Why Cold-Calling Sucks - Here’s a Sales System That Works Better

Few People Like Cold-Calling
Most salespeople that I talk to would rather do anything than make a cold call. It is generally considered the worst part of a salesperson’s life.

Sure, there are a few salespeople that thrive on it. I take my hat off to them. However, for those of us lesser mortals, wouldn’t it be nice to have a system where we didn’t have to cold call?

The first part of our route to a system like this is to realize a basic truth about cold-calling.

Cold-Calling is Inefficient
I run a lot of sales workshops for printing companies. At these workshops I always ask delegates how many truly effective calls they feel they can make in a day. The answer is rarely more than 10. Most people believe that they really only achieve five effective calls in a day if they are cold-calling.

When we look at the considerable resources spent on many salespeople, that’s an appalling return on investment. Surely there is a better way to use a salesperson’s time?

I Prefer to Talk About Warm-Calling
It’s much better to have people that are keen to take your call. You are far more likely to get a good result if you have someone who knows a bit about you and your company. It’s even better if they are eager to talk to you.

However, that still leaves the salesperson with a problem.

How Do You Find Warm Prospects?
One way is to try and warm people up with direct mail. Used well, it can be very powerful.

My favorite channel to warm prospects is to use social media. Used in the right way, social media can line up a good pipeline of warm prospects. In fact, when I use social media I often get people calling me, interested to work with me. I get so many opportunities this way that I now only speak with people who are already engaged with me.