Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Cold Calls

There's an evil company in Atlanta called The List, Inc.  ( http://www.thelistinc.com/ )  For reasons I can't understand, they've added me to their database.  They claim that everyone on the list wants to be there and that they regularly verify the accuracy of their information.  I can state for a fact that I know this is inaccurate, because I hunted down a phone number for them and called them and asked to be removed from their database, and yet I still get cold calls so completely out of the arena in which I work that it's almost 100% obvious that they have come from this source.  So much now that I don't answer the office phone if I don't recognize the number that's calling.  So, I'm taking a new tactic.  If they're going to cold-call me, this is how I'm going to respond.  Maybe someday it will pay off.

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Hi James,

My name is ............, and I am the interactive client strategist with ......, a marketing agency based in Florida. I will be traveling the next 2 weeks, but would like to set up a time to speak,  Thursday or Friday of next week.

As you know, everyone is talking about Social Media.  Most organizations, though, fall into 2 camps: waiting to see what happens, or attempting to create a presence but not truly approaching Social Media for what it really is: a tactic. A tactic, however, that should be incorporated into your overall marketing strategy.  Only then can it be leveraged to truly drive business.

(You can view a social media video case study for one of .....'s clients.)

And that is what I do here at ......: help our clients leverage their brands online by engaging customers, lately with a specific emphasis on Social Media. As you can imagine, as a tactic, it is becoming more and more important in the mix.

I have spoken at a number of conferences recently on this topic: presentation and interview.

Basically, I work with my clients to use social media to engage their customers. In the case of .........., I am sure you have existing agency relationships, but I would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you and discuss how we can apply .......'s 10 step process to build a social media strategy, and help you leverage the great work you are already doing.

Please let me know whether Wednesday or sometime Thursday morning will work for you, for us to speak.

Thank you for allowing me to interrupt your (I'm sure) busy day.

Best regards,

......

..... .....
Director, Interactive Services Group
..............
............, FL .....
..........-mobile    ...........-main    ...........-direct      ......-fax

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Mr. ..........,

Thanks for your email, I'm sure I'm not the first to tell you how non-profits have been hurt by this economy. 

I'm excited to hear that you'd like to volunteer your time and services to ......... and help the [...].

I am afraid I'm not permitted to directly engage outside services, even if they are being offered pro-bono but I'd be happy to put you in touch with someone who can work with you to formalize the relationship.  In the meantime, I'd encourage you to look over our site to see how we might better use social media, maybe even make a contribution [...], and by all means, if there are quick wins that you can see right away where we should be doing something we aren't currently, please shoot me an email.

Thanks,
James