And yet my you’re still doing it, aren’t you? It boggles my mind how most business owners I meet are still thinking that prospecting and business growth equal cold calls. And they break out into a sweat over it. And of course, naturally they refuse to do it. Well, the world of sales and marketing has come a long way, baby. Cold calls are good for people who have the time and resources to be able to afford the dismal ROI. I and my clients don’t have the luxury. So here’s how to avoid cold calls if you’re selling B2B services.

Get In Their Face

Network, volunteer at industry functions or get introduced through other acquaintances. Just be where your prospects are so you can interact with them. It’s really harder to avoid someone who is asking you to pass the salt at an industry function versus someone who is trying to reach you through cold calling.

Stand Up

Speak at a conference, blog about your expertise, do a TV appearance or just ask and answer questions in your target industry’s LinkedIn groups. When you step forward as an expert solution provider in front of your prospect, you stand up and stand out. When you are holding the proverbial or literal microphone, everyone is looking at you. Which means when you step up on an expertise platform at industry events, your prospects in that industry are listening to you. You can be sure that much more than 2% of your audience is listening to you.

Drown Them In Value Content

When you reach out to your prospects, whether by cold calling or by cold emailing, there is still a way to get their attention and improve that 2% rate of booking appointments. What my clients and I do, is to create a valuable collateral piece to share with them (like an infographic or free e-report download) or create an event (like an Executive Roundtable, a lunch and learn or a webinar) to invite them to. When the message of your cold outreach is about their pain and actually offering a solution to that pain, that’s when cold calling ROI magic happens.
So if you’re fainting at the idea of the horror of cold calling, take heart, it’s not the only way to get appointments with corporations anymore.
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*title stat source: Leap Job