I'd consider this a "100% response rate" rather than an aspect of conversion rate. Conversion typically implies sign ups or sales of some form, especially in the context of cold calls.

That said, this information is gold -- I'll use it myself to increase high-priority responses.

That is a fair point. I debated about that phrasing specifically, but a friend of mine in outside sales uses 'response rate' for a cold call to simply mean he got to make a pitch.

I'd actually still keep the title the same -- I went to this post first and read it from top to bottom because of it :) Talk about conversion!

We've used a similar technique - although not very aggressively at http://row27.com

We work in sports, and found that although we had 50+ clients in college, the pros were hard to penetrate. So we started http://rowshow.com and contacted a few industry leaders to be on. Very quickly that got us our first two pro teams, 1 NBA, and 1 NFL - 100% conversion to sale.

Although after reading this I think we might do it in a more organized fashion, at least after all other contact methods have failed.

This isn't a 100% conversion rate. You're investing a lot of time and effort on this and not getting a financial return. It may well help you with prospecting and could even help get you to your initial sale but please see it for the exercise that it is, which is market research, not sales.

I do hope it all works out well for you and that you get some very valuable feedback.

I feel like the first bit is an argument over semantics. Does conversion mean I sold something? Does it mean I got someone to perform a desired action?

You're right on the next part. It is a significant time and effort investment. The theory is that I'm saving myself money and time spent developing software no one will use. And the Zen Master said, "We'll See."

Thanks for the encouragement.

I see your point but I'd say it's more than just semantics. Semantics would be a market research versus direct marketing issue. This is a distinction between Sales and Marketing, and an important one. Market research is not necessarily lead generation and won't pay the bills.

Conversion in a Sales sense means that you've sold something. In a marketing sense it means that your goal has been reached (which may also be selling something, but could be an action).

For getting an MVP out I think this approach could work really well. I just wouldn't advocate it as a sales strategy not because it doesn't directly involve selling but because it takes time away from selling.

Bear in mind that you don't need the product to be ready to close your first sale, as long as the lead times are reasonable.

> Does conversion mean I sold something?

Yes, in the context of cold-calling, that's exactly what it means.

Generally, it means achieving your goal. And while in 100% of your phonecalls you are well on your way of getting to that goal, your goal is getting them to pay for your services, not allowing you to give them another sales-pitch (which is what you achieved).

My goal was learning through interviews. I don't have anything to sell. Perhaps in an abstract sense I hope to sell them at some point in the future. I used 'conversion' because I converted them from cold prospects for interviews to interviews.

This tactic is actually quite brilliant.

I tried cold calling a few prospects, but I could only get through less than 20. It was brutal.

But now that you have proposed this, I am going to re-think my process and see how I can integrate this.

I think this can work, when done right.

Plus, it can be an awesome source for some good quality blog articles - that increases SEO traffic on those keywords.

So where is the blog with the articles?

Simply brilliant! All this time i’ve been thinking i’d like to write staff scheduling software for cafe’s, if only i could make some contacts with cafe owners. This sounds like a great way to make those contacts. Do you mind telling us which blog it is that you’ve got? Was it important to the prospects that your blog has lots of readers? Also, were the prospects you called in an internet-related industry where linkbacks and blog posts are important to them? Or were they simply bricks and mortar? Thanks

The blog in question is fledgling (~ 6 months old). It has little traffic, but is growing quickly. The industry is wildlife management. None of the business owners I spoke with even asked about traffic. They aren't (usually) technically sophisticated.

They typically do have websites and they sell breeder stock wildlife online through different channels. Link backs and online PR can really benefit them and they recognize that.

The business requires acreage, starter animals with recognized genetics/pedigree, and a lot of dirty work.

Thanks for letting me know. Sounds like they have a bit more of an online presence than my target, cafe's, and would appreciate the linkbacks/blog coverage more. Having said that, its good to hear that they didn't worry about traffic. Good on you for such a creative, simple, way of networking!

Don't promise your cafes links then, promise an article about them.

This is a good idea. Promise them reviews on yelp/google/urban spoon. Promise them a write up in a small local paper or neighborhood publication. Get creative.

IMHO the OP is misleading in saying he only wants to "know more about <industry>", because he actually wants to turn these people into early customers. Isn't that a way to piss them off? Otherwise maybe the idea is to defer the customer development phase to later, but it seems a waste to find interested people and not having them as customers.

If he solves their problems and the become customers why would anyone be pissed off? If it validates his idea it's far more valuable than the time he'd waste developing his concept in a vacuum. Seems like I've read somewhere that if you want to succeed in business you need to be OK with pissing a few people off.