Cold calling: Should cold calls be part of BD?
Your number one BD strategy should NOT be cold calls. Yet for most contractors, it is.
Most contractors understand business development (BD) is an external facing activity and that’s true.
But there’s a big difference between strategic, systematic BD, and BD that is reactive, unplanned, and hopeful.
Contracting is a tough game. One of the biggest challenges is ensuring the consistency of quality projects to price and deliver for clients you want to work with. That’s why when the pipeline starts to empty out, contractors frequently resort to cold calls and referrals.
That’s right, the trusty cold call. No one likes making them. Nobody likes taking them.
Now cold calling has a place in BD. It always will. It shouldn’t, however, be your number one BD strategy. Nor should referrals, although referrals have a place too.
The bottom line is that rarely does a cold call result in immediate work. Key decision makers at your ideal client are not waiting around for you to call, so they can finally give you that ideal project you want to work on.
When is the best time to make a cold call?
In short, the best time to make a cold call is when you don’t need to. Ironically, it is also the time when you are least likely to make a cold call.
When the pipeline is fully loaded and value is up there, it’s human nature to take the foot off the accelerator. This is the Point of Comfort. The three month trajectory looks good. Maybe you even have work booked into the next financial year. Everyone relaxes.
Actually, this is the time to pick up your phone and start dialling. This is the time you get to be strategic. It’s when you can call with confidence, knowing you don’t need the work. You can try to fake this confidence, but the energy behind your call will come through. Confidence is attractive. And even if there is no interest from the potential client, it’s totally fine. You don’t need them.
By contrast, when pipeline value drops and estimators are scratching around for projects to price - at the Point of Desperation - the BD team gets focused back on the BD activities that move the dial back in the right direction. In this way cold calling is ‘last resort BD’. You only finally and reluctantly make calls to prospects with whom you have no connection, when you’ll do almost anything, including cold calling, to bring in some work.
In pure metaphysical terms, making cold calls in a state of neediness carries a negative frequency, one that repels potential clients and leads. Not convinced? Think of it this way: If someone you don’t know comes to you and they really, really want something from you, do you feel inclined to give it to them? No, I didn’t think so. And your prospective clients feel the same.
Why cold call when a BD system would be better?
Cold calling as last resort BD occurs because there’s no BD infrastructure in place and it creates a genuine bind for owners, who ultimately have the final say on how they want BD undertaken in their business. Yes, work is needed immediately, but there’s also a creeping recognition that something needs to change to break the feast/famine cycle.
Eventually, to move beyond a reliance on cold calls made when work is urgently needed, everything BD needs to change. But that change will only happen when the hamster cycle becomes so painful and you realise there’s nowhere else to go. When this happens, not only will you concede there is a better way, you will make a decision that your approach to BD will evolve. With awareness, education, and investment, cold calling can take its place among a range of BD tools and tactics to realise the business strategy. In many ways, it then becomes an easy decision to invest the time, effort, and financial and human resources to create the BD system you and your business deserves.
To summarise, cold calling can be part of your BD approach, but it should be just one activity in a larger arsenal of tactics undertaken consistently within a structured and strategic approach to business development that is fully aligned to the overarching business strategy.
How to make a cold call for BD
Struggling to make a cold call? Here are five tips for doing the deed
#1 - Pick your time
Never make a cold call when you’re feeling low. After a knock back or two, you’ll have to go searching for your confidence in the gutter. Instead, call when you’re feeling more confident and buoyant. Rejection is more easily absorbed
#2 - Make the hardest call first
It was Mark Twain who said: If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first." The idea was later popularised by productivity guru Brian Tracy. How does this relate to BD cold calling? Always make the hardest call first. When you do this, two things happen. First, you make every other call after it much easier. You also add credits to the BD confidence bank, and confidence built of your own doing can never be taken away.
#3 - Work to words
I have made hundreds of cold calls, but I still take time to think through and write out what I plan to say. I don’t do this for every call, just the ones I know I might be more inclined to stumble over. That way, I can be sure I cover everything, there’s a plan to carry me through the first couple of minutes of a call, and I can speak with greater certainty.
#4 - Picture a human
Keep in mind you are talking to a real, live human. A person with fears, worries, and quirks just like you. I have found that most people respond positively, and while you’ll come across the odd difficult person, I’ve found it’s best not to take it personally. Seeing it from their perspective can take the sting out of receiving an earful from an unsuspecting potential client.
#5 - Pause before the call
It also pays to pause before you cold call, even momentarily. This small but effective technique creates the space for you to be intentional about the call. The clearer the intention, the greater the chance of yielding a positive result. A pause also helps ensure you bring your best to the interaction.
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