Cold calling makes me shiver

Picture this. I’m sitting at my desk, looking at a list of people to call. After picking up the phone and putting it back down a few times, I choose to do something else. Then a few hours later I try again to make the calls – cold calls. And I can’t.

The next scenario. Now I’m in my car, driving around looking for insurance agents (my best channel market). There’s one! So I turn into the parking lot, pull up in front of the agency and grab my business cards and brochures. My hand touches the door handle and I freeze. Will they want to talk to me? What if they’re busy and get angry because of the interruption (and thus, angry at me)? What if they say …. “No!”? So I put my keys back into the ignition and drive away.

It's December, and here in Indiana, darn cold. But not even the biting cold winds make me shiver as much as cold calling! Just the thought of cold calling makes me shiver and sweat at the same time! So what did I do to promote my business? What did I discover that allows me to market and sell our service without this cold-calling torture? I network instead.

Networking gives you warm calls and most often pre-qualified opportunities. Now when I make a phone call, the person at the other end of the conversation at least knows who I am and why I’m calling. Sometimes my fellow networkers even explain our business and qualify interest before giving me the name of a potential customer! How great is that? And now instead of just walking in unannounced (if I could bring myself to do it), I have scheduled appointments.

In-person (face-to-face) networking, on-line social networking and business on-line networking provide 3 unique opportunities to be introduced to those you’d like to meet. I'll discuss some of them in my next post. They each provide an opportunity to start building a relationship. You receive warm introductions from people they know, and that relieves the cold-calling shivers.

Where do you network?