"Cold calling" is generating a conversation with a stranger about a business proposition whether to sell him some item or interest him in joining your business. Your question asks about the use of the local telephone directory to find people to contact.
I use the phone directory to do research on local businesses for the purpose of interesting them about our ECA program. While I usually do not phone them, I will see where they are and if they have an ad in the Yellow Pages. This gives me an idea about what they sell and maybe their names, etc.
I do not just open the phone book and pick a page and begin calling people to tell them about SFI?TC. Just think for a minute. The phone book is full of names and phone numbers that are no longer in service. Remember it takes months for a listing to be added or deleted after the order was put in. We only get a new directory once a year. The same goes for businesses. They pay for an ad and it might take almost a year before the new directory is printed and distributed. So the information in it is not reliable. Why waste your time calling every number when a great many are not active.
The same goes for the addresses in the directory. When you do find a wrong address, you might call the business and check to see if they have moved. I wouldn't bother with calling people unless you are particularly interested in recruiting him.
Most young people now have cell phone which are not listed in the directories. And many do not have a stationary home phone. Those with traditional home phones use them rarely, or they are no longer friendly to anonymous business calls.
So I believe that using the phone and the directory will be a drain on your time and your attitude.
Instead, use the directory as a small part of your research about a person or business. Then meet them face to face and just chat for a moment. If you hit it off right away, you might have a longer conversation with them, and even tell them that you are excited about something you came across and found to your liking. Then make an appointment.
The idea in cold calling is to target someone you don't know, find out about them including their likes, hopes, family, etc. Chat about those things, remember them, and then relate our business with something that interests them. Turn a cold call into a warm market.
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"Cold calling" is generating a conversation with a stranger about a business proposition whether to sell him some item or interest him in joining your business. Your question asks about the use of the local telephone directory to find people to contact.
I use the phone directory to do research on local businesses for the purpose of interesting them about our ECA program. While I usually do not phone them, I will see where they are and if they have an ad in the Yellow Pages. This
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