Is Cold Calling Dead?

QUESTION: I am curious what people are doing. Is cold calling dead? I am old school. This is the way I have earned my business for years, but it seems almost impossible to get through to people these days.  – Pam, Montgomery, AL

ANSWER: This is one of the topics that we cover in-depth at our two-day intensives. I am going to be shameless here because I just believe so much in it. Marketing without cold calling is something we cover at the live events and in my coaching programs.  

Is cold calling dead? No, but there is a balance. When I got into the business in 1989 and 1990 there was no internet and all we did was grind away on the phone. Back then it was 3 x 5 cards and 5 x 8 cards and files and you could get through to people much easier.  Back then those advanced companies had voicemail and you would get callbacks pretty easily. It has been diminishing every since email came outing the return call rates continue to diminish.  

You can use email to do an MPC presentation like you might do via voicemail now with the whole goal being to get them on the phone, not to enter into an email dialog.  

The email may read as follow:  

I recently uncovered this great candidate.  Here is why they are great.  Boom.  Look at your calendar, Pam.  What is a great time for us to discuss this person in more detail?  

Mike Gionta  

That is the type of email I use to get them on the phone. I do not want to answer their questions in email, I want to get them on the phone. So it is that balance.   

I do not know if cold calling is ever going to die completely, but it is significantly less effective unless you are just so tied to those tracks, you probably have to evolve or it is just going to be harder. You are still going to be able to develop business. It is not 0% effective and that is what dead would mean, but I would say knowing 2018 compared to 2010 even, compared to 2005, compared to 2000, if you saw a graph, return call rates would be plummeting. I appreciate the question.