The End of Cold Calling? by Ron La Vine

I read recently that someone is advocating the end of cold calling.
Never cold call again is their motto. They say that replacing cold
calling with marketing will do the trick. I do not agree with this.
One of the main purposes of cold calling is to find the correct
people who have the authority to evaluate solutions and make
decisions to buy.

While smart marketing can help with this process, it relies upon
the fact that the right person will be reached with the marketing
information.

While this may work for a simple type of sale, such as a sale of
information over the Internet the same cannot be said in a
complex sale where multiple buyers or influencers must be
identified. Much as it might seem distasteful, we must still cold
call.

If you reframe cold calling as a game of how much information
you can get on every call you can eliminate the feelings of
rejection. By getting one more piece of information than you had
before, even if it is only another name, you have gotten a result. If
you have gotten a result than you have not been rejected.

Another key purpose of cold calling is to set appointments. While
clever marketing may help with this task, it cannot replace cold
calling as a means of establishing a relationship. People buy from
people not marketing.

People also buy from people they know, like and trust. Like,
means people similar to them. If you match and mirror the speed,
tone and volume of the other person's voice, it becomes much
easier and faster to establish rapport. Again marketing cannot
replace the building of rapport.

The best way to cold call is to start at the top of an organization
and identify the key people involved in making a decision about
whether or not to acquire your solution. As you work your way
down, you gain intelligence from everyone you speak with. This
helps you build a business case based upon value for why your
solution is the answer to the problems a prospect faces.

True marketing is largely designed to help build brand awareness
in the marketplace. It does not substitute for cold calling and it
never will.

Accept this fact and you will be on your way to be building more
business in less time rather than waiting for marketing to do the
work.

Never cold call again, I think not.

Again the purpose of cold calling is build relationships with
people that marketing may never reach. The other purpose of cold
calling is to set appointments. While marketing may offer clever
inducements to meet, it does not assure you are meeting with the
right people.

The bottom line is that cold calling will always remain important
in the accomplishment of a complex sale. Reframe it as a game or
puzzle into how much information you can get on every call and
you will be on your way to eliminating rejection while gathering
the information you need to make a sale.

For some people never cold calling again may work. For the rest
of us, we will need to keep cold calling if we want to make sure
our pipeline remains full.

A full pipeline means more sales in the long run and more sales
leads to more commissions in your pockets.

Comments

[Cold Calling]

How would making your prospect hunt your down and WANT to build a relationship with you make you believe you still need to cold call? People who still cold call are just a little behind the times and haven't seen what is possible yet. You can build great relationships and sell like crazy without placing a single cold call.

Don't believe me? That's fine, but the next time someone slams the door in your face or hangs up on you maybe you might want to try something new for a change.

Evolve or die...especially in sales!