Cold Calling is outdated and does not work for the time involved

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger Spot on people.

I cold call, I like to call it 'slightly warm calling' people on behalf of our clients. I know it works, you have to have motivated people you train or trained to sell on the phone.

Also, if cold calling doesn’t work, there are allot of telemarketing companies surviving on something.

Dear Top Sales Expert

Well. . . as you believe that cold calling is dead, there are thousands of salespeople cold calling every day and making incredible incomes. A salespro (copier sales) said recently that he gets far better leads from cold walking into offices than all the networking events in town combined. The big question is how are you keeping your pipeline full of warm, qualified leads?

I believe there was a previous thread here about a book titled "Selling Sucks". Also the author wrote, "Cold Calling is a Waste of Time", or something like that. This thread kinda hits on the same theories of the book. Makes sense. A lot of people still make a good living cold calling. But a lot of people make as much money and never cold call. Is it coaching, training, educational level, internet skills, or a comfort zone? I'm open for comments.

Originally Posted by mcaldwell I believe there was a previous thread here about a book titled "Selling Sucks". Also the author wrote, "Cold Calling is a Waste of Time", or something like that. This thread kinda hits on the same theories of the book. Makes sense. A lot of people still make a good living cold calling. But a lot of people make as much money and never cold call. Is it coaching, training, educational level, internet skills, or a comfort zone? I'm open for comments.

Cold calling isn't a requirement to making money in sales it's an optional lead generation strategy and method of contact. Often times cold calling isn't the highest and best use of a salesperson's time however many times it is. Which is more of a waste of time sitting on deck waiting for a prospect to come to you or taking the bull by the horns and seeing the people?

Mr. AZBroker,

Please excuse the way I worded my comment. I am aware that cold calling is a lead generation activity. Some people are excellent at it and generate sales (and do well), while still others never develop that quality or else they give up. I fully agree with you that it is sometimes better to get out and see the people but more than likely, somewhere, someday, you will cold call someone on the phone. So be prepared. Your ultimate goal is to develope
lead strategies that encourage people to be calling you.

Originally Posted by mcaldwell Mr. AZBroker, Please excuse the way I worded my comment. I am aware that cold calling is a lead generation activity. Some people are excellent at it and generate sales (and do well), while still others never develop that quality or else they give up. I fully agree with you that it is sometimes better to get out and see the people but more than likely, somewhere, someday, you will cold call someone on the phone. So be prepared. Your ultimate goal is to develope lead strategies that encourage people to be calling you.

Hello mcaldwell. Your comments are great and my response wasn't pointed at you.

It seems to me that the people who state that "Cold calling doesn't work" or "cold calling is a waste of time" are making a gross generalization that has the potential to do more harm than good.

In my opinion cold calling, executed properly (time, situation, etc.), has it's place. For someone to dismiss in general cold calling as a viable lead generation strategy shows either a serious bias or a serious ignorance neither of which does much good for those in the profession.

While I agree that traditional cold calling is outdated and doesn't work as well anymore, it's far from being "dead". With a well-crafted message and a little research on the prospect, most salespeople can make 10 dials, reach 3 people, and gain 1 appointment.

The best approach is to create a prospecting campaign that leverages tele-prospecting, email, voice mail, internet marketing, event marketing, blogging, and creative campaigns. Each salesperson needs to design a campaign that works best for their type of industry.

I think alot of people have different ideas of a cold call. I started selling a product that almost everyone has a need for. so even making a true "cold call" was productive, atleast more productive than sitting at my desk wandering why im not making any sales. but now I have to target customers because of my product, I have to learn what their business is and how they could use my product. do i do some research? yes. do I try to find out who the decision maker is before i call? yes. do i still consider this a cold call? yes.

I do not think cold calls are dead, I just think that salespeople are learning how to warm up the tempature a bit by arming themselves with information about their new client. If i see a van driving on the road, i write down the name of the company and the number. I still consider this a cold call, even though I already know they use vans.

Originally Posted by Jake Atwood While I agree that traditional cold calling is outdated and doesn't work as well anymore, it's far from being "dead". With a well-crafted message and a little research on the prospect, most salespeople can make 10 dials, reach 3 people, and gain 1 appointment. The best approach is to create a prospecting campaign that leverages tele-prospecting, email, voice mail, internet marketing, event marketing, blogging, and creative campaigns. Each salesperson needs to design a campaign that works best for their type of industry.

Jake I sell trailers in trailer parks. Not real sophisticated but it pays the bills most of the time. Not cold calling private sellers sounds great but email, event marketing, internet marketing and blogging don't apply to my situation... or do they?

Thomas, don't worry if you feel like you don't sell a sophisticated product--it still sounds like it's a major buying decision for your prospects and I'm sure it can be a competitive market. I work with several people in the realty and mortgage business and there are a lot of ways they are warming up prospects and converting them to clients. Here are a few examples:

1. Host a free seminar on How To Buy a Mobile Home. Advertise in the local newspaper, the business journal, and make cold calls to invite people. When people agree to attend, be sure to ask them for referrals.

2. Capture people's contact info, including email address. Set up a sequential autoresponder that automatically sends them a series of emails with tips and suggestions for buying their home. If they don't have email, you can also use a service like SendOutCards.com. This is a great way to keep in touch with people who aren't ready to purchase right away (but will be someday).

3. Set up a blog and publish useful, relevant articles about the mobile home market, best places to live, how to find the right home, etc. This is a great credibility builder and can create new leads. You can advertise your blog site in all your marketing materials, bulletin boards, flyers, events, etc. Blogs are much more interesting than corporate websites. If you're worried that your audience may not be internet-savvy, then you can also send our a printed newsletter every few weeks.

I hope this gives you a few ideas. Market yourself as the expert in your business. Keep cold calling (because it works and I still cold call, too) but look for additional ways to create leads.