Creative Pre-Call Experiment #1 - It's a Cake Walk!

Here's a harrowing statistic - more than 78% of all mail is opened over a trashcan. Dang. Not the best news for a green sales wannabe who sends out enough "hello" and "thank you" cards to deplete her entire company's supply of postage stamps.

No joke - that has happened twice.

So what's a cold-call adverse girl to do to warm up that first call?? I have decided to conduct a series of creative pre-call approaches to see how they measure up. I have estimated that my response rate from my handwritten cards thus far has been around 0.01%. So here goes - chEasy Money Part 1. The cheesier, the better.

*Disclaimer: This approach is not suitable for all people or all audiences! For example, maybe don't try this out on a diabetic.

It's a Cake Walk:

Materials:
- Gift Bag (preferably a unique, company-related color)
- Tissue paper (company color)
- Note card with envelope
- Assorted Candy
- Ribbon (company color - getting the theme here??)
- Card stock (cut to business card size-ish)
- 2 business cards
- Single slice of cake (can buy at almost any local grocery store)
- Single-wrapped plastic utensils
- Napkins

Tools:
- Scissors
- Hole Punch

Assembly Instructions:
1. Fill the bag with tissue paper and sweet candied goodness:

2. Tie ribbon around the cake box like it's a gift. Also tie the plasticware and napkin together with the ribbon.
3. Make the ribbon pretty by curling the ends with the scissors.
4. Hole punch a business card and piece of cardstock.
5. Inscribe "Working with (my company) is a piece of cake!" on the card stock.
6. Tie business card and cardstock together on top of the cake so both are displayed:

7. Place the plasticware and cake into the bag on the very top of everything:

8. Write a clever note to the client (samples of mine to follow) on the card.
9, Place the card against the bag and hole punch in two places.
10.Tie ribbon through the two holes to make a pretty bow on the front. Curl the ribbon (duh).

Experimental Conclusion:
SUCCESS!! Well so far. I have used this once - on a local non-profit organization. I found out the names of the Communications Director and Development Director using LinkedIn and decided they'd be the best targets. I dropped off the goody bags on a Friday morning and had an email requesting a printing quote from them by the following Tuesday! All of my correspondence with them has been personal and pleasant and they have even given me insight into what their budget is for this upcoming project. All from two pieces of $2.00 cake from a local bakery and a little creative cheesin'. It's going to be a bit of chEasy Money I think... har har har.

The experiments will continue...

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