Luck and Cold Calling
I know, I know. Some of you guys and gals don’t like cold calling. Is this what you thought when you first saw the title of this blog post? Although you may feel that way right now, let me tell you a brief story that could go a long way in changing your mind.
During some downtime last week, I decided to make a group of cold calls to local businesses – five at the most. I knew that I would be lucky to get one person interested, but always hoping for the best I forged ahead.
After two hang-ups, I was beginning to lose hope. But on call number three everything changed for the good. I happened to get somebody on the phone who was just thinking about hiring a copywriter for a variety of projects, ranging from a sales letter to a marketing brochure as well as a couple other things. After a few minutes on the phone, I had a meeting setup with her the next day.
Just as I do at all meetings, I showed some samples, talked about what I have to offer, and gathered more information on what they are looking to accomplish. An hour and a half went by, and things finally began to wrap up. At that time, my main point of contact asked how much I would charge for the entire project. While I don’t want to get into exact numbers, I quoted a “four figure sum†and the client immediately accepted. I received half payment upfront, on the spot, with the rest coming upon completion.
If I would have never made that initial call this client would have easily slipped through the cracks. Of course, a lot of landing this gig had to do with luck as well. I called the right person at the right time.
Even though cold calling can be a pain in the neck, the one time you get lucky and land a job is well worth the time, effort, and stress.
