
How I got a 100% conversion rate cold calling prospects for customer dev - rgraham
http://whitetailsoftware.com/index.php/2011/07/how-i-got-a-100-conversion-rate-cold-calling-prospects-for-customer-development/
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aspir
I'd consider this a "100% response rate" rather than an aspect of conversion
rate. Conversion typically implies sign ups or sales of some form, especially
in the context of cold calls.

That said, this information is gold -- I'll use it myself to increase high-
priority responses.

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rgraham
That is a fair point. I debated about that phrasing specifically, but a friend
of mine in outside sales uses 'response rate' for a cold call to simply mean
he got to make a pitch.

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aspir
I'd actually still keep the title the same -- I went to this post first and
read it from top to bottom because of it :) Talk about conversion!

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dusing
We've used a similar technique - although not very aggressively at
<http://row27.com>

We work in sports, and found that although we had 50+ clients in college, the
pros were hard to penetrate. So we started <http://rowshow.com> and contacted
a few industry leaders to be on. Very quickly that got us our first two pro
teams, 1 NBA, and 1 NFL - 100% conversion to sale.

Although after reading this I think we might do it in a more organized
fashion, at least after all other contact methods have failed.

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iuguy
This isn't a 100% conversion rate. You're investing a lot of time and effort
on this and not getting a financial return. It may well help you with
prospecting and could even help get you to your initial sale but please see it
for the exercise that it is, which is market research, not sales.

I do hope it all works out well for you and that you get some very valuable
feedback.

~~~
rgraham
I feel like the first bit is an argument over semantics. Does conversion mean
I sold something? Does it mean I got someone to perform a desired action?

You're right on the next part. It is a significant time and effort investment.
The theory is that I'm saving myself money and time spent developing software
no one will use. And the Zen Master said, "We'll See."

Thanks for the encouragement.

~~~
tripzilch
> Does conversion mean I sold something?

Yes, in the context of cold-calling, that's exactly what it means.

Generally, it means achieving your goal. And while in 100% of your phonecalls
you are well on your way of getting to that goal, your goal is getting them to
pay for your services, not allowing you to give them another sales-pitch
(which is what you achieved).

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rgraham
My goal was learning through interviews. I don't have anything to sell.
Perhaps in an abstract sense I hope to sell them at some point in the future.
I used 'conversion' because I converted them from cold prospects for
interviews to interviews.

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marcamillion
This tactic is actually quite brilliant.

I tried cold calling a few prospects, but I could only get through less than
20. It was brutal.

But now that you have proposed this, I am going to re-think my process and see
how I can integrate this.

I think this can work, when done right.

Plus, it can be an awesome source for some good quality blog articles - that
increases SEO traffic on those keywords.

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Tichy
So where is the blog with the articles?

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chubs
Simply brilliant! All this time i’ve been thinking i’d like to write staff
scheduling software for cafe’s, if only i could make some contacts with cafe
owners. This sounds like a great way to make those contacts. Do you mind
telling us which blog it is that you’ve got? Was it important to the prospects
that your blog has lots of readers? Also, were the prospects you called in an
internet-related industry where linkbacks and blog posts are important to
them? Or were they simply bricks and mortar? Thanks

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rgraham
The blog in question is fledgling (~ 6 months old). It has little traffic, but
is growing quickly. The industry is wildlife management. None of the business
owners I spoke with even asked about traffic. They aren't (usually)
technically sophisticated.

They typically do have websites and they sell breeder stock wildlife online
through different channels. Link backs and online PR can really benefit them
and they recognize that.

The business requires acreage, starter animals with recognized
genetics/pedigree, and a lot of dirty work.

~~~
chubs
Thanks for letting me know. Sounds like they have a bit more of an online
presence than my target, cafe's, and would appreciate the linkbacks/blog
coverage more. Having said that, its good to hear that they didn't worry about
traffic. Good on you for such a creative, simple, way of networking!

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eru
Don't promise your cafes links then, promise an article about them.

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rgraham
This is a good idea. Promise them reviews on yelp/google/urban spoon. Promise
them a write up in a small local paper or neighborhood publication. Get
creative.

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toumhi
IMHO the OP is misleading in saying he only wants to "know more about
<industry>", because he actually wants to turn these people into early
customers. Isn't that a way to piss them off? Otherwise maybe the idea is to
defer the customer development phase to later, but it seems a waste to find
interested people and not having them as customers.

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jharrison
If he solves their problems and the become customers why would anyone be
pissed off? If it validates his idea it's far more valuable than the time he'd
waste developing his concept in a vacuum. Seems like I've read somewhere that
if you want to succeed in business you need to be OK with pissing a few people
off.

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amorphid
This is a really good article.

