Face the facts. The vast majority of Sales Professionals despise and hate cold calling in all of it’s various forms: telephone, knocking on doors, direct mail, email, etc… Why?
That answer is easy: Cold Calling comes with a ton of rejection and rejection sucks! We are not supposed to take it personally but, despite all of the gurus and sales trainers who tell us not to take rejection in sales personally, most of us do. Then, we do what ever we can to avoid Cold Calling which for many of us has a negative impact on our career and income.
You can run but you can’t hide. At some point in your career you will be required to cold call. When you are new in your sales career Cold Calling will be your main mechanism for reaching out to potential customers and prospects. However, as you spend more time in your territory, over the years, Cold Calling will become a smaller part of your overall efforts to keep your sales pipeline full.
New Rep in New Territory = Lots of Cold Calling
Tenured Rep in New Territory = Lots of Cold Calling
Tenured Rep in Established Territory = Minimal Cold Calling
Regarless of your situation the one thing to remember is that Prospecting is about balance. If all you do is Cold Call or all you do is Network with Referrals you sub-optimize your sales funnel. A balanced approach in prospecting, utilizing several methodologies, is kind of like having a diversified investment portfolio. It keeps you from putting all of your prospecting eggs in one basket which optimizes your effectiveness in keeping your pipeline full and your commission checks huge.
Recently I ran across this series of Podcasts on Cold Calling that I found interesting:
http://coldcallingpodcast.com/MP3/CCP001_Introduction.mp3
http://coldcallingpodcast.com/MP3/CCP002_Direct_Numbers.mp3
http://coldcallingpodcast.com/MP3/CCP003_Working_Practices.mp3
http://coldcallingpodcast.com/MP3/CCP004_Dealing_With_Rejection.mp3
http://coldcallingpodcast.com/MP3/CCP005_Voicemail_and_Email.mp3
http://coldcallingpodcast.com/MP3/CCP006_Your_Opening_Pitch.mp3
Here are a few more resources your may want to check out:
Cold Calling Techniques: (That Really Work!) (Cold Calling Techniques)
Selling to Big Companies
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cold Calling (The Complete Idiot’s Guide)
Never Cold Call Again: Achieve Sales Greatness Without Cold Calling
Lead Generation for the Complex Sale: Boost the Quality and Quantity of Leads to Increase Your ROI
I’d Rather Have a Root Canal Than Do Cold Calling
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