, or he would have never called us -- as he rattled on in a lengthy and (for us) amusing voice message.

So how do you get calls returned, and meaningful action? Assuming you have a good reason for your call, I'll add one idea to Lester's list, especially if you are calling a senior executive or CEO of a larger company with much authority.

When you call, don't ask for the person directly, ask for his (or her) executive assistant. Better, find the EA's name first (often through the receptionist) and then call the EA.

Explain your purpose, provide whatever documentation s/he requires by email or fax, and seek her guidance on the best way to proceed.

I've never had a legitimate call to an EA shunted aside or not followed through properly. Today, for example, I received a return call, not from the company president, but the person who could really answer my inquiry -- and he was being really courteous to me because he knew the company president wanted him to speak with me.

Executive assistants know which buttons to push, and more importantly, they can handle your inquiry in the most appropriate manner for their busy executive's schedule, perhaps by forwarding an email note, faxed documentation or the like, and getting the response you need. If an appointment directly with the decision-maker is appropriate, they will set one up, but usually on a cold or initial call this is way too presumptuous.

But your stage is set for discussions with more junior employees of the organization and you have a natural follow-through with the EA if you need to communicate further at the higher levels.

EAs may be "gatekeepers" to keep uninvited intruders out -- but they also facilitate your entry if you really have something of relevance to offer. If not, why are you calling in the first place?

Cold calling or networking: Which is better?

Doyle Slayton, in a provocative posting on Salesbroadcast.com, Networking for Results, observes:

As was the case with The Great Debate: Quality vs. Volume, once again, I’m in the minority (see Pump Up the Volume). I don't find networking to be an effective way for "sales" professionals to exceed their goals. For that reason, I almost never attend networking events. On the rare occasion when I do, I’m normally there to support the person or the friend of the person who is hosting the event.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met a lot of nice people and built some good friendships at networking events, but when I’m looking for results… when I’m looking to exceed quota… I get on the phone! Cold calling and pipeline management… that’s the key to sales success!

If I’m going to meet new people at a networking event, I’m looking for people who are big thinkers. Maybe I’ll meet someone who I can collaborate with at some point in the future… But let’s be clear… At this point, I don’t want to sell them anything, and I’m not in the buying mood. Lastly, I’m not looking for an opportunity to get together for coffee. No offense, but I don’t have time for that. The truth is… I don’t drink coffee (smile).

There is another very important fact that has shaped my disbelief in networking. Almost every team I have worked with has members who are attracted to the networking scene. None of those individuals were ever outstanding producers. Most of them struggled to even meet expectations.
Is there a step-by-step formula for those who love networking to produce “superstar” results?

So, since I believe real networking (not the plastic stuff at 'networking events') is the best way to go, I'll do my best to answer Doyle:

Step 1
Know your primary market and Interest group. You can discern this often from your best current clients (who may provide introductions to Step 2).

Step 2
Join relevant associations and groups where your current clients and their peers hang out.

Step 3
Actively engage and contribute to the group and support the individual members without worrying about return. This is not a quick hit game (though results can occur surprisingly rapidly when you let go of the urgency). Follow the principals sharing, respect, and contribution.

Step 4
Reap the rewards. This occurs in two ways. One, people will invite you to do business with them or offer referrals as part of the principal of reciprocation. Or, in appropriate circumstances, you can openly ask your friends and colleagues for help. Because you've built the relationships to a high enough level, they will.

That's the formula. Now, if you need results immediately -- if you must get orders in the door yesterday and you have a manager breathing down your back, and you haven't bothered to build any relationships to start, you will probably have to go to the most intrusive and irritating forms of cold calling and canvassing, and hope something sticks. But if you've laid the groundwork with your networking and existing relationships, you will likely have much greater success in a crisis by calling on favours from people who respect and trust you.

Networking done right can leverage relationships. Oh, by the way, I found Doyle's blog through a linkedin.com reference that Ford Harding had joined his group. That's good enough for me. If you can utilize the multiplying effect of really strong relationships and media and social networking publicity, you can speed up the reputation building and relationship development far faster than either conventional cold calling or meet-and-greet networking. But that's marketing, not sales!

Selling and buying

Blogger Gary Vaynerchuk doesn't need to make cold calls to succeed -- he shows how, by demonstrating how to make a cold call in this video posting.

