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Sales Advice Sales Tips

Cold Calling is Dead-Or is it?

Cold Calling is NOT DEAD, but cold calling to decision makers IS! In fact, it has been for a very long time.  So why are companies refusing to acknowledge the fact?   At one time, it was an effective tool and therefore carried over as a tool into today’s business environment.  The problem is, businesses are not operating the way they did in the past, even as short as two years ago, so why continue to embrace an old, old way of generating revenue?  I will give that answer to you in this article.

A paradigm shift is happening in the business marketplace in how you engage a customer.  Very few are adept at noticing the shift simply because of its subtlety.  Customers are not going to tell you why they do not want to talk to you or respond, so I will.  Today, to call a customer, you MUST earn the right to call.  That right encumbers you to bring value, REAL VALUE, not sales rhetoric.  You do not have the inalienable right as a salesperson to call on whomever you choose.  Your right does not come from YOUR belief in your product or service to be the next great innovation must-haveRemember one thing: No one cares about your widget and what it can do, except you.

The only way you earn the right to call upon the decision maker is by referral or by their direct invitation.  The referral can come from an internal or external contact.  The biggest percentage of ROI success is by referral; not by picking up the phone and playing dialing for dollars. To have a referral you must have a relationship.

Cold Calling is reserved for obtaining referrals and your efforts should be in building relationships to gain those referrals rather than the drive-by-sale approach.  With the top-tier talent in the market today, you need those people in front of the decision makers, not searching for them.  An article I wrote discusses the pros and cons of this level of talent.  So why do managers and companies still insist on doing it?  Because it is the easiest to mandate and fastest way to show “mission accomplished” but at the same time, the least effective in closure.  The other reason is human nature:  “I did, my father did it and my grandfather did it.”

Referrals are an extremely valuable and volatile asset.  This person has the potential to supply what would seem like an endless supply of business, but only if you cultivate the relationship in a proper, ethical process.  They also have the potential ability to shut the faucet off just as fast as they turned it on.  Those that will be your reference need to be cultivated and nurtured just as any other customer would.  Do not expect to pick up the phone and ask for a referral if the last time you spoke was when the deal closed.

Referrals can come from not only customers, but also partners that see the value your product brings.  To draw upon my marketing background, you want a PULL strategy where customers are asking for your product rather then you pushing it upon them.  The only way to get this strategy to be effective is to show REAL value.  The most effective of the 4Ps in marketing is using promotion and drawing upon publicity rather than advertising.  People trust someone else endorsing products far better than any brochure or advertisement you can create.  This all ties back to relationship selling.  If you failed to build the relationships, how do you expect to obtain a referral? (Rhetorical question)

I will close out this article with one last comment about cold calling.  I know this article is going to ruffle some feathers, but that is a good thing.  My intention is to stir debate and foster an exchange of ideas; not create civil unrest.  I realize people have had success using the cold calling method, but the return on your time and effort versus other methods (this article for instance!) is at the bottom of the ROI list.  You can tell me about all the $$$ you have made, but my comment would be how much more $$$ could you have made?

If you find this useful, Contact Me or better yet, leave a comment.  If you have a Twitter account and found this article useful, it would be much appreciated if you would retweet this with the tool at the beginning of the article!

Happy Selling!

Ed Warner

Categories
Sales Advice Sales Basics Sales Tips

So You Wanna Be the CEO?

CEO’s have a tremendous burden in that they must not only perform, they must often outperform. They fail not for the lack of planning, strategy gazeor the lack of a long-term vision, rather because of a simply task, Execution.

Too often we (salespeople and alike) act as though our tasks and daily routines are insignificant. On the contrary, everything you do has a certain degree of separation that touches the bottom line. We fail to realize just how important our job is, regardless of the occupation. In spite of where you are in the corporate structure, treat your sales territory as though you were the CEO… Execute!

In order to execute, you still have to have a plan, but the execution must plancover the humdrum details of account management. Many a salesperson has made the mistake of believing they can do these at their leisure. and the customer will be happy! Nothing could be further from the truth. I am a relationship sell kind of person, therefore I believe in cultivating relationships for the long-term. I do not believe in the churn-n-burn mentality. If that’s your nature and it suits your job description, then more power to you. But if your goal is to keep the customer in hopes of selling to them again, there are continuous must-do’s you have to perform.

  1. Follow-up and make sure your solution did indeed perform–their pain MUST be gone
  2. Regular contact–this allows you to uncover additional pain or issues as they arise
  3. Competition Watch–contact allows you to understand their penetration, if any

So what’s your excuse?
Sounds fairly simple, so why is there such a disconnect in execution? TIME Make the time and make the call or visit. I have heard just about every excuse, but the one that stands out is: I don’t have time, I need to concentrate on this quarter’s numbers. hourglassThis excuse is the biggest reason for not doing anything; the illusions of time dwindle. You actually have more time than you realize and here is how you dispel the myth and reclaim the edge.

Account Division
In order to make sense of your time this really only works for those that do account management. Divide your customers into three groups, 1,2,3 or A,B,C. Decide on one key element that will divide them. It can be something like: yearly potential selling value, lifetime selling value or whatever makes sense for you.
Start by putting the top 20%-30% customers in the first tier, the next 50%-60% into the middle tier the rest in the last tier. Once that happens, make a contact plan for each of the tiers according to importance. Put this into your electronic calendar as a to-do!

Rule of thumb: 1st tier call monthly, 2nd tier call quarterly, and 3rd tier call every six months. What are we trying to accomplish? Relationships. It’s all about relationships. Still true today, people buy from people! All of your 1st tier customers should be your key account or best prospects. Increase ten-fold, the relationships you now have within those accounts. fightFailure to win this battle will guarantee you lose the war! This is a priority so treat it as such. Do what is necessary to cultivate the relationships

Your goal is to follow the same procedure for the next tiered accounts, but in a more restrained role. Tier 2 accounts can be thought of as the next Tier 1 accounts so starting early puts you ahead of the curve. The last tier of customers need to be jettisoned or cultivated. As a salesperson, no one likes to say goodbye to a customer, but consuming more resources than their sales potential is capable of replenishing, it is time to cut the strings.

I will leave you with this thought provoking question: Why win additional customers if you cannot keep the ones you have?

If you find this useful, Contact Me or please leave a comment. If you have a Twitter account and found this article useful, it would be much appreciated if you would retweet this at the beginning of the article!

Happy Selling!

Ed Warner