Cold Calling

Periodically throughout the year, I make cold calls. It can sometimes be tedious and for us it does work to get new business. I think the thing that makes it tedious for me are the people that pick up the phone. Most people who know me, know me as a positive person. I'm easy to talk to and always speak clearly. I'm always excited when I answer the phone. For most of the cold calls I make, I often wonder whether I'm speaking to a fully functioning dead person.

Why I bring this up is that the phone is usually one of the first experiences customers have of your business. If your employees are not paying attention to how they are speaking to me on the phone, what is going to make me think they'll pay attention to me as a customer?

It fascinates me how many of the companies I call obviously aren't keeping tabs on this. A beautiful logo and cutting edge website are going to do nothing to grow your company if it isn't inspiring to do business with you. Those things are just a fix. The real work starts from within. The employees must be inspired by your corporate vision.

So, what does your company stand for in the world? Are your employees aligned with it? Does your marketing strategy reflect it? Does your brand promote it?

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic