Assuming you read pt1 you’ve now got kick-ass cold-channel creds. Well done you… and you’re welcome (those bad boys are going to prove invaluable in all interactions that end with someone telling you that sending an email with creds is the only way to start the process).

But how can we avoid just becoming creds-emailing monkeys? Well, it’s basically down to your approach and setting realistic expectations. If you want to become Kellogg’s agency, you can’t just call the number on the website and tell whoever answers that you want to become their agency. It might seem the most direct route, but you just make it easy for the gatekeeper to send you back to your creds emailing duties. Instead, set yourself smaller goals: maybe just call to find out when their current agency is up for review. No agency is retained indefinitely, and when sales or impact dwindles (even if it’s not the agency’s fault) it’s one of the first things that gets a good shaking. If they’re nice enough to give you a time frame, just ask what you’d need to do to get your name in the hat. Simple, non-confrontational and non-salesy… you’re just having a chat.

If you try to sell cold and hard you WILL fail. If, however, you just try to find out a couple of simple pieces of information, you might end up having a better conversation than you expected.

NEXT TIME: Pt4. Just joking. Pt3.