Why Cold Calling Is Dead

Our world of selling is closed off from other areas of business that continue to adopt and embrace new, efficient ideas. I was reminded of this recently while re- reading Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing." Here's a book that was intended for business owners and marketing executives, yet it provides a much-needed dose of common sense that would be of great benefit to sales organizations, especially sales managers, who continue to cling to very old, and, in their minds, very right, ideas. Unfortunately, our brave new world has made these old ideas very wrong.

Seth Godin talks about Interruption Marketing versus Permission Marketing. Interruption Marketing is traditional advertising that interrupts your day in an attempt to get your attention and sell you something. In other words, it is the marketing equivalent of Cold Calling. Permission Marketing is systematically getting prospects to give you permission to present to them. In other words, it is marketing's equivalent of what I teach salespeople to do. In the book, Seth uses the metaphor of someone trying to get married to describe the flaw in Interruption Marketing, or Cold Calling. The bachelor goes into a singles bar and asks every woman in the place to marry him. When they all say no, he blames his clothes, buys a new suit, and tries again at another bar, only to fail again and again, just like a cold caller.

Are you getting the point he tries to make in that story? Think about it. A salesperson spends weeks cold calling with dismal results. The salesperson goes to the sales manager for advice on what to do differently to start getting results. A conversation ensues about what the salesperson is doing. A lot of old ideas begin to surface. Ideas such as "Initial Benefit Statement," "Elevator Speech," and other concepts that once upon a time were the right answers, but have since become very wrong answers. Working on these things is the equivalent of the man in the story blaming his failure on the suit, changing into a new suit, then going to a different singles bar to do it all over again.

With the business world in its present state, I really don't see how salespeople can afford to keep fooling away their time on old ideas that were once right but are now fatally wrong. It is this very feature of capitalism that is causing salespeople, managers and organizations to fail in record numbers. Capitalism is essentially "creative destruction." In other words, capitalism is a perpetual cycle of destroying old, less-efficient businesses and ideas and replacing them with new, more efficient ones. People and companies are clinging to old, obsolete ideas and are being dragged down to failure by them. Yet they still won't let go. I think the reason they can't let go is simply because it wasn't all that long ago that they really did have the right answers. It reminds me of a story I once heard about Albert Einstein when he was a professor. One of his student assistants who was preparing for an incoming class said, "Professor Einstein, what test are we giving them?" To which Einstein replied, "The same test we gave them last week." Bewildered, the student assistant replied, "But Professor Einstein, we already gave that test." Einstein simply said, "Yes, but the answers are different this week."

The bottom line is that the answers are different. The rules have changed. Time is running out for those who do not adapt to the new rules. As Napoleon Hill put it so well, "Whenever a nation, a business institution, or an individual ceases to change and settles into a rut of routine habits, some mysterious power enters and smashes the setup, breaks up the old habits, and lays the foundation for new and better habits."

If you're not achieving the sales success you desire, perhaps it is time for you to lay the foundation for new and better habits.

Frank Rumbauskas is the author of Cold Calling Is A Waste Of Time: Sales Success In The Information Age. He is the founder of FJR Advisors, LLC, which publishes training materials that educate salespeople on how to generate business without cold calling. For more information, please visit http://www.nevercoldcall.com

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Your Voice is Your Instrument

On an introductory call, your voice is your instrument. During... Read More

Lessons Learned At Gunpoint

"If you do anything foolish or try to get out... Read More

No Regrets

Here's a chilling thought. If you were to die tomorrow,... Read More

Gic Number For Writing Sales Letters

When I write sales letters for my clients, one rule... Read More

Referrals: Getting Good Business By Doing Good Business

Whether you're a conventional sales person, a professional ? such... Read More

How to Buy Wholesale Store Fixtures for Your Business

It may sound funny, but honestly, if you're opening up... Read More

Too Much Empathy Will Cost You Money

Ever have a prospect start out your sales call by... Read More

How to Leverage Your Influence

Why do we get into sales? Typically it is two... Read More

Five Things More Important to Buyers than WHAT Youre Selling - I

Article I of a two-part series.No matter what customers say... Read More

How to Reach Purchasing Agents of Big Corporations

Now business owners and sales professionals can develop a Faster... Read More

Why Are Customers So Indecisive?

Do you know why your customer won't buy? You've given... Read More

To Sell Successfully, You Have to Be Willing to Be Different

We are complex. We confidently assert that we are independent... Read More

Five Deadly Sales Letter Mistakes

To be effective your sales letter must be opened, read,... Read More

UK Sales and Marketing Terminology

Terminology / AcronymsABC figures: This is the independently audited sales... Read More

Four Easy Steps To Building A Powerful Employee Incentive Program

Want to build a successful incentive program for your company?... Read More

A Look at Store Fixture Parts

Products for sale need to be displayed in a manner... Read More

When the Nose of the Camel is in the Tent

My new job was to sell Commercial Service Agreements. It... Read More

Sex Sells!

An attractive woman has a decided advantage as sales representative... Read More

Don?t Waste My Time!

Many participants in my programs ask how to deal with... Read More

Lead Companies, Eight Features To Consider

So now the time has come to invest in Lead... Read More

Clear Up Blurry Communication

One of the top brewing companies in America is a... Read More

Why There Will Always Be High Paying Sales Jobs

With the dot.com revolution crushing once solid business models on... Read More

The Anatomy of a Sales Letter

When Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed "it's alive... it's alive," he thought... Read More

Selling Is Not A Dirty Word

Selling--a word that strikes terror in writers and professionals. We... Read More

The Most Important Word in a Business Letter

What do you think it is? Many experts insist it's... Read More

Why Cold Calling Is Dead

Our world of selling is closed off from other areas... Read More

Can Walmart Make You Rich?

Have you ever shopped at Walmart and thought... I need... Read More

Future Business Key Element In Sales

A challenge facing many businesses is how to maintain a... Read More

Your Clients Buying What Youre Selling

Linda felt like she had reached a plateau in her... Read More

Sales Copy Tips

Writing good sales copy is not an art, it is... Read More

Three Ways to Get More Referrals

When you are in the business of sales, among the... Read More

Create a Magic Connection with Clients, Leads, and Business Associates Part II

Part I of this article explored how strategies of Neuro-Linguistic... Read More

Selling Your Way To Success

I wonder when we decided to become a sales person.... Read More