Even the most passionate business owners shy away at the thought of making cold calls.  But cold calling can be very useful to your business success even if you don’t use it for direct sales.  Here are some ways to use cold calling you might not have thought of:

Market Research 

Cold calling has a negative reputation from those pesky telemarketers that call right at dinner time, but the truth is that you can use cold calling to get the questions you need to successfully grow your business answered. 

All those questions that pop into your mind can be answered simply by picking up the phone, calling local companies that would know, and asking.  You may not always get a positive response as people everywhere are busy, but more often than not you do.  And you can always make more calls or do some additional research on your own to fill in the blanks. 

Strategic Alliances

Today, success in business is all about forming strategic alliances that benefit all parties.  Traditionally, business people have relied on networking functions such as meet-up groups to form such alliances.  

You may know of a particular business person that you would love to meet, but have not had the chance.  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. 

The small business people who will survive today are those that are willing to try new techniques that will give them unique insight into their field and will help them form the alliances that will help them to profit.  Cold calling can be an effective strategy to achieving these goals.  

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