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"Top Sales Expert"
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The End of Cold Calling?
I read recently that someone is advocating the end of cold calling.
Never **** call again is their motto. They say that replacing cold calling with marketing will do the trick. I do not agree with this. One of the main purposes of cold calling is to find the correct people who have the authority to evaluate solutions and make decisions to buy. While smart marketing can help with this process, it relies upon the fact that the right person will be reached with the marketing information. While this may work for a simple type of sale, such as a sale of information over the Internet the same cannot be said in a complex sale where multiple buyers or influencers must be identified. Much as it might seem distasteful, we must still cold call. If you reframe cold calling as a game of how much information you can get on every call you can eliminate the feelings of rejection. By getting one more piece of information than you had before, even if it is only another name, you have gotten a result. If you have gotten a result than you have not been rejected. Another key purpose of cold calling is to set appointments. While clever marketing may help with this task, it cannot replace cold calling as a means of establishing a relationship. People buy from people not marketing. People also buy from people they know, like and trust. Like, means people similar to them. If you match and mirror the speed, tone and volume of the other person's voice, it becomes much easier and faster to establish rapport. Again marketing cannot replace the building of rapport. The best way to cold call is to start at the top of an organization and identify the key people involved in making a decision about whether or not to acquire your solution. As you work your way down, you gain intelligence from everyone you speak with. This helps you build a business case based upon value for why your solution is the answer to the problems a prospect faces. True marketing is largely designed to help build brand awareness in the marketplace. It does not substitute for cold calling and it never will. Accept this fact and you will be on your way to be building more business in less time rather than waiting for marketing to do the work. Never **** call again, I think not. Again the purpose of cold calling is build relationships with people that marketing may never reach. The other purpose of cold calling is to set appointments. While marketing may offer clever inducements to meet, it does not assure you are meeting with the right people. The bottom line is that cold calling will always remain important in the accomplishment of a complex sale. Reframe it as a game or puzzle into how much information you can get on every call and you will be on your way to eliminating rejection while gathering the information you need to make a sale. For some people never cold calling again may work. For the rest of us, we will need to keep cold calling if we want to make sure our pipeline remains full. A full pipeline means more sales in the long run and more sales leads to more commissions in your pockets. -- Make it a great day and a successful week! Ron La Vine, MBA, President Accelerated Sales Training, Inc. LIVE Cold Calling Sales Training Workshops No Charge Sales Tips - http://www.ast-incorp.com/free.htm Accelerated Sales Training, Inc. (formerly Intellworks, Inc.) 638 Lindero Canyon Road, Suite 283 Oak Park, CA 91377 818-991-6487 Office PST 818-519-3852 Mobile 818-991-5938 Fax mailto:rslavine@ast-incorp.com |
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