Hi Brandon,
Welcome to the jungle!
Peter Drucker once said, "The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous."
I believe it's important to retain your "Trusted Advisor" position in each aspect of your business. So, instead of "harassing" people through cold calling and asking them if they need what you have, it may be a better approach to set up various channels to distribute valuable information for your target market.
Mike Schultz writes in this white paper “Making Lead Generation Work for Professional Services”:
When you sit down at the table with a prospective client for the first time, you might encounter one of
two possibilities:
Possibility #1: I’ve never heard of you. I don’t know what you offer. I don’t know why you’re here. Now what did you want to sell me?
Possibility #2: I’ve read two of your white papers, saw you speak, and regularly read your newsletter. I love your website and your ABC Methodology. I’ve been looking forward to
speaking with you for years now.
Of course, Possibility #2 is what you want to hear. You can accomplish this through your firm’s lead generation activities, if you create and leverage offers and experiences in your lead generation process.
And the same applies to the very first contact.
Besides, an automated lead generation system doesn't have mood swings, doesn't ask for pay increase, doesn't phone in sick and is more consistent. Oh, and it's your for life.
Yes, cold calling can generate clients, as they jumped on your offer on the first call, they jump on anyone's offer on the first call. This is one of the reasons why most men knowingly don't marry whores. They can be pretty fickle just like most instant clients.
I think you're better off with a lead generation and lead nurturing system, and when people are ready to buy, they come to you for you're the natural number 1 choice.
53% to 88% of business to business professional services buyers are willing to switch to new service providers. (RainToday.com, How Clients Buy: The Benchmark Report on Professional Services Marketing and Selling from the Client Perspective, 2005. RainToday.com surveyed approximately 200 purchasers of professional services, who were responsible for over $1.6 billion in professional services purchased annually .
http://www.raintoday.com/howclientsbuy.cfm.)
Hope it helps a tiny bit.
!
