Inbound Marketing and Outbound Marketing - Balanced Approach

I like cold calling.  There, I admit it.  It’s true.  There’s something about the challenge, about trying to win over the “gatekeeper” in a short amount of time.  Crazy as it may sound, there’s even something about being rejected or having someone hang up on me that makes me feel alive.  In fact, a couple weeks ago while cold calling I was getting the hardcore “screen” from the office “gatekeeper” and she ultimately hung up on me.  I laughed and said to myself, “she just hung up on me!”

So, what did I do?  I called her right back!  Unfortunately, another person answered the phone and this time I got through.  I say unfortunately, because I often like to say something like, “I’m sorry, I think we were cut off.”  The “gatekeepers” love that one.

Anyway, the point is this:  I’m a HUGE believer in social media.  I love the principals of inbound marketing and agree with all the arguments against “interruption” marketing. In fact, if you work with us, you know that we’re pushing you hard in the direction of inbound marketing because that’s how people find information about the things they want and need.  Yet, here’s the beauty of cold calling and those of us who do it:  We’re out there looking for the people to let them know they need our services before they know they need it!

It’s remarkable how many times you cold call a business and they say, “we were just talking about that,” or worse, they’ll say, “we just hired someone for that.”  Then you cringe and hope your boss wasn’t listening in on the call!  Still, those are times you say to yourself, “man, I’ve got to do this more often.”

Balance Your Prospecting

So, what am I getting at?  Prospecting for new business is a multi-pronged task and it’s a system.  The way I view it, social media and interacting socially with people you can see and touch, is the basis of your approach.  Get to know people, network, find people who know people, who know people.  Meet people in business that do business with other businesses and build a solid network of “friends.”  Like a spider, this is your web and you’re gathering everything that you see fall into your web.

Meantime, cold call, but be smart.  See, I’m actually someone who will talk to cold callers if they’re interesting and know something about my business.  One of the most annoying things is when someone cold calls you and they have absolutely no idea what you do, who you are are or what your business is about. In the day of the internet and search engines, there’s no reason anyone should cold call blindly. Prospectors, do your homework.  Spend 5 minutes to research your prospect before picking up the phone. You’ll be smarter and you won’t look like a moron.

When you’re cold calling, you’re the hunter.  As in the book Whale Hunting by Tom Searcy and Barbara Weaver Smith, they stress preparation, knowledge and having the right team, so you also need to know your company’s sweet spot.  Nevertheless, 90% of the satisfaction in cold calling is preparing and knowing that you’ve got a prospect that needs to talk to you because you can help them.  If you can’t help them in a meaningful way then you’re a meaningless cold caller and in that case you’re a detriment to your business.

When you’re out developing new business in this crumby economy remember this:

1. Research your prospect
2. Stay positive
3. Balance social media with active prospecting
4. Ask yourself, “can I really help, or am I just selling stuff.”

Oh, and remember, be kind to the “gatekeeper,” after all, they hold the key.

Ed Heil is the owner and president of StoryTeller Media & Communications an inbound marketing and public relations agency and video production company based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Ed blogs on topics related to inbound marketing, social media, media relations, news media, video production and crisis communications.

Tags: barbara weaver smith, new business development, tom searcy, whale hunting

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