Is cold calling to grow your business a thing of the past?

byapearce56

182 followers

8 years ago

Many of us older folks out there remember the days before the internet. There wasn’t a Facebook group to gain customers. There were no Google AD words to reach out to potential clients. For that matter, WA wasn’t around back in the day to help grow your business.

Back in the day, you had Radio and TV which is out of most small businesses reach. You had magazines, local newspapers. There were also networking groups you could join and your local Chamber of Commerce to help you grow a business.

I know the successes, of many of you today, happens at a greater speed than back in the day. WA and the internet are accelerators for sure. I have owned what would be considered a few small businesses in the past. Yes, I did some of the things listed above. I joined the local Chamber, joined a local networking group too. As like today, these were one of the many options to grow a business. Which brings me to my point.

Is cold calling to grow your business a thing of the past?

Back in the day, some of my best successes were cold calling. Reaching out to people that didn’t know they needed my product or service.

I started my current RV Inspection business back in Nov/2016, so approx. 4 months ago, I am here to use WA as one avenue to grow my business, along with others. I have signs on my vehicle, I have brochures, business cards I hand out and will be exhibiting at an RV show in a few weeks. At times, it is still not enough to grow the business as fast as I want to.

Last month, I made a cold call on a new 800 RV lot, (which is very large compared to most) owner owned RV resort. I was introduced to a board member while in the lobby talking with the receptionist. We chatted, he sees the need for RVs coming into their resort to be inspected. He went to the resort board and on Thursday this week, I am making a presentation to the resort board to land the inspection business for this resort. Not sure how successful I will be but without trying I won’t know. This opportunity is in front of me because I made a cold call.

I ask you again, is cold calling to grow your business a thing of the past? Absolutely Not!

For some businesses, yes, it is but if you sell a product or offer a service, cold calling is still a viable option to grow your business. So, what are you waiting for? Get out there, knock on enough doors and one of them will open which could be your key to success and prosperity.