I have to admit I haven’t done any business development in many months because I’ve been so busy with projects. But all projects seem to have the same lifespan- they all end at the same time. Actually I wouldn’t have it any other way- it’s my business cycle and after 15 years, it works.
I’m spending 99% of my time marketing- new webinars, negotiating partnerships, blogging, podcasting, video blogging, writing articles, columns, recording interviews, updating my LinkedIn contact, etc. This is a good start because anyone I contact gets a quick marketing rundown of what’s new and improved.
So last week I started pounding the phones and sending emails out. It’s like going to the gym after a long holiday or going for a long hike in the early hours when your body is still asleep. I felt creaky, sore, rusty, unwelcome, irrelevant and outdated. After I built some momentum I realized my emails and phone calls just sounded too salesy- they sounded cold and hungry- that’s a turn-off.
When we send cold and hungry emails- we reduce the chances of getting a response. But how do we know we sound so cold and hungry? And who said that contacting people cold is out? Joanne Black wrote a book on No More Cold Calling and Jill has written a great article on Does Email Cold Calling Work. With all the social networking and pre-call research tools out there today, there shouldn’t be any such thing as cold anymore. Because we all are coming in with some knowledge and the ability to listen to needs about our prospects than making this all about us.
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