Today I answered a question on LinkedIn about “Starting the Client Friendship.” The question, posed by Clint of Eye Say was, “How do you initiate a client relationship via email or over the phone without it being/sounding creepy?”
Zoinks, the cold call! Just thinking about cold calling or e-mailing makes me shiver.
I’ve never found the right thing to say and I always feel creepy afterwards. So I stopped doing it.
What I do now is build relationships in an organic way. Virtually all of my business comes through networking, word-of-mouth, or casual meetings.
However, if there’s a prospect I really want to work with, there are a few things I do to start a relationship.
1. Check my network to see if someone I already connect with knows this prospect. Maybe I can get an introduction.
2. See if they’re on one of the social media sites I frequent. Twitter is perfect. I just start by following them. Maybe I’ll send them a useful tweet or simply say hello.
3. If you feel an unstoppable force pushing you to cold call or e-mail, do it. Rather than tell them what you do, simply explain what you do and ask the contact something about their company that isn’t obvious. “I was wondering who your ideal customers are?”
The point is, you want to start a conversation that isn’t a sales pitch. Hopefully you can build a long-term relationship that will result in business down the road.
This takes patience. A lot of patience. Like, more patience than the DMV.
Zoinks, the cold call! Just thinking about cold calling or e-mailing makes me shiver. Not in a good way.
I’ve never found the right thing to say and I always feel creepy afterwards. So I stopped doing it.
Yep. Cold turkey on the cold calls and e-mails.
What I do now is build relationships in an organic way. Virtually all of my business comes through networking, word-of-mouth, or casual meetings.
However, if there’s a prospect I really want to work with and I don’t know them, there are a few things I do to start a relationship.
- Check my network to see if someone I already connect with knows this prospect. Maybe I can get an introduction.
- See if they’re on one of the social media sites I frequent. Twitter is perfect. I just s
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