Never Cold Call Again The Balanced Truth…

From Discovery to Mastery – Networked Thinking for a Sharing World.

Sales Drive is all about balance & honesty – appreciating that all people’s circumstances are different – so a one idea fits all approach isn’t our style – in fact it is damn nigh impossible to offer this in today’s world – any successful coach or mentor will explain how they tailor their guidance specifically to a situation.

We like to look at all sides of the argument & opinions and let the market decide what works best for them.

Read on for Cold Calling Techniques, & tips, the truth & how to sell more.

Author, Frank Rumbauskas takes a hard & fast Never Cold Call Again position…

Frank kindly replied on twitter when I tweeted him for a response to my radio show guest Odile Faludi who extols the virtue of cold calling as she has been extremely successful at creating new clients & revenue.

@frankrumbauskas Never Cold Call Again – Absolute Rubbish! Interested in your thoughts on this Frank? Ivor #sales salesdrive.com.au/never-cold-cal…

— Sales Drive (@Sales_Drive) February 21, 2013

This post is in response to Frank Rumbauskas tweeted reply.

In fact Odile prefers to refer to cold calling as ‘starting customer conversations‘ – beginning a beautiful & mutually prosperous win win business relationship. This is clever on 2 levels.

1. Cold calling is a negatively, emotionally charged phrase & so puts you off before you start – you don’t even want to appreciate its merits already! Which to Frank Rumbauskas credit is why he sells his course!

2. Starting customer conversations actually describes what is happening! There is much more going on than simply picking up the phone & hoping or begging to arrange a meeting or immediately sell something! The same applies when knocking on  a door while cold calling.

The response Frank has offered is here – it is simple & written in black & white with valves powering the TV screen when we live in a 3DHD 80 inch world!

Put another way Frank really alludes to Adam Smith the Scottish Political Economist – one of the grandfathers of the study of economics as we know it today in his book The Wealth Of Nations – 1776 – yes that’s right 1776!

One of  the core themes discussed in this great work is productivity.

Franks response is entitled Sales Training’s Dirty Little Secret! Controversial so attention grabbing – like it………

However Frank only goes on to dishonour an entire profession of people suggesting that cold calling is out dated, doesn’t work, the are moron’s & is simply a flavour of the month solution.

He doesn’t even say why cold calling is wrong – just that it is! An opinion no less but where is the guidance & advice & justification for his opinion?

In 2 tweets Frank says that people don’t understand the time cost & it’s a cheapskate way to avoid paying for marketing!

So here’s my opinion – Frank you are applying industrial age thinking in a networked age lets get real & modern & let’s play!

Sharing is our greatest asset – critical as part of your networked thinking to create revenue! I’ll come back to this theme!

Any form of prospecting is about ultimately creating revenue – the ONLY reason any business is there – “until a sale is made nothing happens” – attributed to Thomas Watson Sr IBM President for 42 years & considered by many as one of the greatest sales people to have ever lived.

Revenue only happens when a mutually beneficial relationship happens.

I have a problem or need to be solved – you have a solution that gives me great value – I buy.

Simple!

However, how is the buyer & seller matched?

The buyer can search the internet for solutions – this may not bring you what you want if your solution is provided by a company that hasn’t got its web presence right – i.e. not well placed in search engines or you are not a digital native – you are uncomfortable with the internet or don’t trust it

Unless you are spending up to a couple of $100 you are likely to want to speak to someone to understand the nuances of their solution

You only want to do business with a real person not the internet

You only want to do business with someone who is recommended – from a colleague, business associate, friend, family member, supplier or client.

So, as a seller, you can run a pay per click campaign to capture people from the web – this is prospecting & costs money & unless you have a web savvy person running your PPC campaign you could well lose money – because the web is a complex place – these campaigns have a formula & require skill & talent.

Spread your word through social media sharing your talents & virtues – this works but can also be equally hit & miss with results.

The benefits of all of the above are that the buyers are in control – they are seeking you out when you want to buy!

Modern in thinking & approach – complex to deliver effectively with a positive return on investment.

We can then consider more traditional styles of marketing & advertising & PR all have their place – again this needs to be undertaken by professionals & there needs to be clear focus on outcomes (revenue) otherwise a positive return on Investment can be hard to obtain. Definitely do-able but investment is required.

The criticism of cold calling, advertising, marketing, email blasts & the whole gamut of options is that they are interruption based. They are designed to interrupt your day – interrupt your thinking – be allowed to shout louder than everything else around to get your attention.

This has a number of issues:

1. What is the buying cycle for your product or service?  – If you are sharing information at the wrong phase in the cycle you are likely to get nothing back & might – just might upset your prospect because it was sent at the wrong time.

If you are smart enough with your marketing approach you will at least get an idea of when they are ready.

2. Your research may be slightly out & they will never be buyers – you can ONLY ever ascertain this once you have had a proper conversation either face to face or on the phone / Skype because it takes a number of direct & carefully considered questions to understand where someone is at in their thinking, strategy, business plan & needs.

3. Your target key prospective clients may be listening & communicating somewhere else!

4. You are waiting for clients to come to you – great, forgotten when you have a reputation & are known for what you do – more difficult if you are start up or have been hiding your light under a bushel – a very familiar story with many prospective successful growth companies!

If you speak to a venture capitalist investing in your great new company they want to know 2 things – how do they make a return to get their money back with more & how are you selling your product service?

The return is a function of sales ie the return is driven by the amount of sales you will make – that create profit to create surplus money.

They aren’t interested in how you do this – so long as it’s legal! In fact there are many interviews online that discuss this very subject coming to conclusion that sales as a strategy. Process & outcomes are very often forgotten about!

For balance there are situations where an investment return can be made without generating revenue but these are very often limited to technology companies where a solution is built to fill a need & then sold on – the new owner will make/save money but the original company didn’t make a profit.

I digress!

Economic Woes Today – Failing Western Economies

At present Europe & America are printing money, raising taxes & hoping that economic growth will return – seemingly not! This is a clash of ideologies partly but mainly because Governments don’t create wealth – they are simply custodians of money – taxes – on our behalf to then spend on health, education, infrastructure, defense & social welfare.

Because these budgets are huge & much is spent with the private sector these investments have an effect on the economy but they are not in their own right wealth creators.

People are – we are the only real wealth creators – by either spending – consumers or by creating a product or service that allows for a profit to be had. If more of us did this we would be all helping one another!

Many of us are trying!

When asked Frank Rumbauskas replied in a tweet  “Cold calling isn’t part of a budget – that’s the problem – it’s a cheapskate way to avoid paying for marketing”

When asked what his cold calling definition is: “He says that “Cold calling is cold calling is cold calling whether it’s on the phone or in person”.

Why not join this cold calling twitter discussion as we love to hear your views on  and never cold cold call again and what it may mean to your sales bottom line?

Never Cold Call Again – Absolute Rubbish! Read this now to appreciate why, from people that are doing it! Ivor #sales salesdrive.com.au/never-cold-cal…

— Sales Drive (@Sales_Drive) February 21, 2013