I have to think that cold calls convert better than emails. That’s probably the real answer here. Get on the phone and start calling. It’s a scary prospect for an introverted nerd like me. It comes down to this: The hustle must overcome the nerd. And it shall.
Indeed!
And I've done both, I've had way better results with cold e-mails, 1 meeting out of 50 emails is probably about right for the first time, if he e-mails everyone two more times that number will go up a bit. Particularly if he's not selling anything. If I'm running a business, why would I want to meet with a guy who just wants to talk about my business? I'd rather meet with someone that at least claims to know my business and is working on a vague new product and wants to get my feedback on it.
So if the time investment is a wash, then it's really a question of what converts better, not based on bulk. I have a feeling calls will...but I don't have the personal data to prove it yet.
It's interesting you had bad experience with calls though. Were you selling something? Maybe that's the difference.
And experience w/ calls--I wouldn't say it was bad experience, it was just better with e-mail--tends to cut to the chase and replies are a better indication of interest. Everyone's selling something--even if you just want to talk to someone about their problems, you're still selling them on the proposition that it would be a more valuable use of their time talking to you than doing something else. And that doesn't make you a bad person, it just doesn't make a difference whether you're asking for money or someone's time.
But yeah, would be very interested to see your results w/ cold calling vs email, if you do two more rounds of e-mails and leave 3 vm messages on your cold calling before giving up, I'll bet you still do better with e-mail. But again, very interested to see your numbers, so very cool experiment!
Now, you're a busy business owner/decision maker and lots of people want a piece of you. You're inbox is always filling up with junk and even the non-junk you often don't have much time for. So assuming you even decide to read past the first sentence, if at all, you might decide that you'll write back but not right now so you mark the email as unread but never return to it as the inbox just keeps filling.
That's a best case scenario in my book. Others probably delete the thing immediately and those who open it and read it may wonder if there's a catch because no stranger gets in touch with your business unless they either want what you sell or want you to buy from them. A "I'm-not-selling-anything" email may reek of deception to a lot of people. I know it does for me.
Even with cold calling getting 1 in 50 is a success. I think you're being too quick to judge here. I think he did a great job and I think he's actually be a little hard on himself to be perfectly honest. I'm always reminded of Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" speech when I hear these kinds of stories. On the outside it seems like a failure and it's all too easy to criticize but the man in the arena is to be respected even if he fails miserably because in this world so few people even have the balls to enter the arena in the first place. We live in a spectator society. Most people are armchair quarterbacks and eventually the ones with the balls to try something brave or dumb or risky are rewarded so long as they keep going.