"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up."
I have to give credit where credit is due. A Google+ posted by my pal Gary Hart (Salesdujour) whom I respect and follow inspired me to write this Blog! The same question keeps cropping up in several different ways, in several different manners, regardless of what forum I dip into: Linked In, Quora, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ "Is Cold Calling Dead?" .... there is even professionals out there that tell you it is dead in no uncertain terms.
Cold calling is part of sales, like "prospecting" "closing" "objection" functions are. In my perfect world everyone will join together to get on the same page, agreeing on a definition. Instead, when you ask what people feel towards cold calling you end up with a debate on whether it works, alive, etc. If you "Google" cold calling, you may end up at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_calling that explains it to be: "Cold calling is the marketing process of approaching prospective customers or clients, typically via telephone, who were not expecting such an interaction. The word "cold" is used because the person receiving the call is not expecting a call or has not specifically asked to be contacted by a sales person."
Oh, oh. The last business development role I was involved in, they would have hired "Telemarketers" to do "cold" telephone calls, which some are asked to schedule appointments for sales people. What they wanted was a warm body in front of customers that they weren't reaching by advertising, marketing, etc. Most bosses I know who have sales departments consider hiring telemarketers an overhead cost. More often, that falls under "sales" on the balance sheet. Even more, would say they don't need telemarketers if they have sales professionals to do their own telemarketing.
My first take when I see the question asked is that not cold calling means you be handed engaged buyer-ready customers. Perfect, all you have to do is "close" them. I want a million dollars and a second home in the tropics too. Doesn't mean I'm going to get either. In fact, if the world agreed that cold calling is dead, then sales pros may just be killing their own careers!
Seriously, if companies want order takers primed on the ready for warmed leads banging down their door, a sales career would become obsolete. If marketing could bring in new customers all nice and neatly tied up in a bow that just needed to be written up, would they need sales professionals? I think not, they would be called "Customer Service Representatives". In fact, if that were the case, I'm sure most executives would pour more money into marketing and be talking to accounting more about what to do with all that money.
Sales professionals are one of the toughest groups to manage. Each brings in a set of tools, success strategies, and war stories that would make even the most notorious war generals blink! Asked why sales aren't improving, you better sit down because that may take a while.
One of my first Blogs ever, written last August 2010 "When the Going Gets Tough The Tough Go Hunting" http://optioneerjm.blogspot.com/2010/08/when-going-gets-tough-tough-go-hunting.html What I said then and say still is when the economy softens and revenue streams dry up, people turn to their sales professionals or even some stretch resources to hire sales professional(s) to offset declines.
Now, if we start talking techniques that take the "Cold out of Call" http://optioneerjm.blogspot.com/2010/11/take-cold-out-of-call.html and devise solutions on making it seem less intrusive to people that are too busy to stop for a call from a customer, never mind a sales pro that somehow got through, then we're getting somewhere.
The great part of these debates, they fuel my passion to write more! That is why so many sales Blogs like mine are alive and doing well. Well folks, you won't find any excuses NOT to cold call on this one.
"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go."
Vince Lombardi
I have to give credit where credit is due. A Google+ posted by my pal Gary Hart (Salesdujour) whom I respect and follow inspired me to write this Blog! The same question keeps cropping up in several different ways, in several different manners, regardless of what forum I dip into: Linked In, Quora, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ "Is Cold Calling Dead?" .... there is even professionals out there that tell you it is dead in no uncertain terms.
Cold calling is part of sales, like "prospecting" "closing" "objection" functions are. In my perfect world everyone will join together to get on the same page, agreeing on a definition. Instead, when you ask what people feel towards cold calling you end up with a debate on whether it works, alive, etc. If you "Google" cold calling, you may end up at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_calling that explains it to be: "Cold calling is the marketing process of approaching prospective customers or clients, typically via telephone, who were not expecting such an interaction. The word "cold" is used because the person receiving the call is not expecting a call or has not specifically asked to be contacted by a sales person."
Oh, oh. The last business development role I was involved in, they would have hired "Telemarketers" to do "cold" telephone calls, which some are asked to schedule appointments for sales people. What they wanted was a warm body in front of customers that they weren't reaching by advertising, marketing, etc. Most bosses I know who have sales departments consider hiring telemarketers an overhead cost. More often, that falls under "sales" on the balance sheet. Even more, would say they don't need telemarketers if they have sales professionals to do their own telemarketing.
My first take when I see the question asked is that not cold calling means you be handed engaged buyer-ready customers. Perfect, all you have to do is "close" them. I want a million dollars and a second home in the tropics too. Doesn't mean I'm going to get either. In fact, if the world agreed that cold calling is dead, then sales pros may just be killing their own careers!
Seriously, if companies want order takers primed on the ready for warmed leads banging down their door, a sales career would become obsolete. If marketing could bring in new customers all nice and neatly tied up in a bow that just needed to be written up, would they need sales professionals? I think not, they would be called "Customer Service Representatives". In fact, if that were the case, I'm sure most executives would pour more money into marketing and be talking to accounting more about what to do with all that money.
Sales professionals are one of the toughest groups to manage. Each brings in a set of tools, success strategies, and war stories that would make even the most notorious war generals blink! Asked why sales aren't improving, you better sit down because that may take a while.
One of my first Blogs ever, written last August 2010 "When the Going Gets Tough The Tough Go Hunting" http://optioneerjm.blogspot.com/2010/08/when-going-gets-tough-tough-go-hunting.html What I said then and say still is when the economy softens and revenue streams dry up, people turn to their sales professionals or even some stretch resources to hire sales professional(s) to offset declines.
Now, if we start talking techniques that take the "Cold out of Call" http://optioneerjm.blogspot.com/2010/11/take-cold-out-of-call.html and devise solutions on making it seem less intrusive to people that are too busy to stop for a call from a customer, never mind a sales pro that somehow got through, then we're getting somewhere.
The great part of these debates, they fuel my passion to write more! That is why so many sales Blogs like mine are alive and doing well. Well folks, you won't find any excuses NOT to cold call on this one.
"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go."
William Feather
