best practices of managing follow up calls in cold calling? [closed]

In my own personal experience here's what I've found works best in cold calling:

1. Know who you're calling. Don't just call for the sake of calling. Take 5-10 minutes to learn a little about their business and what they do. With the internet, that's pretty easy.
2. Set an Appointment, either by email, or in your first call. No one likes to be blindsided by someone trying to sell them something.
3. Only contact people who may actually benefit from your product/service. If you're not offering something of value, you're wasting your time and their time.
4. Follow up immediately after the call with an email that summarizes the call, and the value that you'll add to their organization. Let them know that you'll be contacting them again in a week.
5. People are busy. Give them a week, then email again and let them know you're going to call. If they don't respond within a few days, give them a call.

I just keep following that routine until they tell me they're not interested. I don't push, and I'm not demanding. Nobody wants to feel like they've just been had. They need to make the decision for themselves. After they've told me they aren't interested, I leave them with my contact information and let them know that I'm always available to talk.

The key is that people need to think that you care about their best interest. If you really do, then it's easy. :)

Also, I recommend just doing a quick search on cold calling follow up, or cold calling tips. Google has a lot of info...

(This is in addition to Jeremiah's answer, not instead of.)

I've also found a nice touch:

Listen and note any other problems they describe about their organization.

It could be anything from poor internet access to terrible coffee. Then in the next couple weeks, if you find an article or similar particularly relevant to that, pass it along with a note. Bonus points if you've done/tried it yourself.

Jeremiah,

Thanks again for the chat about X last week. I'm looking forward to our chat on {date time}.

On another note, you mentioned you were trying to figure out strategies for Y. I just found this article and thought it was great because of A and B. Hopefully it's helpful to you too.

Sincerely,

keith

Even if they're not a good lead right now, doing them a small favor like this puts you front and center in their mind in a positive light.

Even better, if it does solve their problem, there's a psychological effect that they will want to pay you back somehow.. maybe that's the thing that will push you ahead of your competition or it's an introduction or a new lead or they think of you first when they do have the problem you can solve.

And even if it doesn't become a sale, helping someone is never a bad strategy.