Most of us, most of the time, don't like to sell or be sold anything. However, most of us like to experience things, to share news (gossip?), and to be entertained. So how do you find new and profitable business, then?

These thoughts run through my mind as (a) I initially turned down but may eventually do business with someone who wanted to pay me for a link on this blog, (b) fellow blogger Seth Holdren posts a fascinating video showing how you can "monetize" your blog, and (c) I thought how Gary Vaynerchuk, giving the advice on monetizing a blog, actually is achieving the objectives of achieving his business objective without selling anything. That is, others are now posting and reviewing, and observing the blog, in an ever-expanding network.

We see these contradictions all the time in business. Most successful contractors, architects and engineers, win most of their business through repeat clients and referrals, even public RFP stuff is often wired in favour of one organization or another.

Going out and selling stuff -- actually phoning people cold, or even simply asking for business, seems unpleasant, to be avoided, and disturbing. If only we could make the clients come to us without doing that sort of thing, we think.

So we are paralyzed with inaction when the phone doesn't ring (except for someone trying to sell us something.) Or we seek to buy the answer through advertising: We pay someone else to send out our message, with the hope that potential clients will call us. We measure our success when this happens.

Our challenge then, is to find a way to market like Gary Vaynerchuk, to reach out -- to actually sell -- in a way that transcends the simple one-on-one selling experience, and gives you leverage so that you can, indeed, get people to call you who hear about you from others, who hear about you.

Solutions?

Publicity
Can you hire a publicist or do you have the knack for getting the media interested in your business. The selling here will be the 'pitch' to the relevant media outlet, or the outrageously innovative idea that you can spread virally.

Blogging (passionately)
That's me. I'm good at this stuff and the blog is reaching higher rankings because of its success.

Hiring someone else to sell for you
Yes, it would be nice to get someone else to make your cold calls, but I think you are unlikely to be successful unless you make some yourself -- you can delegate this work, but you can only do that once you really appreciate what is involved.

Initiating community service and networks (being a leader)
Look what Tim Klabunde is doing in Washington.

Rethinking the cold call

Are these guys wearing proper safety gear? The image is from the site mainstreetconnect.com, where Steven Cull offers a cold calling/lead development service from Chicago, Illinois. A similar service, focused primarily for the construction industry, is offered by Construction Business Development in the United Kingdom. Does it make sense to use an outside vendor to cold call on your behalf? I'm not sure -- if the callers achieve success and the cost per worthwhile lead is justified, these services may be of value for your business.

Perhaps the most overly abused, misunderstood, and ineffectively handled concepts in selling and marketing is the cold call. In our perception, the cold call is just that -- an intrusive 'invasion' of space from an uninvited person who knows nothing of our business and wants to bother a senior decision-maker to make a 'pitch' for something he or she doesn't really want or need.


OK, I know, no one in sales really thinks that way, but you would have to wonder when canvassers drop by the office (or in the residential environment, knock on the door, uninvited), or phone us at work or home, with their pre-programmed script and mindless selling blather.


I hate it.


But cold calling doesn't have to be that bad; in fact, it can truly take you to the heights of business and selling success -- if you think about things in a truly different light. That is, you really have something of immediate and practical relevance to he person you are calling; something that would legitimately get a 'wow, this is news and important to me' response.


Clearly, you aren't going to get that just by grabbing a business directory and calling every name on the list; or walking down the street, knocking on every door, or phoning everyone in the book. This type of cold calling is much more thoughtful, specific, and relevant.


My favorite example, which I've cited several times, is the cold call I made to a major organization back in 1998. I had been at a meeting where some key people we were seeking to do business with virtually threw me out of their office, and then said they wished the other organization would 'leave town' too. So I called 'the other organization', cold! I didn't know anyone there, had no previous relationship with the business, but certainly had some interesting news to share.


We met, and formed a business alliance that continues to this day. (I won't cite details in this blog because some stories, no matter how interesting, cannot be shared in public.)


So, say you have a new technology, building material, resource, or idea. Clearly the best way to approach things is through relationships and referrals, but you might be in a position to actually know something immediately relevant to the business you are calling, because you know your market, the business, and its competition. Call them -- and share your observations. You'll connect.


