A lot of people over the last few weeks have been talking about “the best ways” to locate new customers and clients. A lot of people think that the strategies required have changed and that many of the old strategies don’t work anymore.

Out with the old, in with the new?

Not really. I agree that there are many “new ways” of reaching prospects and customers…

I have a LinkedIn account and a LinkedIn group (Sales Psychology & Performance if you want to have a look). I have a Youtube channel, I Twitter, I have a sales training blog and was blogging well before most other’s in the market place. I have numerous other social media profiles which I don’t use as much and I am also looking at the newest trends all of the time. I love to use the new ways and embrace change…

However, I think there is a real danger of throwing out what was and is still good about the old in chasing the new with comments like this one that someone made on one of my groups the other day when talking about traditional sales methods in particular prospecting…

“…you’ll be missing the 90%+ of the market that don’t buy like that…”

I am always suspicious of statistics but that one just looks wrong to me. To start with, if I only look at my  own stats, I can see that my business comes from multiple sources. It does not just come from cold calling, or from blogging, or from videos, or from article marketing, or from networking, or from referrals, or from sales meetings…

In fact, most of my clients and prospects travel through multiple touch points before buying i.e. “Well I saw you on a video programme where you were a guest expert, then I read one of your articles in a (traditional print) magazine, then someone said something about you at a networking event. I always thought I might book you for my team but then I changed roles and someone sent me a copy of your newsletter and so I came to one of your seminars and then I thought “Wow!” I need this guy for my next sales conference.”

Furthermore, it is indeed amazing how much of it still comes from traditional sources… speaking, referrals (proactive and reactive), word of mouth, recommendations, networking, traditional sales… with a kicker that most have read my blog after they found me, or watched my Youtube videos or checked me out on LinkedIn etc.

There are some markets where many sales are made using totally new ways of selling and there are some where no-one is buying this way. I am constantly amazed by how many of my paying clients do not have video enabled on their PCs, do not use Twitter and have failed to respond to invites to any of my online groups or communities.

The only “new way” they respond to is my email newsletter (permission based but the only one that interrupts them) and then they won’t post a blog answer on my website, they prefer to email me their thoughts and questions instead.

The new way of selling is here. The new way of making contacts and differentiating yourself from the market is here but it is not about new methodologies…

The new way of selling is about adding value for your clients. The new way is about better engaging your clients. The new way is about caring about your clients and their businesses. The new way is about focusing on your clients and not on you. And if you can use new media to do this, that’s great.

But the new way of selling is not about activity, it is about mindset. Selling is an attitude that leaves behind a trail of techniques.

It is misleading to assume then that the old methods do not work anymore. When you apply the new mindset to them they work incredibly well but too few people (know how to) do this and therefore fail miserably.

After my cold calling seminar of last week, someone Twittered the next day to say they had already  set up 4 meetings. After my cold calling seminar of Tuesday this week, someone already emailed me to say they would never have thought that they would be the person emailing me at all let alone saying that they had set up 5 appointments the very next day.

The old ways still work when you use the new mindset and new technologies to pimp them up.

It is also worth noting that many people using the new technologies do not have the new mindset and are just spamming anyway. The vast majority of comments and discussions posted in my communities are by people who ought to know better saying “go look at my seminar” or “see this article I wrote and spammed across every group”. They are no better than old school, bad, cold callers and I believe will be looked upon as the same in time. They add no value to their groups, no value to their communities, no value to their readers and this approach will not work long term.
Someone said to me the other day that I am the only person who consistently gives away stuff of value. This is clearly not true and I could name others who do too but it says a lot about the state of how people perceive the way people are using these new mediums.

People are unsubscribing from social media. People are clicking off from newsletters. People do not have the time to take part in discussions a lot of the time. I only need to look at the number of people who ring me and speak to me about booking me for a conference and who then fail to respond to emails. When I pick the phone up to them they invariably say, “I meant to call you,” and then book me.

And if every person out there started blogging, Twittering, Facebooking and videoing, firstly, many would just be no good at it and, secondly, no-one would be able to find anything worthwhile through the white noise…

So...

