Source: Patrick McEvoy's The Rainmaker Marketing Letter

Patrick McEvoy presents an article by Rain Today with some excellent advice on making cold calls. Rain Today has a 45-page report available for $30 about which McEvoy says, "you'll recover the full cost of this thing the very first time you or your staff apply just one of the techniques listed." You can order the special report at www.raintoday.com/rainmakerbestpractices.cfm .

Here are some of the high points of the above referenced article titled "Cold Calling Tips, Tactics, and Pitfalls to Avoid" provided by Rain Today to Rainmaking Marketing Newsletter. It is based on an interview with Sandy O'Dell, a senior consultant at Wellesley Hills Group in Framingham, MA. She is an expert on cold calling.

• Avoid providing too much information to a prospect on the first call. You don't have to know a lot about the services being offered. If you think you are supposed to know a lot about the services, you tend to talk too much lest the prospects find out you are a fraud. You simply need to know how the services help the clients, and what key concept they will be responsive to.
• Talking to the right people is critical. The receptionist/operator can often tell you who that is. If not, talk to the CEO's assistant. The assistant tries to shield the boss, so try to get the assistant to introduce you to another decision-maker.
• Calling at lunch time or before 7 AM or after 6 PM might get you directly through to the executive. Just prior to holidays and Friday afternoons are often good times to call.

From Patrick McEvoy's Rainmaking Marketing Newsletter, April 20, 2006, (http://www.rainmakerbestpractices.com/).

For the complete article, click here