Quick Fix or Relationship Building: Which Works Best?
What is your view on cold calling or cold pitching?
Do you receive it with patience or do you find it irritating and something that you do not entertain?
A social media post I published back in September caused more comment and opinion (a good thing!) than usual.
Unknowingly, the post hit a nerve for some people whilst
bringing others on board.
Unsurprisingly, those who made sarcastic comments or doubted my ability to run an effective business are in the business of ‘reaching out’ to sell to people.
That is not the problem for me. Everyone has a job and if theirs is to sell to people without getting to know a person first, good for them. I certainly couldn’t do it (I don’t think I could do it well) and I appreciate it takes a person that has specific qualities to be able to do just that.
What leaves a sour taste in my mouth is that it feels incessant at times as well as much of it being sloppy, not thought out and mainly irrelevant.
What I pointed out in my post is that there has to be a better way for ‘cold calls’ or ‘cold pitches’ to be conducted.
They call it outreach and if that’s what they are doing, so be it. I am no expert to be able to comment on another company’s strategies but as most of it is just ignored by many it feels more like a stab in the dark to me rather than it being planned out or in any way strategic.
Outreach for me should have just that.
Strategy.
There is an audience to target.
Research begins.
Synergies, fits or whatever are identified.
A plan is put in place to meet the overall strategy.
Then the genuine outreach is carried out in a way that ‘catches’ their audience in a way that others don’t.
That might be a well worded opening line in an email, a friendly introduction on the phone or an engaging comment on social media.
I am not opposed to being contacted but I can’t help myself wondering, each time, if the person at the end of the phone or keyboard has actually done their homework.
The number of times I receive an email asking if I could use a Virtual Assistant in my business puzzles me.
Once I have ascertained that they aren’t targeting me to take on ‘Associate VAs’ (which many Virtual Assistant businesses do to keep workflows moving and client demands in check, I realise the message is slapdash and sent without thought.
Even if it was focused on me to take on additional Virtual Assistants myself, no message has ever been tailored to that effect.
I would hope I am able to find a great Virtual Assistant myself although if I was struggling, I wouldn’t rely on a cold email from a bot to start my search, that’s for sure.
The comments on this explosive post became quite personal.
“It is a bit immature to not appreciate cold outreach.”
“Every business relationship starts out meeting, talking or interacting with a stranger”
“She doesnt [sic] have qualified experience in entrepeneurship [sic].”
“ This is ego talking not business.”
If made me think more about why the post received the reactions it did and whether or not I am immature, if I should talk to more strangers, how I am unqualified as an entrepreneur (that can spell with poor humour) and in what ways I am egotistical.
It led to ask myself two questions...
1. Could I give more time to people?
I came to the conclusion that I would try it! I would give time to people who want to sell me something and I might just benefit from it.
In fact, from this very post, someone who engaged with me and wanted a quick chat to discuss how they could support me in my business encouraged me to give them the time.
We met (for double the time than they had requested) and whilst they agreed they couldn’t probably help me in the immediate term it was agreed that I would go away and think about how, if my business did scale up, how I would tap into additional support in order to maintain its efficiency. It also allowed me to get to know a little more about the person I met and how I might be able to introduce their company to others as my network is varied and growing.
Their strategy of not being rude to me worked, which comes as no surprise.
Maybe, I’ll have more energy to respond to someone who isn’t so nice and I might give them the time of day – although there are plenty of people out there who I would prefer to give my best investment (of time) to, especially if I am going to part with money in the end so I can’t promise anything.
2. Could my business do better by doing this?
This was answered almost immediately by meeting the ‘almost’ stranger above.
The fact that they asked me a number of questions and then admitted I was running my business efficiently, it reassured me that I know what I’m doing despite being told otherwise!
Self-doubt creeps in on the best of people and with the handful of jibes from a social media post I created was not something I was prepared for. It did, however, make me question if I could operate my business better.
I quickly realised that I haven’t been in business for over 6 years for nothing and I must be doing what I set out to do and I understand that what works for me might not work for others and that is okay.
When I thought about it further it became a lot clearer to me.
Would I be willing to go down the route of getting a ‘quick fix’ for something I need and, if so, when?
I truly believe that it comes down to value.
If something is going to have less impact on me, I would be more likely to take it up.
Conversely, if a consequence of my decision is going to last one week as opposed to months or even longer, the time it takes me to decide will be reflected in that.
This model can be used in how I engage with people...
If I am buying a product, of course I want it to be something that is done quickly so I can get whatever I have bought, move on and, hopefully, benefit from whatever item I have purchased. The price of the product will undoubtedly dictate how long I spend on planning and deciding on the purchase.
If it is a service, it can also be dependent on time and value. If the ‘experience’ is of low value with less time utilised and of little consequence, it might be that I don’t mind if it is ‘sold’ to me in a less strategic way.
I wouldn’t expect someone to agree to taking on my services and engaging with me from a half-hearted effort of an email or telephone call to ‘win’ business and so when it comes to me offering my professional service, I can adopt the same plan.
If someone contacts me to complete a one-off project, whilst it still requires an understanding of a person and their business, it is less likely going to demand as much input if it is a more standardised piece of work.
It is different if people engage on a deeper level.
Ongoing engagement in which I offer my service to a retained Client will always need a detail-oriented approach and input so that the relationship is built from the very beginning.
It makes sense:
Some people will want to provide a brief, have little contact with me and receive a high-quality result in a timely manner. They are less likely to invest in me and might look to me for a ‘quick fix’.
The other people, my longstanding Clients, will need to make a more informed choice from the outset to attain longevity in the relationship. They are going to concentrate on relationship building so they can ensure I am trustworthy and they can, in time, lean on me to support them more widely or with more sensitive information that they wouldn’t ‘palm out’ to ‘quick fixers’.
Good relationships might not come easily, but they are worth working on from the very beginning.
By planning on building a relationship, it allows for a person to truly understand the other by getting to know, (hopefully) like and trust them.
Relationships in business determine how successful the end result might be.
Having the right people around you as part of your team is the first step.
Having trusted experts that support you creates a domino effect and can facilitate relationship building with those external to your business.
People often need to feel they have a good relationship to buy from you.
It’s never too early building relationships.
I maintain that relationship building works best.
I am not a good seller. I am, however, a good relationship builder.
If you would like to benefit from expert support from someone who is determined to get to know you and your business well and operate it in the way it deserves, get in touch with me.
Anna
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