A point to make here is the misleading 'sales training' line that selling is a 'numbers game'. In this thesis, the more people you call (bother!) the more you sell. So you call and call, and hope things will stick.


In some industries/sectors this argument might work well -- if you really know your stuff. A few weeks ago, a sophisticated and I believe successful investment advisor phoned me, cold. He left a message. I courteously returned the call (which I will do whenever I'm not overwhelmingly busy) and explained that my wife makes all the investment decisions in our family, she does her own thing, and, no, I am not introducing him to her. Then I asked him about his success rate with the cold calls.


He says he disciplines himself to do the calling for an hour a day, three days a week. He says he can calculate over time how many leads he calls convert to business, and it is worthwhile. And it may well work like that, if your market is wide enough, your offering is relevant enough, and you have the confidence and maturity of someone who has achieved success in your business -- this comes over really quickly on the phone, I can assure you.


(However, I am becoming immune to investment advisers and others who use lead generators -- cold calling telemarketers -- to set the stage for their own work. They are passing the buck to someone else, and it is not just annoying, it is irritating to me.)


I would argue that you will get much better results, overall, if you research your proposition, and if you are going to cold call, either have something directly and immediately (and almost exclusively) relevant to the person you are calling,and/or an offer/proposal that is so good that it is foolish to ignore.


If you are, instead, going to play the "numbers game" remember, you have to have enough numbers to play with in the first place, or you'll burn through all your leads and be left with very little to show for your wasted effort.

The marketing process

Mike Burgelin sent me this email yesterday:

Hi, my name is Mike Burgelin owner of EmployeeLeasingQuotes.com. I would appreciate any linking opportunity from your site. We work with small business owners, primarily in the construction and trades industry. Our job is to help them find an employee leasing company that can lower their workers’ compensation costs and handle all the non-profitable tasks of dealing with payroll along with other employee related administrative headaches. I would also be open (if you are interested) to writing articles in these specific areas for your site. I currently write for maintenance magazine for my marketing business and have been designated an expert author by ezinearticles.com. Thanks for any assistance you can be. Please contact me if I can help you.

My initial reaction: Achhh, another person, seeing our high Google rankings, seeking to piggyback on this web presence for some free publicity. And indeed, I'm pretty sure this is what Mike is seeking to accomplish.

But I took some time to dig through his reference points, to this article list in Maintenance Supplies Magazine, and some of the writing is actually quite good. For example, note this quote from Cold Calling: The Wrong Approach.

As a distributor, you have salespeople cold calling on you. How do you react? How much time do you give the salesperson? Let's assume you need office supplies, ink cartridges for your copiers, etc. Will you take 30 minutes to sit with the salesperson? Do you think you will even keep their card?

An alternative

On the other hand, would you open a letter hand-addressed to you from the owner of the local office supply business? What if this person explained who they were in the community, provided a list of local customers and presented a few free tips on how you could save money along with a great business offer. Do you think you would remember their name? Would you be more open to a conversation with them?

I agree with Mike 100 per cent.

So I dug into this a little further, and discovered Mike's other site, Marketing Formulas, Inc., which has some useful articles and insights.

Construction Marketing, Construction Business Development and Search Engine Optimization (What a mouthful!)

The Construction Business Development logo. This U.K. firm offers a sales cold calling service. In an email to me, David Crick wrote that he doesn't know of counterparts in North America, but in the late 90s "I did several tours of construction sales seminars in Canada and the U.S. with David Oliver - these were practical sales seminars with me doing a live telephone demo in the seminar itself showing how to make cold calls for contractors to architects. Worked well. These were sponsored by the sales leads specialist CMD - a major competitor of Dodge as I recall . . . In the UK we have two similar firms - Barbour-ABI and Glenigan. The U.S. market then seemed very similar to the UK market in the way these calls worked and the positive responses we had - we did 8 seminars in major centres from Toronto to Tampa over a 2 week tour - I did the cold calling for CMD contractor subscribers in each centre and always had a good reception with good relationships being started each demo. Cold calling like this always does seem to work for me."

Dave/Andrew Crick have posted another intriguing entry on their U.K.-based Construction Business Development Blog, outlining their "one day a week cold call" strategy. Almost simultaneously (and totally without coincidence, I speculate) someone with the name "CBD Sales" posted this inquiry on the Contractortalk.com forum under the heading: "Getting a Website Out There or Getting Your SEO on".

