“When I started Out, All I Had Was The Yellow Pages & A Phone”

There are certain topics that we all know to stay away from because history has shown us that people go from zero to nasty right quick. It’s the fun topics like religion or politics and now amongst the sales brethren its cold calling.
I thought it might be interesting to “go there” today and present what I feel are misunderstandings regarding the beloved cold call.

1) How We Define “Cold Call”:There are lots of people out there who define any form of phone call to a prospect as a cold call. Its used in a generic context like if you were to “Xerox” something or “Google” someone. There are others who feel that a cold call is calling any business “cold” as in working straight off a list, no pre call planning etc. And there are still more who believe that all calls are cold calls because whether you pre call plan or not, you are calling someone who isn’t expecting your call using an interruption strategy. All I can say is that you know its going to be a fun discussion when no one can even agree on what the heck a cold call is in the first place.

2) The Anti Cold Calling Theory of Working Smarter Not Harder:One way this is misunderstood is by the people who embrace the theory in too much of a literal sense. I’m all about working smarter. In fact, I’m one of those idiots who believed that all you had to do was make a kazillion calls and statistically speaking you had to win. My issue with this statement is that too many times “working smarter” becomes an excuse for not getting our uniforms dirty. In many cases we are preparing to prepare instead of working. For example: I’ve interviewed sales professionals who do more along the lines of 15 targeted calls per week and that’s it. I’m here to tell you that if that’s all you do, you aren’t working smarter. You simply don’t have enough activity to make it. My feeling is that I can research the heck out of 15 companies but if between caller id, assistants, voice mails etc I only connect with 3, even with a perfect score, I only have 3 appointments.

3) The Researching A Prospect Is An Excuse Crowd: These are the ones who feel that all you should do is “smile and dial” More specifically, they are the ones who believe that you are slacking if you are researching clients and its basically an avoidance strategy. Depending on the rep, they could be right or wrong. Here’s an easy solution; when its “game time” we play the game, not research the game. Therefore, it makes better sense to do the research during off hours instead of money hours. Problem solved. I’m here to tell you that if you don’t take the time to research there are tons of prospects who are going to call you out on it. I’m also here to tell you that you gamble when you don’t take the time to research . You gamble in thinking that your competitor hasn’t prepared better than you. That my friends is a suckers bet every time!

4) You Suck If You Don’t Cold Call:These are the people who believe that there is no other way and if you don’t want to cold call, you have a poor work ethic. To that I would respond with a simple question “Why would you care how I get my sale as long as its between ethical and legal?” If I’m making my numbers or I have a solid plan on how I will generate the revenue, why is that not valid? Furthermore, when I bring home the bacon (and I will) does it count less because it didn’t originate from cold calling? Also, what if I truly suck on the phone but I’m a brilliant public speaker or master blogger or social networker? Why would you discourage me from using those venues if I get the results? Note to Sales Managers: Sometimes we are so busy trying to convert a rep into something they aren’t that we fail to help them shine in the areas where they are in fact, quite strong. I want to make sure that I’m crystal clear on something. As a trainer, I wholeheartedly believe that we have to face our fears and step outside our comfort zone. I also believe that we have to really look at ourselves in the mirror (the unforgiving full length one) assess ourselves and work on the areas that need some fixing up. The challenge with that is when we spend so much time on weaknesses that we don’t enhance or work with our strengths.

5) It’s a Numbers Game: Let’s say this is 100% true and in this context the phone is a stand alone new account acquisition strategy. Utilizing a well thought out “sales mix” will improve those numbers. When I say “sales mix” I’m talking about email, snail mail, creative things, networking, social networking, blogging, E-Books, lunch and learns, speaking engagements, referrals, webinars etc. Saying that the phone is a numbers game, a “contact sport” if you will, can also force us to be so focused on the number of calls that we fail to communicate a compelling message.

6) Here’s A Huge Area We Are Misunderstanding: The fact that everyone has a preferred communication venue. For some it’s the phone, for many it’s email, others its through social networking etc. The plot thickens folks because we need to really look at the Gen Y’s that are moving into influencing/decision making positions. What do you think their preferred communication venue is? They love to email, text, communicate through social media and the phone is usually ranked last. When we embrace the phone as a stand alone strategy, we limit ourselves to say the least.

7) Cold Calling vs Social Media: I have a simple answer to this. Why? As in why does it have to be one vs the other? Why can’t they both exist together as part of that well balanced “sales mix” we discussed earlier?

8) “When I started Out, All I Had Was The Yellow Pages & A Phone” From now on, if anyone says that to you, I want you to pat them on the head and give them a “bless your heart” for good measure. That used and abused line is nothing more than a justification for being too cheap and/or lazy to invest in Sales 2.0 Technology or in training you to be more lethal in your craft.

9) The Sales 2.0 Enthusiast: This is the person who relies so much on the shiny new object or is so busy talking about Sales 2.0 that they fail to realize that sooner or later, this will most probably come down to a phone call, in real time (as in not virtual or more specifically one where you aren’t communicating on a computer screen) For some, they have a bad habit of clinging to the virtual world where they feel safer, for others they understand that all of these virtual relationships have to transition. When we do transition or to that end of transitioning, we’re going to need those tried and true skills that some feel are now antiquated.

10) The Cold Call Is Dead: We could debate this one all week. Some of the misunderstanding goes back to how we define a cold call to just calling it like we see it because we know what works for us.
And maybe that’s what sales is all about. You and I having lots of cool choices, the willingness to try different approaches and the wisdom to know what works best with our particular style.

So what say you Sales Playbook community. Is the cold call misunderstood?