Cold calls are something we’ve all done. It’s hard, uncomfortable and sometimes it even works. They must work or they wouldn’t happen. But here’s the thing, a cold call is really an unplanned warm call. So, how do you warm up a call that would normally be cold? It’s pretty easy – invest a bit of time in the person you intend to call.
Read & comment on their blog.
Retweet their cool tweets.
Download their podcast
Buy and use their product and evangelise it.
Get involved in their digital output.
Attend their events.
In short, make sure they know your name before you call. Ensure they’ve seen you in their eco system . You can even remind them what you’ve done to support their work in the early stages of a phone call, or the first few lines of an email. If we do this, the law of reciprocity sets in – it at least becomes a conversation. Startup founders need to invent conversations, and make real connections.
So what if this cold call is one of those ones where it isn’t really possible to do any of the above? Well, you shouldn’t really be making the call, should you?
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