At the moment I am working on a website for Construction Business Development, a UK firm that focuses on construction marketing. I am trying to promote this site and I am running up against massive brick walls. First and foremost, I am having problems finding places to place links. Most of the sites out there seem to be standard directories based off of the Dmoz page that's really about it. Does any one have some practical experience in this field that would know of some great ways to build links?

Other contractors responding to this inquiry. One recommended software calle SeoElite. I haven't tried it. (Reviews are mixed). Another suggested:

Build relationships with construction industry bloggers. A little new media PR will go a long way when your company needs to ask for some promotional favors and links with useful title tags.

And a third poster answered:

Write a blog update it 2 or 3 times a week.Go to other blogs and leave comments that link back.Go join forums like this one and leave links.

Hmm, looks like this is exactly what the Cricks at CBD are doing, exactly. So is their frustration feigned, just one of a number of strategies to create links and attention? Or have they missed the most important ingredient in this puzzle -- patience.

It took me about six months of virtually continuous blogging to get out of the Google Sandbox -- and then upwards of a year for the blog to acquire meaningful search engine rankings. (Now, when I check, it often is in first place on the search engines for relevant keywords.) Obviously this is a slower sales cycle than the CBD bloggers are accustomed to with their "one day a week" cold calling" strategy

In the latest blog entry, David Crick elaborates on the CBD strategy and model. It is intriguing, and, I expect, highly effective for contractors who use it.

Experience

We believe that effective use of the phone coupled with good project leads over short focused periods of time is the single most powerful marketing tool available to most contractors.

For this plan to work, you'll need dedicated and skilled operators. As many of you will already know, cold calling new leads is not always easy and demands experience and confidence to get past the many unsuccessful calls that any salesman will have. (To read an interesting article on sales failures, look here).

So, how much experience should a sales person have? It’s a tough call, but as a general rule of thumb it’s best to use someone who has been doing cold calling in the construction industry for significant amount of time. Whilst this can be limiting, the idea is that firms should be able to compensate for not spending a great deal of time on sales and marketing by having experienced professionals focus on sales for shorter periods of time, thus saving costs overall.

Crick notes his strategy will achieve these results:

Experience shows that just one day a week can be very effective in developing new business. Results from this committed time are already covered, here – but effectively, this strategy should result in a new contract at least every 6-7 weeks with a tender conversion rate of 1 in 4/5.

The question is whether the CBD marketers will have the patience and energy to continue blogging with reliable consistency and intensity -- when the time to do this work obviously takes away from the profitable billable hours in contractors' offices cold calling for them (or hiring people to do the calling, or finding live clients through networking events, referrals and, yes, cold calling!) The same issue applies for your business.

I think Search Engine Optimization strategies, like effective media/publicity relations, can be the most cost effective and rewarding outbound marketing strategies you can use -- but your challenge is to realize that while occasionally you can hit a home run, these methodologies work best if you think in terms of months or years for signs of real results. Yes, the people at Construction Business Development -- reflecting their common sense and fast-acting approach to business -- are doing everything right to achieve SEO results. The true test is whether they will be patient enough to continue, day after day, week after week, month after month, until the reward output matches the energy input. In your own business, you have the same challenges.

A Man in Transition -- and the Unsolicited Offer

Las Vegas architect/consultant Craig Galati, a principal at the consulting firm Lucchesi Galati, writes a great blog -- and has self-published two simple but meaningful books (they are also inexpensive) with insightful gems. I doubt his books could be profitably published by a conventional publisher -- but this is the era of the "long tail" and now individuals and micro-markets can find expression previously considered impossible. Craig graciously sent me a review copy and I think blog readers will find it worthwhile to purchase the book. (the link below takes you to Amazon.ca, where I will earn about 40 cents on the transaction; if you are in the U.S. you can find the title at Amazon.com.)

Here is an excerpt from one chapter, The Unsolicited Offer. I mentally associate this with the "cold call" but of course that is not exactly what Galati is discussing.

Every day we receive unsolicited offers from people selling services and products. Do you pay attention to them?

The essence of a successful unsolicited offer is offering something of value to someone who also sees it to be of value.

