Last night I received a call from Eddie. Eddie mentioned my friend Mike said I might be interested in seeing a presentation for his product. He then gave me a little pitch and closed for the meeting.

Cold calling is a tough business in any economy. It is difficult to get a “live” voice on the other end of the phone and when you do -you have less than a 20 % chance of getting your meeting.

How do you improve your odds? Through referrals. C-Level Executives are three times as likely to take a meeting with someone referred by a colleague or business associate.

Working influencer channels can pay big dividends