the practice of making unsolicited calls to customers or consumers in an attempt to sell products or services. Cold calling is disliked, particularly by individual...
Having just gotten my butt kicked by a virulent form of the flu that's making its way around San Francisco, I've been thinking a lot about sickness and productivity recently. It's a complicated issue. Certainly, there's the battle being waged between your desire to get work done and your desire...
My first post (now titled "Better Than Cold Calling") was setting up the ground rules for Referral Selling. Since that's a way to avoid cold calling which most sales pros dislike, so I gave the post a title that seemed like a catchy way...
In Monday's post, "Better Than Cold Calling" I went through some of the basic ideas about Referral Selling, based upon a conversation I recently had with Joanne Black, author of No More Cold Calling. She gave me a simple, five step process for asking for a personal referral....
It's been said repeatedly that B2B sales is all about relationships. However, relationships are difficult to forge when you're cold-calling people who don't know you from Adam. The best way to get into a customer account is through a personal referral. Please note that a...
We remember sitting in a sixth-grade classroom on January 28, 1986, watching the catastrophic events of the clear, crisp morning near Cape Canaveral, Florida unfold on a large television screen. What many saw and remember as the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, barely on its way to the Earth's...
In the old way of making cold calls, we offer a sales pitch to a perfect stranger, cross our fingers, and hope for the best... isn't that right? This really doesn't work very well in building a business relationship (or any other relationship, for that matter). This is done best...
You probably never tell potential clients your real goal in calling them, but you don't need to. They're already aware, because we're all sensitive when the phone rings and it turns out to be someone we don't know. In the old traditional training, we learned the latest techniques for making...
Our thoughts are always at the basis of our behaviors. If our thoughts are fixed on the goal of making a sale, then we're not really being forthright. We're not focused on the conversation or the truth of a situation. We're chasing people - or at least chasing the sale....
There are many oh so many different ways to market a product or a service. Among these varied techniques, there are many good ways to generate sales and customers. But as many are the good methods, marketing also has its fair share of turkeys. Cold calling is one of the...
Before picking up the phone or stepping into your prospect's place of business, have a clear understanding of what you hope to gain from the cold call experience. But make sure your expectations are realistic! Usually, the only realistic expectation of a cold call is to gather the information needed...
This paper explains 4 key ways to be seen as helpful while cold calling: make it about them, not about you; avoid the artificial salesperson enthusiasm; focus on one compelling problem to solve; consider "Where should we go from here?". Most people sense that cold calls are self-serving to the...
Sales pressure is a mighty saboteur. And it comes in all shapes, sizes, and flavors. Beginning any conversation with the anticipation of a sale puts the whole conversation under pressure. This doesn't normally create good outcomes. It usually triggers pressure, resistance, and tension. People have received so many calls with...
Most people who still use the traditional cold calling mindset look at voicemail as a dead end. They say to themselves, "Oh well, I may as well leave a message and hope he calls me back." This almost never happens, and we know it. But we're often so relieved not...
Cold calling has to be one of the most feared aspects of every sales person's and business owner's day. With some important key tips, you can make cold calling painless and enjoyable and as easy as calling a friend. This paper explains 7 key ways to jump start your cold...
Cold calling is the process of approaching prospective customers or clients, typically via telephone, who was not expecting such an interaction. The word "cold" is sometimes thought of as being used because the person receiving the call is not expecting a call or has not specifically asked to be contacted...
Next to public speaking, cold calling might be the scariest thing people try to avoid doing at all costs. It can also be a very effective and underutilized method for career-minded individuals like you to separate yourself from other job searchers who don't think about doing it. Cold call is...
The speculative approach of locating vacancies is often overlooked because is appears to be the least productive, however, looks can be deceiving. The speculative approach is where the job applicant makes applications to companies who are not currently advertising a vacancy. In many ways this is similar to cold calling...
Maybe you'll spend this weekend raking up the leaves in your front lawn. Maybe you'll hit the gym, chase around your toddler, or play a game of pick-up basketball with your friends. Whatever physical activity you do to work up a sweat, you may also feel the desire for...
Picking up the phone and making cold calls is one of the biggest challenges salespeople face. In this show, we get some valuable tips on this process from Jerry Hocutt, author of a book and seminar titled "Cold Calling for Cowards." by BNET staff
Keith Rosen, author of "The Complete Idiots Guide to Closing a Sale," shows how permission-based prospecting can increase your chances of moving a cold call forward to the next step.
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