I was the motivational speaker at a sales conference the other day and one of the Sales Directors came up to me to ask about the future of cold calling. He explained that he had a sales team of some 100+ salespeople and that they all had to set up their own appointments and that one of the primary ways of doing this was on the phone. He went on to describe what a nightmare this was and how it was seemingly getting harder every day.

I won’t bore you with the whole conversation but I am sure just a few snatches of it will feel familiar…

“… changing markets… increased competition… no names policies… voicemail… gatekeepers… competition from abroad… clients getting too many calls… client indifference… inability to distinguish calls… just a numbers game… necessary evil… falling conversion levels… more calls required to stand still… demotivated staff…”

In frustration, he had searched the internet high and low looking for an answer but, far from finding one, all he had found was oodles of expert opinion and networks of websites dedicated to tolling the bell for the death of cold calling, gurus explaining how it would not / could not / will not work and explanations for why social media, new marketing and sales 3.0 were the only way forward…

Sheesh! Cold calling is one of the most divisive subjects in selling. You cannot start a conversation on cold calling in any sales training forum without igniting the age old debate… Does it work, doesn’t it work, is it dying…? Lah! Lah! Lah! You might as well argue about chickens and eggs but I have my metaphorical fingers firmly in my metaphorical ears because I don’t care…

• Truth 1! Cold calling doesn’t work and is a fruitless activity for most sales and business people. They might as well give up as it does not get them results.
• Truth 2! Cold calling is an incredibly powerful strategy that many top salespeople utilise ALONGSIDE other lead generation strategies to acquire new prospects, clients and business.

Difficult to reconcile? Not really. The more flexible you are in your approach to sales and marketing and the more options you have at your disposal, all the better. As with many things in life, you can choose to believe whatever truth you want to believe so my question to you is simple…

Would it be more useful for you to have some really good reasons and argument for why cold calling doesn’t work anymore or would it be better if you had proven, cold calling strategies that win new business in any economy?

If your answer is the first one then good luck and goodbye to you but if it is the latter then that is what I’m going to help you to attain… AND I am going to do it in a way that even the most phone shy, nervous cold callers can understand and implement. The world has changed, the economy has changed, your market has probably changed and so too your sales approach and sales habits should have changed.

If you work with a sales team or friends who would benefit from these awesome tips and strategies then email them now and tell them to sign up to my sales success newsletter to ensure that they get cold calling secrets right into their email box. Here are what just two delegates had to say after one of my half day seminars last month…

“It was realistic, motivational, client focused and entertaining. Result: 4 very significant meetings booked, doors opening and winning more business. I would recommend Gavin and his product without question. Do it!”

“Brilliant day with Gavin, with immediate results. Meetings booked immediately after going to the course.”

Here’s a thought to get you thinking about things for next week…

Why do most cold calls fail?

I’ll start to answer this next week but in the meantime, and if you already know how much impact my unique sales seminars have then you can book on the first full day open cold calling sales seminar I have run in several years now.

Related posts:

1. What The Mile High Agony Aunt Can’t Teach You About Cold Calling
2. 8 More Tips For Confident Cold Calling…
3. Why Cold Calling Doesn’t Work…

I was reading a business blog today and I came across a well written article asking about the success of cold calling in business today. I decided to post an answer and I thought that my readers might appreciate my thoughts on this matter… 

As someone who works with many different companies I have seen many examples of cold calling having phenomenal results. I have also seen it fail spectacularly!

There seems to be a current trend to label all cold calling as pointless. This is a popular myth and one that I believe people are keen to buy into as they never liked cold calling in the first place.

I have read some of these solutions which say that cold calling doesn’t work and I can say that not only would they be ineffective in many markets but also that many of the techniques would not be allowed to be used by individual salespeople within a company in any case.

Cold calling can be very effective however certain conditions need to be in place. Here are 5 conditions for cold calling to make more sales or appointments…

1. The cold caller needs to be knowledgeable in their products, the market place and the benefits that their solution can provide for the client.
2. The cold caller needs to be positive about cold calling. No-one likes cold calls from someone who doesn’t want to be there!
3. The cold call needs to be targeted and specific to that individual. This requires a system wihch effectively warms up the cold call. This would mean a cold call becoming a tepid call, a tepid call becoming a warm call, a warm call becoming a hot call and a hot call becoming a sizzling call.
4. The cold caller needs to be well trained and coached so that they project a credible business persona and can deliver valuable business benefits for clients.
5. The call needs to be respectful and allow the client to "choose" whether the cold call adds value or not.

Finally, no business should be a one-trick pony. If cold calling is your only method of winning business your business is flawed. Every business should utilise and leverage different ways of prospecting for new clients. As a salesperson your job is to leverage the most effective of these for growing your business.

In summary, well thought out and targeted cold calling strategies which are implemented by well trained and credible sales professionals can be a powerful and important addition to your client acquistion strategies. In many industries they will be the most effective and efficient way of wining new prospects other than referrals.

Related posts:

1. What The Mile High Agony Aunt Can’t Teach You About Cold Calling
2. Sales Training DVD: Power Canvassing For Confident Cold Calling
3. Should Cold Callers Ask, “How Are You Today?”