Re: STC_CIC_SIG--> Marketing

[Peter Kent <techwr -at- ARUNDEL -dot- COM>]

>>I've used cold calling now and again. If it's done right it can be quite
>>effective. In fact haven't done a lot, because it can be so effective
>>that
>>you can run into enough leads to keep you going in just a day or so of
>>calling.

> OK, here's where I hang my ignorance out for everyone to laugh at. <G>

> I've not done cold calling before and it terrifies me. Is it better to
> work
> from a script, even those can sound wooden? What kinds of things should
> be
> in a script?  Is there a good book (maybe even one of yours?) I can pick
> up?  Are there any good ways to make your calls sound less like <gasp>
> telemarketing (even though that's essentially what they are>?  Should I
> do
> a mailing, the follow up with a call or call and then follow up with a
> mailing?

I do discuss this issue in the book. I tried to make such calls less like
telemarketing (though yes, they're obviously telemarketing). The problem is,
if you call and say "do you want a technical writer," you're just wasting
your time. The big challenge is to get past the receptionist and to the
person hiring.

First, you need a good list. Don't just start at the top of the business
pages and work your way down. Find a list of software companies,
telecommunications companies, or whatever. You *know* these companies need
writers; maybe not right now, but maybe later.

If you call large companies you can simply call and ask for human resources,
and explain that you're a writer and are wondering if they have any open
positions; that's hardly cold calling, really. The person you'll be talking
to is paid to talk with people like you.

For true cold calling, you can try something like this. Tell the
receptionist that you've heard the company may need a technical writer.
You'll get one of three responses:

1: The person you have reached has no idea whether they need a writer or
not. This is the most likely scenario. However, this person probably won't
just say "no, go away." So this person will probably ask someone else, and
perhaps transfer you to that other person. You're then back at the
beginning, asking the same question of this new person.

2: The person you have reached knows for sure that they don?t need a
writer--you may have reached the owner of a small company--and that's the
end of it.

3: The person you have reached either is looking for a writer, or knows that
he may need a writer at some point. You may be surprised at just how many of
the calls will end up in this situation. I don?t remember the exact numbers,
but when I did my last little cold-calling session it was probably somewhere
between one call in ten and one in twenty.

Pick the company list properly, and you've got a list of companies that
really do need writers. The response rate can be really high, much, much
higher than consumer-telemarketing rates. For every 100 companies you call
you may well get 10 to 20 good leads.

Hope this helps,

Peter Kent


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