Even the most passionate business owners shy away at the thought of making cold calls.  But mastering the technique can be beneficial, even when you don’t use the strategy as part of your direct marketing campaign.  Here are a few ways you can use cold calling to your advantage:

Market Research 

Most people equate cold calling with cold suppers from those bothersome telemarketers that interrupt supper every night, but in actuality, cold calling can be used in a very positive way to succeed in business by getting a lot of research done. 

Just by picking up the phone and calling local businesses that should know the answers, you can resolve any number of problems that might come up.  You may not always get an answer, these folks are busy too, but many times you do.  And by making more calls or independent research based on those answers, you can fill in the blanks and learn more than you can imagine. 

Strategic Alliances

Today, success in business is all about forming strategic alliances that benefit all parties.  Sure, networking events and meet up groups are a great way to form these alliances, but you are limited to those that attend the event and the people they will ultimately introduce you to.  

Maybe you have a particular person or business in mind that you would like to meet, but you haven’t had the opportunity to connect with them.  You can always resort to the stalking technique, but often much more effective is to pick up the phone and reach out.  The phone is a very non-intrusive way to feel them out through general market research questions, and if the connection is there suggest further meetings to talk over possible strategic partnership options. 

In today’s competitive environment, successful small business owners need to stay open to any technique that will help them understand their industry better and form the partnerships that will make a difference to their bottom line.  An effective, low cost technique for achieving those goals is learning how to reach out through cold calling.  

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