Cold calls that worked

LinkedIn reminded me that today is a business associate’s birthday. This got me thinking about how we met: it was his cold call. I gave his the usual skepticism on this first call and he had the right answers. The relationship developed into one that boosted my business for several years. I’ve come to place him among the sharpest people I know. Although we don’t work together anymore, I continue to enjoy his presence in my life on social media.

I thought about other cold calls that worked out well for me. They seem to have a few things in common. Each was a “high level” person initiating the call. By this I mean a business owner, professional (one was an attorney who simply identified himself as “new business developer” for his company) or experienced person, as opposed to a rookie in the business. In each case the basic pitch was “we have a product/service you ought to consider”. In each case I responded with a bit of skepticism or negativity. I wondered why a “high level” person would be making cold calls. They persisted. In several cases I can say that the result changes my business and added hundreds of thousands of revenue or saved me thousands of dollars.

So maybe I ought to consider using cold calls more often myself to boost my own business.