The answer is YES. Indeed, cold-calling is dead.
Let me repeat, cold-calling is dead. Not only is cold-calling a character revealing activity, it is an indication of sales savvy. If you’re cold-calling me then you probably need me, not the other way around. I’ve spent 10 plus years in personal selling. Most of them were spent cold-calling. As a high-tech software salesperson I’ve made hundreds of cold-calls, probably thousands. And despite decent results, I knew there was a better way , something easier, something that involved technology.
At first, I thought creating a Web site was the answer. Too much time, effort and money involved. Sales people are usually short when it comes to attention span and if you’re like me, then you like your technology fast, easy and simple.
Then I thought I’d join a bunch of Social-networks like LinkedIn. The Socia-network method was decent but if you are not active constantly it can become stagnant and yield minimal results. Social-netowrks are also limited to those that belong to the network.
Finally, I created a Blog using the easiest Blogging Software around. The Blog was easy to set-up and easy to personalize. I even created a Podcast that I send out regularly to my prospects and clients. That makes me look very savvy. 
A Blog is different than a Web site because it can be updated easily and frequently without any technical skills at all, no HTML or stuff like that is required to get started. Blogs are also optimized well for Search Engine Marketing and are indexed faster and then dispersed on the Web more efficiently and rapidly than a static Web site.
Here are a couple of ways I leverage my Blog to not only Brand myself and my company but also to serve as a passive lead generation tool for new prospects.
- Provide reliable, helpful information. The more info the more trust and credibility you will recieve.
- Provide a sign-up form for newsletter tips. This will help you gather prospect email addresses and contact info that can be used for follow up.
- Implement Google Analytics, a free Web site traffic reporting tool that will show exactly where your visitors are coming from, what they looked at when they came to your Blog and other helpful details.
- Implement a Sponsorship program and advertise your best customers’ services.
These are just a few of the many ways that Blogs can replace cold-calling to gather information and prospect contact information. When done right the process can be automated, allowing you to spend less time as a prospecting salesperson and more time as a closer.