As we’ve posted here before, we started on a direct-selling program last fall. It’s been slow going. I’m good at sales, but like a lot of people, I don’t like cold calling. Give me a warm call and I’m all over it in a half second. So how do we try to create warmth in our calls?

I’m using five tactics right now that are having some success:

1. Identify some specific market opportunities that I know about, and some specific prospects within those markets that I think we can work with well.
2. Send them a highly targeted, personalized note and our new intro brochure in a fancy envelope.
3. Don’t send more than three to five at a time
4. Call them a week later – AFTER mining social media (Linkedin) and my network of contacts in that industry for people who can provide a secondary referral.
5. Join, join, join! (Then, link, link, link, (social media) to those that you meet in person.

What about you?

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