Replacing the cold call with a hot call or anything
The three-word definition of a cold call is waste of time.
No one likes cold calls. Not the salesperson who makes them, and surely not the prospect who receives them. It's a way to sell, just not the best way to sell and getting worse by the day.
"Cold calls are the necessary evil of selling" is a false statement. "Cold calls are a necessary evils if you don't employ the correct selling strategies" is the true statement.
What awaits you at the other end of a cold call are people who:
have or don't want what you've got,
don't know who you are,
don't want to be bothered,
resent being interrupted,
resent your call,
will get angry at you or your company.
It's not a "cold call," it's an intrusion without an invitation. A gate crash. And if handled poorly, it will ruin any future chances for a legitimate sales call.
Let's see poor timing, a tough time getting through, and if you do, you fight for attention. And 95% of those who get through are wholly untrained and incapable of selling anything anyway. What's the point? Isn't there a better way? Look at the other side there is no worse way.
The cold call is the lowest percentage sale. And the biggest part of a cold caller's activity is being rejected. Oh boy, sounds like fun to me. Interestingly, the cold call and its brother, rejection, are also the biggest reason why salespeople quit their jobs.
If you look at the cold calling industry, most of it leaves a lot to be desired donation solicitations, unscrupulous office supply companies, long-distance phone services, people calling "on behalf of" legitimate organizations, stock brokers looking for a "hit" wrong way to win.
Cold calling is a fading process because business people are tired of cold calls. Buyers are smarter and more selective. And they want more relationship-oriented than "hit-and-run" salespeople.
The cold call is going through a metamorphosis. As it becomes harder to just "walk in" with security and locked buildings, or just "phone in" with voice mail, new trends are emerging that will place the cold call alongside the rotary-dial phone and the typewriter: still around, but laughed at when used.
There are much better ways of putting yourself in front of people who can say yes to you (other than advertising). Here are some acceptable alternatives to the cold call that are not only better, but more fun, more gratifying and likely to net better results:
networking
present customer expansion
personal promotion
business group involvement
referrals (the earned kind)
community involvement
speaking in public
writing articles
Salespeople who don't network or use referral selling will have to make cold calls. But cold calls as a mainstay of building your sales can and should be eliminated.
If you want to use cold calling, use it as a learning tool. Do it as a supplement to a successful selling program not as a mainstay. When you do it as a supplement, you're more relaxed about the outcome because your life doesn't depend on it.
Here are some acceptable cold-calling circumstances:
After a sales call. Go to one or two neighboring businesses or offices. Try to get your customer to introduce you rather than busting in alone.
Driving down the road and being hit with a business instinct that this would be a great customer. Gut instinct is fun to follow.
Making a set small number of calls a day to practice gaining engagements or trying out new sales ideas. Using the cold call as training. Cold calls are a lousy way to make a sale but they are a great place to learn how to sell.
Calling a particular category of business that has proven successful in the past or is "hot." If everyone else is buying, engagement will be easier. Take a testimonial or three with you.
If you've done some homework, have a specific target for a specific purpose, and have no other way of making contact you might think, "I have to make a cold call." Even then a letter, fax or e-mail is better to start the ball rolling.
The secret of cold calling is not in who you know, but in who knows you. If they know you, they will invite you in. If they don't know you, you're toast. The hard part is getting known, but it can be done.
"Sales is a numbers game," is a short-lived philosophy. "Sales is a smart numbers game" is closer to the real world and an infinitely wiser path to pursue. Sales is also a mutual respect game. Play it that way and you win much more often.
