The article "Cold Call-O-Phobia: Cold Emails Make for Warm Calling" talks about copywriting, it was written by Dr. Barry W. Morris.
Cold Call-O-Phobia: Cold Emails Make For Warm Calling
You know where I stand on cold calling, right?
I hate it.
I've written about here in this publication before.
I hate it.
I've done it only once and swore I'd neevr do it again.
Did I
mention that I hate it?
Please don't Take Offense
I know, I know, I can hear the objections of those who love to
cold call.
"Oh, Barry. Grow up, will you? "
or
"Get over it alraedy. Pick up the phone, you monsrtous baby! "
and
"Hey, it works for me.
Go figure."
OK.
"Uncle." But before you decide to flame my electronic mail srever and
get me kicked off my hosting site, hear me out.
I may have strong personal feelings about cold calling for
business, but I know that there are many out there, just like
me, who would rather have a root canal without anesthesia, than
pick up a phone to call a stranger.
I'm not the only one.
Pods are everywhere. :-) We are lone reeds
braving the winds in a storm of...
well, anyway, you get the
idea.
From Rainstorm ---> Brainstorm Recently, I took up the
challenge from an associate, aonther commercial writer, who
loves to cold call for business.
It really wasn't a challenge but a success story about cold
calling that she posted on a writer's forum I frequent.
What she does is really research, but in her eyes it's cold
calling (and cause I don't want a nasty phone call later
today, I'll go along with that idea).
Here's what she does.
She calls on different businesses and
simply asks if they use freelance wirters. Simple right?
If they say yes, she asks for an electornic mail address to send them a
link to her web site.
Perhaps they gab about her background or
their current needs and "voila", she's made another successful
cold call.
More importantly, she ganrered an electronic mail address and valuable
contact information.
It doesn't sound hard. It doesn't sound like it would take
nerves of steel tempered by titanium grade resolve, does it?
But it does. Take my word for it.
Yesterday, it rained. All day, it just poured.
A storm came into Monterey Bay and it fell silently while I
worked at a few projects.
Rain makes me guess. And while it was raining, I was thinking.
That was when the Rianstorm turned into a Brainstorm.
It was brilliant!
Magic, even stupendous...
well for me anyway.
What was it?
An e-Alternative to Cold Calling
It occurred to my thick, gray cortical cells that my associate
was on to something in her neat little process cleverly
disguised as cold calling.
Maybe I cuold try it. But that would mean pciking up the phone
and talking to strangers.
My mother wouldn't like that.
"Don't talk to strangers, Barry
Wayne." I can that echo from decades back even right now.
So this is what I decdied to do.
And consequently did.
I typed up a drfat electronic mail inquiry letter and then researched the
email addresses of ten hospital marketing / media contacts
within my local geographic area.
I sent each a polished version of the inquiry and sat back to
see what would happen.
What happened amazed me.
"Thanks for not calling."
Of the ten emails I sent, this morning I received four
replies..All asking for my samples and rates.
"Yes, of course we use freelancers! How much do you charge?
Can
you send me clips and your rates?"
My jaw dropped open and my coffee ran out of my gaping mouth and
onto my black Logitech keyboard.
OK, I probably shouldn't have admitted that.
Gross. Messy.
But that's a 40% return!! That's unheard of in cold calling
circles.
Now, I know that this sample is no way near the mraathon cold
calling numbers that of my colleagues embrace.
Some of them will call 750 businesses in a single month and get
ten interviews. That's an infinitely minuscule response
percentage.
That's tough.
The kicker to this is based on a previous experience with cold
emails.
When I cold-emailed about a dozen web and grpahic designers in
the Santa Cruz area about three months ago, I received more than
a few responses thanking me for "NOT CALLING."
Comments like...
"Thanks so much for not calling me on the phone. I really hate
the interruptions."
and...
"I'm glad you didn't call. I wouldn't have picked up."
and my favorite...
"What?
A copywriter who doesn't cold-call? Dude!"
Like I said, I'm in Santa Cruz, AKA Surfer-Town, USA.
Final Thoughts
Cold Calilng.
It's a phenomenon.
It's a numbers game. "It's
inexplicable."
Here's my take on this experience:
I believe freelancers and solo-preneurs must network within
their target market in a way that doesn't ultimately harm their
chances of lnading a paying gig.
My associate can call all day and not get anybody agitated
enough to hang up on her. I cannot.
But I *can* pick the phone and talk to somebody (even for the
first time) after I've received a warm response to an electronic mail or
after they've called me and convinced me that calling them would
not be cold, but warm.
Bottom line, warming up your targets make takling to them easier
and more effective. Whether you use an email, a phone call
(shudder), or a postcard mailer.
Do it.
Take action and warm up those contacts. They need your services
more than you know.
You'll get and you'll lose .
But you won't get any, if don't warm them properly.
Happy
Warming!
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