Recently I went to a seminar which was sponsored by our order entry software system company, Xetex. The main group of people who use this software are print suppliers, and therefore all the sessions focused on different aspects of the print world. I found it all to be inspiring, and it jumpstarted me back into the world of new customer aquisition.
I created a Long Island Brach of my father’s company in 2003, and I hit the ground running in search of customers. Considering his level of success I asked the simple question, what made him so successful?
Well first let me say there is many things about the man that makes him successful; one thing I find truly amazing is the fact that he gained all his business by COLD CALLING. Why not copy him!
That’s right…I hit the pavement and went door to door of businesses all over the area. This tecnique was both thrilling and frustrating at the same time. Thrilling because I loved when I actually got the opportunity to interact with people, and frustrating when I got sent away with not so kind words. I perservered, and built up a successful business. I love my customers, and my favorite part of the business is having the honor of interacting with them.
Now back to the reason for this post. Cold Calling got me to where I am today, but after this seminar I learned that cold calling may be the ways of the past, and that things such as direct mail, social networking and e mail newsletters is the way of the future. This begs the question…IS IT?
I dove in head first to try these new ideas. I hit the internet to learn what I could of how to find success with these practices. What I found is that it CAN work….but here are the questions I am left with.
- How can these new methods get you to the correct person in the company that you should be speaking with? Even with the nastiest of receptionists you can at least maybe get a name of the person who orders what you are selling.
- How do I get people to want to hear what I have to say? I have to be honest, once I get in front of someone I am pretty good at getting them to at least hear what I have to say. I feel that is why I can be good at what I do. I am able to not only sell my product, but sell myself as someone who people want to buy from.
- What I am seeing is that it takes a lot of time for this online method to work. Do I have that time? Walking through the door of an office puts me in control. Sending out a physical mailing or e newsletter leaves it up in the air as to if someone will read it.
- Person to Person contact. As I said above, I built the business I have by using person to person contact. I am not saying that the new way of doing things takes that away, but does it lesson it? Or are we becoming a society where people prefer no other communication than that they can see via e mail or the internet?
I am not sure of these answers, but right now I am giving it all a fair shot. I am putting my all into it. I hope the new way works for me!
