MORE ABOUT COLD CALLING & ITS VALUE

Did I get some responses from last week's perspectives ? Yes, I did ! More than I expected for sure.

What kind of responses ? Most positive but several people were convinced that it had no value and just irritated customers. I didn't debate with them - some people just won't change - no matter what. Especially those who have been doing it for a long time and satisfied with their income level and / or can blame their spiraling sales revenue on other causes.

Obviously, you can think and do whatever you want. But cold calling is still the backbone of selling success in the commercial marketplace and the really successful salespeople do their share of it !

Do they enjoy it ? Probably not, but they enjoy success and recognize the value of initiating new relationships. Cold calling is hard work and can be very draining of your energies if you aren't good at it. But those of us who are good at it are less troubled by the effort. Do we do enough of it ? Could we do more ? Would we rather do other tasks ? The answer to those questions will vary with each individual but I have to admit I would rather right orders, prepare presentations, and go to the beach.

Cold calling works and will get you face to face with more potential customers than anything else you can do. Networking, emarketing, trade shows, Web 2.0, and all the other ways of getting out amongst them will work but the shortest route is cold calling. But you gotta be good at it. What does that mean ? I'm going to give you some tips; before I do please do not lose sight of what I'm saying, Most Sales Pros who don't want to cold call are not good at it - keep that in mind as I share some tips:
1. Develop a script - get comfortable saying what you are going to say on a voice mail or in person - not something that's different every time.
2. Role play every possible thing they may say when they answer to get comfortable and ready to deal with whatever they say. There really isn't that many things they can say or do.
3. Don't try to sell over the phone - you want a face to face appointment - people buy people. Explain to the person that most people in their position are more comfortable buying from someone that they have met and so I want to meet with you. It isn't fair to me or you as a potential customer to try to measure the value of what I offer over the phone. If not this week what about next week ?
4. Do your homework. Know whom you are calling, what they do, why they need your product or service, who they are currently buying from, how many locations, how many employees, etc., etc.

That's a start. I have about 25 more tips for you. It works people - try it - you'll love it !

Thanks for taking the time to read this week's Perspective. Good Luck and Good Selling !