by Sandy O'Dell
"Hi. My name is Sandy O'Dell, and I am a Cold Caller."
"Hi Sandy!" I imagine a group of other underground B-to-B Cold Callers bellow, in sympathetic welcome and spirited validation of who I am and what I do.
While "closeted" cold callers do not belong to the serious fraternities of Anonymous Associations that help its members deal with and recover from grievous and often life-threatening addictions, at least one clear parallel exists:
As a group, many suffer like shame over what they do. Members of this group commonly lie about their occupation to friends and family, or at least embellish their livelihood to the point where it resembles something other, something ostensibly "better," than what it is.
But there is no reason to prevaricate because B-to-B cold calling is business development of the highest order. It is, simply, the linchpin strategy for growth.
Most professional service businesses rely much too heavily on their network of current clients, referrals, and colleagues. In order to jumpstart and sustain vigorous growth, they must take an absolutely essential step. They must move outside of their familiar and finite circle and build a pipeline of cold leads to nurture over time and ultimately develop into new clients.
Businesses can do this in the fastest and most effective way by compiling a list of strong prospects that they don't know but suspect would benefit from their services. And then call them – cold.
Cold calling may be part of an integrated sales and marketing strategy that includes, for example, white papers, mailings, and presentations at key events, but it is a pivotal piece if you want to leverage the enormous opportunity that these would-be prospects represent.
Yet very few people reach out to new prospects on the phone, and even fewer do it well. The reason for this has far less to do with talent and everything to do with practice (which, of course, develops the necessary skills). For most professionals, it feels awkward, uncomfortable, and let's face it - wrong. It no doubt conjures up smarmy images of intrusive, script-reading telemarketers interrupting your Sunday dinner.
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