Devoted to lead generation, lead generators, and successful lead gen campaigns

I read, and agree with, authors and business experts who steadfastly maintain that cold calling is a "waste of time"..."rude"...or "won't result in a long term customer."

But I still find that its effective if done properly.  I'll define "properly" here in a moment, but first a quick story...I wanted an advertiser for one of my newsletters.  I decided to call a company that I had recently read about in a news article to see if they wanted to advertise.

I asked for the President.  They put me through.

We talked for quite a while, actually.

We mutually decided that he wouldn't be right for the advertising I had called about, but then we realized that we could partner effectively on some projects in the future.  We agreed to continue to talk.

And we did.

And we've met.  And traded ideas.

The result from my "cold call" (which was the coldest possible of all cold calls):  A new business relationship that will mean $15k to $80k per year, plus access to other decision makers within my target market.

All because of a cold call.

Granted, I wasn't telemarketing in the traditional sense of the word, and I didn't push my product or service on him...but it was still a cold call.

Cold calling can still work as an effective form of generating sales leads, but you have to do it correctly.  And professionally.