cold-callv.
1. intransitive. To sell goods or services by making unsolicited calls on prospective customers, either by telephone or in person.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (intransitive)] > sell in specific manner
retail?1523
to sell in bulk1678
wholesale1871
best-sell1937
overstock1945
switch-sell1965
rack-job1967
cold-call1972
cross-sell1972
1972 Times 30 Sept. 20/4 She and Ken used to set off for the City, ‘cold calling’ on travel agencies..that might have jobbing work.
1984 Times 19 Jan. 13/6 Professor Gower's most controversial proposal is to extend to the unit trusts the facility to ‘cold call’, effectively the door-to-door selling now done by life insurance companies. He would like to ban cold calling altogether, but, he said, the two forms of investment are now inextricably mixed.
2. transitive. To make an unsolicited approach to (a prospective customer) with the intention of persuading him to buy goods or services.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > [adjective] > selling methods or techniques
direct1892
soft-selling1921
tie-in1943
hard sell1946
pyramid1949
switch selling1960
multilevel1970
cold-call1985
ambush1987
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (transitive)] > expose or offer for sale > solicit custom for
to drum up1824
drum1834
pull1896
tout1920
cold-call1985
1985 Daily Tel. 20 July 15/3 Investment businesses should be entitled to ‘cold-call’ anyone.
1986 Economist 1 Feb. 80/3 They will ‘cold-call’ former staff of companies they are investigating.
1986 Observer 23 Mar. 32/1 Cold calling shareholders during take-over battles is expected to receive a cold shoulder from the Securities and Investments Board.
Derivatives
cold call n. an unsolicited approach by a salesman to a prospective customer; also (with hyphen) attributive. Cf. cold selling n. at cold adj. Compounds 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > [noun] > selling method or technique > types of
branding1913
cross-selling1919
mass marketing1920
supermarketing1940
hard sell1945
market testing1947
sales drive1951
soft sell1953
rack-jobbing1954
switch selling1960
cold selling1961
telesales1962
telemarketing1963
loss-leading1964
test-marketing1964
pyramid selling1965
inertia selling1968
overselling1968
bundling1969
oversell1969
rack job1969
bounceback1970
party plan1973
sale-leaseback1973
up-marketing1975
sellathon1976
upselling1977
cold calling1978
cold call1980
network marketing1981
ambush marketing1987
green marketing1988
relationship marketing1988
freemium1994
e-tailing1995
1980 Economist 26 July 89/3 Clipboard and cold-call approach selling..are caused by methods of recruitment, where an undue emphasis on high and quick rewards can encourage high-pressure selling.
1986 Marketing 11 Sept. 20/3 On the first cold call I ever made I started saying what I had been trained to say when to my astonishment the person I had rung said ‘yes’.
cold calling n. (the practice of) selling by this method.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > [noun] > selling method or technique > types of
branding1913
cross-selling1919
mass marketing1920
supermarketing1940
hard sell1945
market testing1947
sales drive1951
soft sell1953
rack-jobbing1954
switch selling1960
cold selling1961
telesales1962
telemarketing1963
loss-leading1964
test-marketing1964
pyramid selling1965
inertia selling1968
overselling1968
bundling1969
oversell1969
rack job1969
bounceback1970
party plan1973
sale-leaseback1973
up-marketing1975
sellathon1976
upselling1977
cold calling1978
cold call1980
network marketing1981
ambush marketing1987
green marketing1988
relationship marketing1988
freemium1994
e-tailing1995
1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. b20/8 (advt.) Bonified appointments with customers who are waiting for you. No cold calling.
Draft additions June 2016
cold caller n. a person who makes unsolicited visit or telephone calls, esp. in an attempt to sell goods or services.
ΚΠ
1972 Times Recorder (Zanesville, Ohio) 28 Nov. 4 b/7 (advt.) Cold Caller... Sales person experienced in creating action. Sell game machine rentals. Great benefits.
2012 Daily Tel. 5 July 8/5 A Panorama investigation..claimed that the Telephone Preference Service, which allows people to block cold-callers, was being ignored by some companies.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1989; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
<
v.1972