Cold calling – The folly of pre-mailing

Recently I was asked how would I write an introductory letter to send prior to cold calling?

My answer “I wouldn’t”.

Reasons to write

There are a couple of key reasons people send an introductory letter:

• They believe it will be read and as a result the prospect will be more open and receptive to their call.
• It makes the call feel less cold so makes making the call easier.

The reality:

The vast majority of your mailings will go straight in the bin, a few will get skimmed first and then binned.  A few will find their way into a pile and become buried, and if you’re lucky and the gods are on your side a few may actually get read.

When you call

So how does this translate for someone receiving a call from you?

If they just skimmed the material or binned it without reading it they probably have no memory of ever receiving it.

Straight away this triggers two doubts:

1. Did you even send them anything or is this just a gimmicky opening you use to get them chatting?
2. Secondly, if you did send them something it must have been of no interest to them or they would have remembered it.

This is not the best footing to start a call.

In short, pre-mailing prospects is time wasting, ineffective and often leads to doubt and mistrust in the minds of those you call.

Invest your time and energy into making more calls and asking more people to take the next step with you.

Success belongs to the askers, so stop mailing and keep asking: the results will speak for themselves.

Paul Foley, Noodle Coaching

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A quick survey

1 – What are the top 3 things a business owner should be looking out for to signal the recession impacting his business?

2 – What metrics would you track closely?

3 – What is your favourite ‘recession survival’ strategy that has worked for you in the past?

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