The expectation of salespeople has to change. The approaches you take have to change. The mindset you have has to change.

We have to add value. We have to utilise multiple routes to market. We have to employ new strategies, old strategies and hybrid strategies.

We have to use what works.

It’s not out with the old in with the new. It’s embrace the new, pimp up the old and mash up the lot to come up with a viable approach that connects and adds value for your clients. And this should include whatever strategies, old or new, that work best for you.

Related posts:

1. Now Is The Time For Sales Heroes
2. How Can I Use Technology To Build Credibility Remotely?
3. Does Cold Calling Work, 2?

I’m pretty busy. If you read my motivational articles, attend my sales seminars or have booked me as a motivational speaker you probably get that. My guess is that you’re busy too. You have a lot to do and probably not enough time to do it. You probably spend a significant amount of time juggling tasks and you may or may not have got your head around social media yet. Social media in business is like everything else… there are early adopters, there are followers and then there are laggers. Which are you?

Whatever you think about it, whether you’ve got your head around it or not social media is not going away. Sure, the players will change, the rules will change and the pitch will be redesigned but the game will still be played. If you’re not on the pitch kicking the ball around then you have no chance of getting selected for the premier league!

We are firmly in the second stage of social media for business now. The early adopters are on board and many others are diving in or at least dipping their toes in the water to have a swim. Some are doing this confidently, some are doing it unconfidently and some are doing it begrudgingly all the time moaning that it’s a “waste of their time.” None the less, the bulk of people are pulling on their boots to have a kick about leaving only a hardcore standing King Canute like on the shore line hoping that the tide won’t come in.

Too late, it already has.

One of the moans I hear about social media is that it can be confusing. That’s true but it needn’t be. At the moment there are a few big players that you need on your team. The relative strengths and weaknesses of these players will vary and some may be more suitable for you than others but they are…

LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and to a lesser extent perhaps Flickr. This should all be held together by your blog or even (for those wanting to ride a different wave) a lifestream.

You could argue for others but these are the current superstars at the moment and you should have these players in your team or at least on your subs bench. Have you signed them up yet?

Related posts:

1. SOCIAL Media… Goodness Me, Isn’t That A Clue?
2. Question: “In A World Of Social Media, Is There Any Room For Cold Calling?”
3. How Important Is Social Media, An Interview With Chris Norton

This great question was asked on my Sales Psychology & Performance LinkedIn group today. I wanted to copy the conversation over to my blog because it gets to the core of some of the challenges that salespeople, business owners and entrepreneurs face today. With all of these options and so many choices that can take up so much time, many ask me what they should be doing to generate credibility, sales leads and business when they are already crazy busy…

Technology has made networking, creating a brand, demonstrating expertise, adding value and global sales so easy… on the one hand… and yet has created a whole new range of technologies, ideas, ways of working and approaches that did not exist 5 years ago, let alone 10. And that can be a challenge.

What technologies and approaches work? I mean, really work? What is the 20% that produces 80% of the results? What is the 20% of the 20% that produces 80% of those? Great questions all. On top of increased, competition, globalisation and challenging markets, small and large businesses can easily lose themselves neck deep in non-productive online and technological activities.

And, of course, to add to that… as people move online, certain “old-school” approaches which some might see as “quaint” will become incredibly powerful precisely because of their personal nature… not for use all of the time for sure but as laser-guided “weaponry” for the right clients and in the right situations. But what are they? And when should you use them?

Personally, I have tried many things and been ruthless in cutting my losses, not flogging old donkeys thinking they were Derby winners. I see people talking in groups, some all day, pretending it is helping their businesses and their brands and then wondering where the business is…

We all have to change, we all have to embrace change and we all have to assess our strategies for change. You need to make sure that you are not spending 80% of your time on the activities that will only produce 20% of the results (at best)…

Related posts:

1. How To Build Confidence And Close More Sales
2. ATSCo (Association Of Technology Staffing Companies) Members Conference, June 5th 2008
3. Question: “In A World Of Social Media, Is There Any Room For Cold Calling?”

