I have read article after article on how cold calling is dead. There’s a wildly successful book on it. Sales gurus such as Jeff Gitomer have written articles on it. It’s their new mantra. Disappointing.

A couple of questions for these folks that say there’s no room for cold calling… When is the last time you actually cold called? Have you ever cold called? Where’s your credibility? I am pretty sure in most cases they haven’t or did so briefly with bad direction. Then why is their non-credible misinformation so popular? That’s pretty easy. Cold calling is hard! Why? What other prospecting tool can you get so many negative responses in such a short span. Who likes turn-downs? Who likes pain? Sales gurus know this and are making a lot of money on telling you to not cold call.

Please don’t misunderstand me… I’m not advocating to only cold call. If you’ve been following my articles you know I fully support social media, foot-blitzing , and networking as well. But I also support cold calling as an integral part of your sales prospecting tools. Why?

“How did my competition get in the deal on the 11th hour?” While there are many reasons this could happen… many times it’s just timing, a cold call.

Timing is everything in sales. If you don’t understand what I just said then you’re either not in sales or haven’t been for very long. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Successful one man sales shop using three telemarketers.
I have a friend that runs a very successful communications business. His sales prowess has helped him sell as much or more than much larger organizations. How can a one man sales organization do this? I can sum it up in two words. Cold calling. He has three telemarketers that do nothing but “dial for dollars”. Efficient and highly effective. His competition is always complaining about him getting into deals on the 11th hour. “Do we have moles”? He’ll tell you it’s all about timing.

Missed three large opportunities if it wasn’t for third party telemarketers.
I manage a couple of great seasoned sales professionals. They fully understand the value of maintaining their customer base and could probably teach all of us a thing or two. The manufacturer that my group represents has a telemarketing group. They cold call and upon success present leads with recordings to us. I received leads on three large potential customers that upon investigation I found that we were actively pursuing, or so we thought. In all cases not only were we not in the loop but had not been invited to the dance. There were a variety of reasons this was so… bottom line however… timing was everything and we got back in.

They’re not developing lists through an existing base, website pay per clicks, Twitter, Facebook, or Linkedin… they are simply cold calling. While I believe “warm lists” and new social media strategies help percentages of success rise, I do not concur that there is no longer a place for cold calling. Consider this…

The Phone is Critical to Your Success.
Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com says there are five reasons the phone is still the best way to start and to grow a business, especially during tough times:

(1) Calls are cheaper to make and to take than ever before. Unlimited dialing plans enable all of us to reach out & sell nearly anyone, anywhere for pennies.

(2) Calls are the fastest way to test your product or service. A frosty reception is a signal that you need to heat-up your offer, and fast. As he came to learn, when you hit the right note, prospects will “sing” back to you, signaling their genuine interest.

(3) Calls are highly interpersonal, unlike emails and Internet browsing. We get to hear each other’s words, tones, and as I mentioned, reactions, and shape our conversation to appeal to the specific needs and wants of individuals.

(4) Calls can be multiplied once you have discovered the magic formula. You can achieve one of the first and most important functions of good management: delegation to others, so you can grow your business.

(5) Calls can be made or received practically anywhere. You can live and work anywhere.

Here are a couple of items to think about as well…

At the very least cold calling keeps your sales objection abilities sharp. You will have your remarkable message perfected. So when you do physically meet a potential customer you will be on your “A” game.
My manager comes to me and wants to know, after meeting with his networking group, why we weren’t in a certain opportunity. I asked him why his networking group hadn’t told us about it. Networking groups simply can’t be trusted to always get us in these opportunities.

As Goodman has said; “The telephone, as a marketing tool, has seen its peaks and valleys when it comes to popularity. It was embraced and it has been shunned. And it is due for rediscovery”. I couldn’t agree more and would add that this applies to cold calling as well.

I know this is bad news for most sales professionals as they really don’t want to cold call. They want to email, twitter, and attend network meetings but not cold call. However, it is always important to understand what truly works for sales success. Don’t be duped by trendy ideas and quick success schemes or advice from non-credible resources. Sales success is about hard work and will always be. Ultimately it’s about interfacing live with a potential client. Include cold calling as part of your prospecting.

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