stop breaking into people's homes
Dear you,
Last week, my phone rang, and I didn't recognize the number, but I went ahead and picked up the call because sometimes your blessings/good news come from numbers you don't recognize. Anyway, I picked up the call, and the caller said:
"Hello, are you Blessing? My name is Cyril, and I am calling from * insert company's name *. Your contact was generated from a software by my bosses, and I would like to speak to you about my product."
I paused for a second with just one question: "How did you get my number?".
He stuttered for a few seconds and said, "I don't know the software, but my bosses used it to get your contact information,and they gave me your number to call you."
It was absurd.
I had a few thoughts: maybe a brand sold my data, or they illegally obtained it, or they got hold of a bunch of random numbers who may or may not be their target audience and just chose to waste resources by calling 100 random people and shooting blanks in the sky with "hope" as the strategy, spending so much on calls, without first doing the essential work of knowing your target audience and finding a way to attract them or get connected to them legitimately.
There are better ways to sell than stealing people's data to cold-call them. It's like picking the locks into my house to tell me about your products. It's such a sly way of doing business.
Isn't purchase supposed to be based on trust? How can I trust you if you sneak around to get my data? It's one that I did not give you. There are much better ways to get this data and establish trust, and these are three ways:
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Bonus: Create something of value and make a landing page to collect the data of those interested. This could be an ebook, a webinar, a guide, or something useful to your audience. This way, people need to share their contact details before accessing it, and that attracts them to you, too.
People often complain about marketing budgets being the first thing they cut. Sometimes, it's because some marketers give us a bad rep by spraying money and praying without a strategy. They are out there sponsoring events that don't concern your target audience, running untargeted ads, and cold-calling people who don't give a damn about you. Even worse, they don't even fall into your target category. Imagine someone cold-calling Bill Gates to tell him how he can make money from YouTube as a creator!!!! Please be for real! He will make more money as an investor in Google than as a creator.
So, please, care enough to know your audience. Stop breaking into the homes [minds/attention/time] of strangers without knocking and expecting them to buy from you. It's rarely ever going to happen. 9.9 out of 10 times, they don't buy because you came in like a thief. That's what it feels like when you call someone who didn't give you their number. Come with prestige and honour as someone who has value to offer.
Also side-eyeing people who don't let people unsubscribe from their emails... maybe the question to ask yourself is: are you looking for customers or prisoners?
A word is enough for the wise, and a word is not enough; here are almost 950 words.
With Love,
Blessing Abeng
Growth Marketer ★ Sales ★ABM ★ B2B & B2C Brands ★ AdTech & Martech ★ Digital Marketer ★ Web3 ★ TEDx Speaker
1mo😄😄. I know how that intrusion feels. However, cold calls work when done strategically and done well. First the salesperson should have done their homework before making the call. Hi Blessing, my name is Ibukun. I learned a lot from your recent video about followers vs customers. Thanks for sharing it. Who is this? We haven’t spoken before and I wanted to know if I can get a minute of your time. Who are you and how did you get my number? Oh my boss sent me your details. Sincerely I don’t know how he got it, but he mentioned you are one of the leading Branding and Comms thought leaders, hence why I’m calling. Is that correct? You: Yes. Great! Do you have a minute? And hopefully the person goes into a few qualifying questions to maximise the attention. ————— There are some industries and people where direct cold outreach is the best way to reach them, especially in B2B. It is still spray and pray, but when done properly, even the customer will be happy that the salesperson found them. 😊😄
I am set out to be All I can be
1moAfter I read this twice, this was what I deduced: 1. You normally do not take unrecognized calls but because you have received those of good news in the past, you picked this one. 2. Because the caller, without an ample amount of introduction nor connection history, tried selling a product to you and it got you irritated. 3. If the situation was that he wanted to buy your own products, engage you profitably for a speech, seminar, travel or whatever, it may not have matter how he got your contact. Would it have mattered? Nevertheless, I honestly appreciate the guide you gave on selling products to target audiences. I don't currently sell a product but the information is useful in other areas. Thank you, Blessing.
Email Marketing Strategist | Helping Business Owners Start and #GrowTheirList | Strategies that drive List growth, engagement & profit
1moI'm thinking would you put cold calls and cold emailing where the audience is vetted first and the data is scrapped from their website or data they've put in the public domain to use to reach out to them? I know people do cold pitches and some people go about it in different ways while some seem quite strategic
Business Analyst | Product Owner | SaaS B2B | Bridging Business & Technology
1moThis is a very interesting read. About your experience, there're some chrome extensions that allow you access to an individual work or personal email, including their phone numbers. (if provided) It works on LinkedIn both profile and company's page. But, it's basically built for networking and definitely reach out to recruiters.