I watched a podcast the other day and the women speaking said she networked everyday for the first 6 months of her business, she said she treated it as if it was her job. It was a perplexing statement, “Networking” 5 days a week for 180 days seem very unrealistic and a little more hyperbole than reality.  So I went to various websites to see how this might be accomplished, first the chamber of commerce, then the convention and visitors bureau, then every trade organization and networking online groups that I could find to see how many opportunities existed and the schedules. Conclusion, while there were many groups to associate with and yes there were opportunities, most were either at lunch or in the evening and I couldn’t see spending every evening attending these events, mixers and meetups. Secondly, it seemed a little out of my nature to hob nob or socialize every day in that fashion, yeah O.K. I’m old school and I’m just plain old too. But I also questioned its effectiveness, a candidly there weren’t that many groups/functions to fill my calendar.

Since starting my Firm I have spent countless hours thinking about and attempting to find the right modality for generating leads to create deal flow using the least amount of time and effort and money. Pay per click, direct mail, social media marketing, print ads, and list goes on. The women’s podcast kept bouncing around in my mind, yet something seem slightly missing, I was also in process of changing my digital advertising company and totally revamping my digital and online approach.  All of this re-evaluation and re-thinking I was trying to find the right mix to make things easier and more up to date and more in-line with the times, after sitting around for for countless hours trying to get the right digital strategy, message and metric, I became so frustrated because my heart was telling me that this approach was not the only way and it didn’t seem like I was really working. 

“To Thine Own Self Be True” It finally hit me one morning early when I was reviewing my business plan. I was trained in the 80’s by Xerox Corporation in Leesburg, Virginia, at the Xerox International Center for Training and Management Development, which at the time regarded as the most sophisticated, most intense and most revered corporate training programs in the world. What that program engrained in each Xerox graduate of the program were 3 key things, 1. How to Cold Call, 2. How to Handle Objections 3. Selling is a Profession, when done right is very lucrative. With a 4^th undergirding principle that HARD WORK, is the “X” Factor requirement for success.

OMG, I found myself in my early 60’s looking for the quick and easy way to amplify my success (i.e. social media and pay per click) and was missing the one special gift I spent my sales career mastering, COLD CALLING. That’s when it clicked, I have to be who I am and do what I was trained to do to promote my new company. The way I can “Network everyday with the industries and influencers is to make a list and go to them. Don’t wait to have a conversation and a cocktail hour, networking group, convention event, a Pay per click lead or a social media reply, go directly to them and have that same conversation in their business, in their office. 

Why? Because you learn 10X the information about the Man/Women and company by directly visiting them. They learn 10X about you. You find out things about the man/women and company you could never find out by a phone call or email, you find information that comes from conversation that is invaluable, they share industry and competitive information that helps you in other areas and list goes on and on.  Lastly, you refine your message, delivery and confidence in your product, program or service by engaging in face to face, eye to eye conversation.  Forgive the trite saying, but it true so I will restate it.  People buy from people, and people buy from those who they know and trust, duh.  Hard to do with just a phone call, email, or text, not to mention a pay per click ad or social media post. My belief is the face-to-face call makes all the above more real and it actually amplifies everything you’re doing digitally.  Some like to email, call set the appointment. I say do it in reverse, cold call, email, phone call, set a re-engagement follow up call. 

Cold Calling is not dead. However, to be effective it is still an art, there is still a measure of craft to the endeavor, but when you do it, trust me the competition for in person cold calling is almost non-existent in most industries. So set yourself apart and lose the comfort of the office and all the technology crutches and get to work.  P.S. the technology will still be there but you will find Face to Face cold call will in fact amplify all of the afore mentioned digital strategies.

Walking in to someone’s business unannounced seems off-putting to some, and I would suspect to some it is, however I have found the response you get is in direct response to your attitude and your internal belief system about what you are trying to accomplish.  Make sure you understand what you’re specific purpose is, you are not trying to sell but rather inform, and gather information. I find, you will be welcomed, and people will always be looking to help you. Oh yeah, and smile be friendly, and respectful too.  There are many nuances once you walk through the door but that is for another blog post. 

Lastly, if it helps because our society is big on recalibrating words and their meaning, if the word “Cold Calling” scares you or its got a negative connotation, then call it NETWORKING, because maybe in its truest sense that what it is, Networking! 

“Not all industries and selling situations will lend themselves to this strategy I realize, but for those that will, Never take this tool out of your bag.” –  Bryan Ferguson, Founder Fervent Business Capital