An unsolicited offer shouldn't need to be sold, just offered.

So how does this happen? first of all, I do not believe the shotgun approach works. Trying to sell something you think is valuable to the masses is difficult -- or it takes a ton of money to accomplish.

I've found that to make an unsolicited offer to work, you must be good at two things.

• Clarity-- understanding what you have to offer, to whom it would
  be valuable, and why it would be valuable;
• Timing -- the ability to sense within the marketplace when what you have becomes valuable to someone else.

The first one is relatively easy. You can determine what you have to offer, and though research you can develop a sense of who may value your offer. You just need to be careful that your passion for the offer doesn't taint your objectivity.

Getting the timing right takes patience, thought and practice. It also requires that you get out from behind your desk and meet people and it requires that you keep up with current trends and issues within your marketplace.

If you can get really good at these two points, then the unsolicited offer, targeted successfully, can open doors for you that you only previously imagined.

I still very much recall one time where I put the "unsolicited offer" concept advocated by Galati into practice. When we were establishing the GTA Construction Report in 1999, the then Toronto Construction Association chair essentially invited me to leave town. (It didn't help that he was also the then the publisher of the Daily Commercial News and Construction Record -- a competing publication.) He also said he wouldn't mind if another competitor, McGraw-Hill, also went away.

After leaving the belligerent meeting, I told my newly hired editor who was waiting outside the room that beginning with the first issue, we would do our best to publish a positive story about the TCA in each issue regardless of their feelings towards us. And I picked up the phone and made a cold call to McGraw-Hill's Toronto office.

A month later, we had entered into an informal relationship that continues to this day (now with MERX in Canada.) In exchange for copyright permission to reproduce construction business leads data, we provide them with useful promotional considerations. It is a cost effective and useful alliance that has continued for almost two decades.

I think this is an example where, as Galati suggests, timing and clarity coincide for a truly effective unsolicited offer.

The Death of the Cold Call

You will probably find it worthwhile to visit http://friedmanpartners.com and sign up for Rich Friedman's e-letter.

In the latest issue of The SMPS Marketer, Rich Friedman. President of Friedman & Partners in the Boston area, makes it clear that you don't build a market for an AEC professional service with cold calls. His points:

1. Cold calls have a very low ROI


2. Greater connectivity and technological tools negate the need for cold calls


3. Cold calls send the wrong message to your staff


4. Cold calls breed poor BD "hygiene"


5. Cold calls do a disservice to the industry.

The entire article is posted on his website at www.friedmanpartners.com (where you can subscribe to a free newsletter, the Friedman File) but I will quote from point 4 to show the thinking here:

Those who engage in cold calls often believe the process is more akin to telemarketing -- the more cold calls you place, the more likely you are to land a lead. But selling professional services entails a much more complex process (thank goodness!) -- one that should rely on the more tried and true process of conducting background research, honing your differentiators, value-add, and elevator speech, and asking probing, open-ended questions to identify what's keeping your target up at night. Engaging in this process has the added benefit of enhancing prospect/client relations.

Absolutely . . .

In the real world, the market for our services is huge in potential volume, but not in potential numbers -- playing the 'numbers game' and 'blasting through lists' is likely to quickly cause you to use up all your potential leads -- and then be left wondering where the potential clients are. Relationships, starting with your existing and former clients, are where you are likely to have the greatest success; and in finding new business, you need to appreciate that few people either want to make -- or receive -- 'cold calls'.

Canvassing works, but . . .

Needham Canvassing Consultants in Ceresco, MI, offers a consulting service to help businesses canvass effectively.

This thread on Contractortalk.com suggests that door-to-door canvassing is truly effective. Similarly, Ford Harding in his Rainmaking book indicates that if you have the stomach for it, cold calling for professional services can be profitable and valid. My role in reporting on these options is not to denigrate them; they work in many cases, just as do intrusive telemarketing calls, and (yes) spam emails. But is this the type of business we really want to run?

I think the business owners who have employees pounding the pavement with door-to-door canvassers would much rather have an environment where the phone rings and clients call, enthusiastically requesting quotes -- without worrying about the price (which might be well above the going rate). This is the stuff of branding, reputation, relationships, and repeat business. It is about authority, leadership, and effective niche marketing.

