B2B Lead Generation: Does Cold Calling Work?

(We wrote this post for our client’s blog to create a bit of controversy. People find rants

 interesting. But they chickened out. They were afraid it would “damage their brand.” I flatly disagree. And Guy Kawasaki agrees “Don’t be afraid to polarize people. Most companies want to create the holy grail of products that appeal to (everyone), but that just guarantees mediocrity.” We agree. Chris.)

Read, watch and enjoy.

There are many ideas on B2B lead generation. Some think it’s a numbers game. The more dials, the more deals. “Get on that phone and start calling. We need business.” They’re WRONG.

We’re not talking about outbound calling - well prepared and researched. We’re talking about COLD calling - picking up the phone and calling a stranger and saying something like this” “Hi, this is Bob from ABC Software. Could I please speak to the business owner?”

No Bob. You cannot speak to the business owner. You don’t know my name. You don’t know our issues. You don’t know what we care about. Sorry Bob, but you are a LOSER! Get a life!

Stop being a loser!

For a funny and witty view of this, please watch this video by our friends at Hubspot. Thank you, Hubspot, for letting us share it. (BTW, I was the featured guest on HubspotTV on November 19, 2010. Click the underlined words to watch it.)

Focus Roundtable on B2B Lead Generation

What do you think? We love comments and people who share.

“If more companies listened to (Find New Customers) a lot more would be sold.” Dan McDade, Pointclear.