It’s a necessary evil in the business and marketing world to either cold call prospects or to at least send cold emails to people who’ve never spoke with you before. Over the last couple of years I’ve finally learned a few tricks that have made my cold-contacts more successful. So if you’re in the same position, read on and take heed fellow BD-er. Or if you’re planning on cold-calling Silverscape, at least stick to a few of our recommendations. I can't guarantee that it will lead anywhere but we’ll appreciate that you’ve read our blog.

1. Be personable but respectful – If you’re emailing a person named Robert and you can tell from the content of their bio or elsewhere in the company website that they go by Bob, then address them as such. Never make assumptions and start calling strangers nicknames. If you are introducing yourself and your firm via email the last thing you want to do is seem too familiar too soon. That’s just creepy.

2. Be honest – It’s very easy to want to ‘trick’ someone into answering the phone for you, but the truth will come out eventually so in my opinion honesty is always the best policy. That being said, there are ways to cold-call and bend the truth just enough to make yourself seem more intriguing in the hopes that the person will agree to talk with you. For example, if you’re calling someone that has had previous contact with your organization but not with you, you could say ‘Hi, I’m calling from Silverscape to speak with Joe Shmoe, I wanted to follow up with him on some previous contact we’ve had.’ Or you could ask for the person you’re trying to contact and say ‘Does she still work at this location?’ Sometimes hinting that you know the person will at least get the receptionist to connect you.

3. Be concise – If you’re sending a cold email to a new prospect, don’t try to tell them everything there is to know about your company. Put together a few templates so that you have something to work off of for each type of contact rather than writing every email from scratch.Then rework each template to be as short and sweet as possible – tell why you’re emailing, a little about your firm, and give a few relevant work samples but leave the rest to the follow-up call or meeting that you will hopefully get. Make sure to have a strong call to action at the end of the email to encourage further contact.

4. Be yourself – There are tons of people that will tell you exactly how your emails should sound or feed you their ‘tried and proven methods’ for what to say and how to say it. So far as I can tell this is all bull. Everyone has a different sales style and for me personally my sales style is just an extension of my overall character. I’m of the belief that your email should reflect your personal style as much as possible; if it leads to further contact you’ve already established your personality and can stick to being who you are, plus you’ll come across as genuine which is more likely to get a response anyways.

5. Be respectful – last but not least, be respectful. If you call and get cussed out, thank them for their time. If your call or email leads to an opportunity, always follow up with a thank-you email and your contact information, and ALWAYS make sure to continue the conversation so that you don’t drop the ball on a potential lead.