But I don't want to sit on an ivory tower in judgment. Cold calling and canvassing indeed are effective, done properly.

Cold calling for AEC Services (2)

Consultant Clare Ross has added some useful tips and ideas about cold calling for AEC services in a SMPS Listserve entry. He says: "Usually cold calling isonly marginally effective but. properly done,it can be another effective tool to reach targeted clients. The following are some proven tips you can use to improve your effectiveness."

COLD CALL STRATEGIES
Sometimes, there is no alternative: You must call strangers to getessential information on a new project or a new client. You also might be nervous. How do you keep those you are calling, interested? What if they don't want to talk?
Here are some strategies to help you turn leads or contacts into projects.
Send a distinctive handwritten note before you call, giving people the unusual option of declining the upcoming call.
To Write Before Calling:
* Use light-blue, monarch-size paper (about 7 inches by 10 inches) with medium-thick navy ink, It's easy to read and distinctive.
* Hand-write the letter, and hand-address the envelope. It looks professional if a printer puts your name and address on the bottom of the paper in a simple font and your return address on the back flap of the envelope.
* Address people by their first and last names (no Mr. or Ms.).
* Be brief (three paragraphs, 135 words maximum). First paragraph: introduce yourself. Second: Describe why you're contacting this person. Let him or her know how they might benefit by talking with you.Third: Say you'll be calling in a few days to ask if you could talk.
* Close with, "If you would prefer not to receive my call, please leave a message at.... Your wishes will be respected. Thank you for giving this your consideration."
* Call the contacts in about five days if they haven't called to decline. State your name and that you're calling for (first and last name). Refer to the blue note.
For Successful Phone Calls:
* Plan, but don't memorize, your calls. Think about what you'll cover and how. Have a specific objective in mind like getting an appointment or determining the extent of any upcoming construction program.
* Don 't start with the trite "how are you?" Instead, say, Hello, my name is...."
* Concisely cover vital information in the first several seconds of the call. Explain who you are, who you believe the other person is, why you're calling, how you heard about this project, what possibility you see for working together and how long this should take.
* Assess how the other person sounds. Ask if this is a convenient time.If not, suggest that you
call back at a specific time. Showing respect for a prospect's time builds your credibility.
* Establish what the other person knows about you. (" Perhaps you heard Bob talk about me, I'd like to tell you more").
* Sound strong and confident. Don 't apologize for calling.
* Help people visualize you, ("I'm calling from Atlanta ").

Clare Ross can be reached at: Strategic Sales and Marketing Consultants, The Clare Ross Organization, LLC P.O. Box 4560 Chino Valley, AZ 86323 928-776-4760 www.clarerossorganization.com.

Cold Calling -- Knowing the topic.

Here is an illustrative email exchange between myself and Dan Caldwell of Stout and Caldwell Engineers in New Jersey.

My comment to him:

Regarding cold calls, I believe they indeed effective if they are purposeful and not 'rote'. Unfortunately, many cold call assignments are ill-planned and the people tasked with the work are often 'grinders' just trying to make a living. Cold calls can certainly be useful for gathering information.

I like to systematize things so that (a) either the offer is irresistibly good or (b) the person called is warmed up sufficiently, usually through a referred relationship or (c) both (the best).

His response:

Correct, cold callers typically impose no thought into their call. Its a basic numbers game for them. The more crap they sling the higher chance of success they have. The problem is that if they hit a very good prospect and cannot really talk the talk, the company could be perceived in a poor light. On top of that, the opportunity is lost.

Excellent point!

Cold calling for AEC Services

This poster is on an article from the British Broadcasting Corporation -- and a story about residential door-to-door cold calling. No doubt about it, cold calling can be effective BUT it is not for the faint of heart (or anyone who cannot stomach much rejection). If you are thinking of doing it for an AEC practice, it is best to go prepared, and with a clear plan of action.

An interesting discussion is developing on the SMPS listserve about whether it makes sense to cold call for AEC services (coupled with direct marketing pieces).