Short answer, “Yes, there is.”

Longer version…

Today I mentioned in a status update that I was helping some surveyors to build new business leads through cold calling sales training. I was asked the question,

“Cold calling? In an era of social media and connection?”

The answer for so many reasons is… “Yes.”

A top-class, sales development, plan should assess and consider many routes to market. Sales development is about multiple routes to market. Recent economic times prove that what you do today may well not work tomorrow. Many companies thought that what they were doing a year ago would always be good enough. Many companies thought that they did not have to consider other options to carry on succeeding. Heck, even the government thought that they had eliminated “boom and bust” for ever. They were all wrong.
If life tells you anything it is that things change. Things don’t stay the same. So it’s a good job that variety is the spice of life.

So to cold calling…

Cold calling, done correctly, can be incredibly effective. Cold calling, done well, can be powerfully effective. Cold calling, employed successfully, can catapult a business from zero to huge growth with minimal budgets and with break-neck speed. For many industries and companies failing to consider cold calling as part of their route to market is every bit as short-sighted as doing nothing but cold calling for business and employing no other strategies whatsoever. What’s more, cold calling is eminently measurable, gets immediate and tangible results and is within the control of the individual.

Yes, cold calling done badly will waste time. Cold calling done badly is disrespectful. Cold calling done badly is no better than spam. Cold calling done badly will not work. And many businesses do cold calling very, very badly… but I wasn’t talking about doing it badly now was I? That’s what sales training is for.

Many have predicted the death of cold calling many times over and many will again. Many have a vested interest in predicting this in any case. And many salespeople wish this were true as they don’t like doing it. Maybe one day it will happen but not today. Cold calling directly connects individuals to other individuals and that can’t be a bad thing in a world obsessed by email and faceless, impersonal communication.

Through sales training, sales seminars and sales consultancy, I have helped and seen businesses double sales growth rapidly by employing legitimate and professional cold calling tactics. I have helped individuals grow small businesses from scratch with proven cold calling strategies. I have helped SMEs take on international behemoths by outflanking them and taking the initiative by getting themselves in front of senior decision-makers using… guess what?… cold calling skills.

But what of social media…?

I love social media. I use social media. I spend time with social media. To a point… but it is not for everybody. Certainly, not yet anyway and maybe never. Everybody said that video would kill cinemas and, for a bit, it did but cinemas reinvented themselves and became popular again. E-books were supposed to kill printed books but Amazon, Borders, Waterstones and others (Harry “flipping” Potter to name but one)  changed this prediction.

Cold calling may change. It may be used less. It may be used more. It may stop working altogether. But, at the moment, I and many businesses have incontrovertible, black and white, bottom-line evidence that cold calling done well kicks ass in many businesses.
But as I said, I like social media too. Social media is incredibly powerful but what if…?

What if your clients have not embraced blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc? In some markets, the lion-share of individuals have not even heard of LinkedIn, they do not read blogs and many over 30 do not even have a Facebook account. To them Twitter is something they do not understand or see the point of.  I know many busy executives who make important buying decisions for companies who are “too busy to mess about on the internet” as they have “a real job to do”!

How do you reach these people through social media?

You don’t. Not yet anyway and maybe you never will. Some people do not have the time or interest for social media. Some people do not and might not “get” social media. Social media is incredibly powerful but you cannot use it to reach and engage with people who have not yet embraced it and who do not use it. Social media is powerful but it is not a wonder solution that wipes out all others. Social media is a “communication” channel and as such should only be part of an overall sales and communication strategy.

So, as I was saying…

Today I was teaching surveyors to cold call professionally to win more business. Cold calling might not work for you. It might not work for your business. But, then again, is it not possible that cold calling could be a powerful way of building business and generating sales leads for you, for your sales team and for your business? Want to know more about sales training and cold calling?

Related posts:

1. Does Cold Calling Work?
2. Cold Calling Article In Winning Edge Magazine
3. Stand Up If You Like Cold Calling!