Cold Calling Does Not Generate Sales Leads

It is a fact of life for most new sales people; they get the dream sales job with unlimited earning potential and expect to earn so much money that they can now enjoy the fruits of their coming wealth. Everything seems perfect until they realize that before closing a sale and earning the big commission, they must first prospect for new customers (read, cold calls). Cold calling is hard to do. People hate to make cold calls and people hate being on the receiving end of them as well.

Prospecting is the most difficult part of the sales job. There are many ways to go about it but, for some reason, sales managers preach cold calling as the only way for young sales people to generate leads. As someone who has been through it, I wish that these attitudes would change.

I recently read one of the best selling books on cold calling. In this book, the author stresses persistence. He uses the 15-3-1 rule. That is, you need to make fifteen cold calls to make three appointments with prospects. Out of these 3 appointments you will close one sale. By being persistent and making fifteen cold calls a day, this will translate to, on average, one sale a day, five sales a week, twenty sales a month, etc. Further, the author explains that he doesn't mind the rejection that he gets when he cold calls. The reason is that since it takes fifteen calls to get an appointment, that means that he will hear the word "no" (rejection) fourteen times before he hears the word "yes."

This is simplistic and anybody reading this book may get overexcited and think that this is easy. It's not easy and the author's arguments don't hold up in real life selling.

Take the fifteen cold calls a day rule. Anybody reading this book will think that fifteen cold calls a day is nothing. If it takes 2-3 minutes to make a phone call, it shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to make your mandatory 15 calls. Then the rest of the day is spent selling in front of prospects.

But it doesn't work this way. If you've ever cold called, you will know that it usually takes at least 10 phone calls to reach a decision maker. Think about it, executives aren't sitting in their offices waiting for your call. They're either on the phone, in meetings, on vacation, or they just don't want to talk to you. So now, to talk to fifteen people, you need to make 150 cold calls. This is not 45 minutes of work; this can take days.

Further, for someone to say that he enjoys hearing the word "no" because it means he is getting closer to a "yes" is just misleading. Although a select few people can take this kind of rejection day in and day out, most cannot. It is only human nature to be discouraged by so much rejection.

There are better ways to get sales leads and increase your sales. People buy from people that they trust. Your time should be spent networking with your friends, colleagues, and business contacts. Get referrals, get introductions, get testimonials and the sales will come. Not only that, your job will be better; nobody likes the rejection and time consuming nature of cold calling.

Tino Buntic is a former insurance broker and ex-cold-caller. He is currently an entrepreneur and has created a system to reduce cold calling with his website, http://www.trade-pals.com

---

Generating Leads Through Telemarketing

Telemarketing is one of the most common ways that a... Read More

How to Make Sales with Noisy Kids in the House

Kids play hard, and sometimes that means they play really... Read More

Predictive Dialers - Human Interaction Maximized

Predictive dialers are many steps removed from their predessors, the... Read More

How To Be A Cold Calling Superstar!

Our emotions and feelings are changing all of the time... Read More

7 Cold Calling Secrets Even The Sales Gurus Dont Know

More and more e-mails are arriving in my in-box from... Read More

The Dos and Donts of Cold Calling

Having your fingernails removed!Many salespeople would rather have their fingernails... Read More

K.A.R.M.A. of Phone Prospecting

Do you ever wake up on the wrong side of... Read More

Telemarketing Tips for Direct Sales Success

Unfortunately, the DNC legislation has many small businesses that use... Read More

Phone Tips To Get Things Done: Professional Phone Skills

It happens all the time, you hear someone over the... Read More

Telemarketers May Have Ruined Everything

I had to really look at things a little different... Read More

4 1/2 Steps for Doubling Your B2B Appointments

Cold calling. Most people hate to do it and there... Read More

How To Know Youre On A Winner

The catchword today for business is flexibility.With changes in suppliers,... Read More

Stop Selling and Make More Sales

A few months ago I spent time training some telephone... Read More

How To Get Your Phone Call Returned

When selling your product face to face with a customer,... Read More

This is a Sales Call: How to Begin Prospecting Calls with Integrity

"Hello. I'm looking for Sharon Morgen?" "Sharon DREW Morgen." "What?... Read More

7 Ways to Jump Start Your Cold Calls

Cold calling has to be one of the most feared... Read More

Closing That Big Sale With Conference Calling

So you're in business. Whether it is micro, small, medium,... Read More

Proven Two Minutes Magic Exercise to Conquer the Fear of Phone

I got a confession to make! The little communication device... Read More

Feel the Fear

It sometimes surprises people when I tell them I get... Read More

Choosing a Phone Dialer that Works

If you own or operate an outbound call center, you've... Read More

Overcoming Objections Over the Telephone

In sales, one of the things you will be doing... Read More

Conference Calling Evolved

Originally the conference call was limited to businesses paying exorbitant... Read More

Telsales Just Got Easier!

Your sales structure for outbound calls can be summarised using... Read More

Get Instant Rapport On Sales Cold Calls

Immediately establish rapport on cold-calls by matching your prospect's voice... Read More

High Phone Bills Can Affect More Than Your Expenses

I got a phone call today from a gentleman in... Read More

Control Your Sales Calls From The Start

Sales calls that you control are what all salespeople want.... Read More

3 Simple Rules For Your Next Sales Call

The other day I received a call from a telemarketer... Read More

The Cold Calling Conspiracy

A consipiracy exists in the world of selling. A cold... Read More

10 Tips for Telephone Success

The telephone is an often under-appreciated and much maligned piece... Read More

Cold Calling Does Not Generate Sales Leads

It is a fact of life for most new sales... Read More

No More Cold-Calling? Well, Almost...

We do not advocate cold calling in High Probability Selling.... Read More

Sales Therapy 101: Breaking Your Fear of Cold Calling

Almost every day, visitors to my Unlock The Game? website... Read More

Sales Call Success - Turbo Charge Your Sales Calls

Do you want to be a sales champion? There are... Read More