Paul Klassen, Marketing Coordinator of C. H. Guernsey & Company Oklahoma City wrote

I was curious about an aspect of marketing that I haven't seen come up on this list. For professional services (architecture/engineering), in a very targeted market - do any of your firms cold call via phone?
Example: You are targeting a very specific market, like a particular type of building/facility user. You may have the name of the facility manager, or not. The region is your city only. You'verecently sent a direct mail and this cold call would follow up to see if they remembered the direct mail piece and also if there are any services for facility expansion you could provide. There may be a significant number (>500) of facilities of the type in your city.
If you do not feel this is a viable process, why?
If you do, who would you expect to perform this service, an internal marketing staff? The project managers or junior level architectural staff (who would be familiar with the specific facility type)? A contracted telemarketing firm?

Dan Caldwell of Stout and Caldwell Engineers in Cinnaminson, NJ responded:

Q: You may have the name of the facility manager, or not.
A: My opinion, the "or not" piece of the puzzle needs to be eliminated. If you don't have the name
of the facility manager or a key decision maker, please don't waste the time/effort and money sending your beautifully designed marketing piece to just "facility manager".
SUGGESTION: Do your cold calls first to identify the facility manager or more importantly, the decision maker. Then, send the mailer and do your follow up calls. P.S. While you have them on the phone, verify all of the mailing contact information, phone, fax, email, website etc.
Q: You've recently sent a direct mail and this cold call would follow up to see if they remembered the direct mail piece and also if there are any services for facility expansion you could provide.
A: Design your marketing piece so there is no way they could forget it, be memorable! Forgetting your mailer cannot/should not be an option, really!
If you do this, the call you make will take little or no "re-introduction"so you can get right to the reason you really called, to see if there is any business there!
Q: There may be a significant number (>500) of facilities of the type in your city.
A: AGAIN, above all else, make sure that your mail piece is designed to be memorable so when you do the "cold call", they can't help but to remember your firm. P.S. 74%+/- of companies who send out marketing pieces, don't do follow-up calls from their mailers. They are using the shotgun approach:reason, follow-up is work, its hard work but if done correctly, it can be the best marketing tool for your business; you just have to be willing to pay that price.
Q: If you do not feel this is a viable process, why?
A: I do feel this is a viable process but with modification. Personally, I love cold calling prospective clients, with or without a pre-mailer.
Q: If you do, who would you expect to perform this service?
Internal marketing staff: 75%
Project Managers: 12.5%
Junior level architectural staff: 12.5%
A contracted telemarketing firm - either 0% or 100% (all or nothing)
A: RECOMMENDATION: If the marketing staff doesn't know and understand the specific facility type, they need to learn it and learn it fast! How could they "Talk Turkey" to the facility manager or the decision maker?
Everyone in the company needs to now the "details" of the business type that you are targeting i.e., the key players, the competition, the winners, the losers in the business, who is growing, who is contracting, which companies are the most conservative and the least conservative; the standard "lingo"in the business (and they need to speak it like it's part of their every day conversation), they have to have a handle on pricing, time variables, permitting, local, state and federal requirements etc.
My bottom line: If you spend time putting together a great marketing piece, PLEASE take the time to make sure it gets to the right person and that when you follow up to see if your mailer arrived properly, make sure that the person calling has a handle on the conversation, wherever it may go. Suggestion: If you don't like cold calling, try this: Write your script and practice it for a day. Then try it out on the prospects that are less likely to give you business. You need to learn to expect to receive "no" for an answer which makes getting a "Yes" or even an opportunity, that much sweeter. Then as you improve your cold calling skills, focus on those key prospects who really can give you business. Also, measure the success rates: (positive-vs-negative). Do it for a week, a month and a year. If you keep doing it and measuring it, you will eventually see your improvement and realize how great cold calling can be!

My thoughts? Cold calling is tough for professional salespeople; it would be demoralizing for anyone who doesn't have the 'right stuff' for sales work (but notably many people who would make great salespeople, are in non-sales jobs). Properly done it can be effective IF you know who you are calling, and have a natural approach to the situation. Otherwise, expect your share of rudeness, hostility and downright demoralizing responses.

(Today, for example, sitting at Amanda's desk, (she couldn't get in because of a snowstorm), some guys were pounding the floor in a neighbouring office with a hydraulic drill. And I needed to prepare for an important meeting due to start in 10 minutes. Someone calls: "Can I speak to the person responsible for IT services in your company?" Did that person exactly receive a favourable reception --when in fact he had reached the right person and I generally try to be courteous to inbound callers?)