I always read any article by Bob Willott with interest as he brings a financial understanding to the commercial dealings within the marketing services sector. He also has a somewhat cynically amusing style of writing, which in my opinion is often bang on the money.

One such article that caught my eye recently was on the Brand Republic site where he writes about recent acquisitions, how they are reported and how considered press statements are far more effective than the hyperbole used by some.

I won’t directly comment on his article but I will add my own take on this with reference to how we sell our clients over the phone.

 Although passion is an important element in selling effectively (particularly when you have a limited time to make an impact on the phone), hyperbole can have the opposite effect of putting prospects off, particularly if these outlandish statements cannot be backed up by results driven case studies.

 A considered phrase which has resonance with the prospect will be far more compelling and we spend a lot of time at Alchemis developing these soundbites which we know from our 23 years experience will have a maximum impact within minimum timescales.

My next blog will have a few examples of these, so keep reading…

I always look to read Gideon Spanier’s advertising & marketing column on a Monday in The Evening Standard, but last week, yet again, it dealt with the rise of social media and its increasing importance in the business world. Slightly disheartened with the progress in this area galloping well ahead of my understanding of it, after a few flicks of the page I hit on an article entitled:

“Steve Jobs and other movers and shakers say it by phone”

What a breath of fresh air. When I joined Alchemis in July 2000, I feared that traditional telesales was on borrowed time. Earlier barriers such as voicemail were still there, but the internet was taking off as a marketing tool and everyone wanted to receive emails rather than actually talk. That fact still remains, but now we also contend with tweets and pokes and every article is pushing home the potential benefits of social media as a business tool (a fact that I find ironic since many companies banned Facebook due to decreased productivity at its inception). However, Alchemis has gone from strength to strength utilising the phone. The survival of our competitors and the rise of numerous start up new business agencies gives me real confidence that the phone based new business industry is a resilient one and that the phone, whilst maybe not having the potential quick reach of other mediums, is the most powerful and effective tool when selling your business, service or product.

The article quite rightly points out that when your creditors want payments they don’t send emails, they use the phone. It goes on to say that as many “retreat behind the walls of electronic communication, the advantage only grows for those ready to make phone calls”. A statement I wholeheartedly agree with.

· The phone allows you to quickly react to a person’s mood or persona – something email does not

· Email content and tone is open to damaging misinterpretation by the recipient

· “The phone is the best medium to find out things you may not have anticipated”. Absolutely!! A good telesales person will find the issue and opportunity

· As more and more people use the phone as a secondary communication tool, the cards are stacked in favour of those who have the skills to use it effectively

· You can get your point over in one clear concise message, which is not fragmented by a traffic of related emails sent hours or days apart

I do appreciate the value of new communications tools and ways of working, but I firmly believe that the humble phone will continue to play a key role for a long time yet and should remain a part of any integrated sales/marketing strategy.

Apparently, there are some new business agencies currently doing the rounds saying that cold calling is dead!

Clearly, their experiences are very different to ours at Alchemis.

 For the last 18 months (after the drought during the first half of 2009) we have witnessed an ever increasing number of wins for our clients, generated by our cold calling approach to prospects. It may sound slightly old fashioned, but it’s still the most effective method of identifying a prospect’s needs, challenges, priorities and issues.

And without that specific company/decision maker information or insight, all you can achieve via a piece of DM or an email is raised awareness.

We have run (and will continue to do so where needed or appropriate) email/DM campaigns on behalf of our clients, and have compared these to cold calling campaigns running alongside these. The statistics show that engaging one on one with marketing decision makers still deliver the best quality meetings. Some of these DM/email campaigns have helped increase access to decision makers, but only those with genuinely relevant insights. A generic campaign will neither help nor hinder.

I remain to be convinced (and would love to hear from any of you who have some proof of success) about the use of social media when targeting senior marketing decision makers, for the very reasons that I have outlined above …