Sales' Dirty Little Secret - Cold Calling is the Down-and-Dirty Hardest Part of Selling
Seattle, WA (PRWEB) October 30, 2007 -- Salespeople don't want to know how to cold call (http://www.saleswebinarsondemand.com)better. They don't want to cold call. Period. End of discussion.
What is a cold call? Jerry Hocutt, speaker, sales trainer, and author of Cold Calling for Cowards: How to Turn the Fear of Rejection into Opportunities, Sales, and Money, defines it as "initiating any type of contact that scares you or makes you feel uncomfortable in order to sell yourself, your service, or your product and puts you in a position to be rejected."
Jerry has crisscrossed the country and trained over 150,000 salespeople, managers, executives, professionals, business owners, and entrepreneurs in the art of cold calling. The Los Angeles Times calls him the "Zen master of cold calls."
But isn't cold calling dead? Archaic? Something our parents did?
"No," Jerry says, "even if you're not in sales, you're cold calling. The soccer mom has to cold call to find sponsors for her daughter's team. Writers have to cold call new sources to get inside information. Political candidates stand outside stadium gates on game day cold calling for voters."
When other trainers tell Jerry that cold calling is dead he smiles. "So tell me your specific techniques salespeople can use to find new customers (http://www.saleswebinarsondemand.com)."
Networking? Excellent! But research shows that 90% of Americans and 80% of the top salespeople in the nation are uncomfortable meeting strangers, even at a networking function. Networking is a cold calling alias. When you're networking you're still selling yourself, it makes you uncomfortable, and you could get rejected.
Referrals? Fantastic! When Jerry was the #1 salesman in the nation for three years at a Fortune 1000 company, he led the nation every year in new sales found through cold calling - and referrals. "But 95% of salespeople don't have a referral program," Jerry adds.
Networking. Referrals. That's about it. So how's that working out for you? Maybe you should consider adding another tool to your sales toolbox: cold calling. Use everything you have.
Because most companies have no expertise in cold calling or how to teach it to their sales team, Jerry has taken his thirty-four years of sales and training experience and created his new Sales Webinars on Demand programs to help. The website includes his trilogy of Cold Calling for Cowards webinars that have over 300 easy tips to help salespeople make better calls.
"We're using more and more sales training webinars (http://www.saleswebinarsondemand.com)because training is getting too expensive," Jerry says. "With traditional training, companies have to pay for each individual who attends. There are personnel costs in time and travel. And salespeople hate to be taken out of the field and lose sales.
"Our $25 webinars give companies control. They get the same training they would get from our day long programs at a fraction of the cost. The entire sales team can attend for the price of one extradoublemochalattesupremefizz. Sales managers can even use the webinars for their weekly sales meetings.
"People can attend from the comfort of their offices, whenever they want, and they can train at their own speed. Companies operate on their schedule. They no longer need to wait for trainers to come to town to get their people trained, into the field, and productive more quickly."
What is one of Jerry's easy cold calling tips? Try his 3800/6 technique if you say you don't have the time to cold call. Every business day, every thirty minutes simply make one call. There are 244 working days a year. If you do this, you'll talk with over 3800 people this year, spending less than six minutes each day. The six minutes? The initial call should be no longer than 30 seconds.
Another quick tip? If you're at a networking function and you're meeting a stranger, shake hands with the palm of your hand turned upwards at about a 45-degree angle. Your new acquaintance will feel more in control and have immediate trust in you. She'll be more open and talkative.
One more? People want to know, "What is the magic number? When do I stop calling on a prospect?" Jerry says the magic number is five. "Research has found that 92% of salespeople stop calling on prospects at four calls. Yet 70% of people won't even make a decision until after that fourth call."
Cold calling isn't going away. It's here to stay. Cold calling is the nitty gritty, down and dirty, hardest part of selling. It's just a part of business.
Live with it. Master sales' dirty little secret and create your own opportunities.
About Sales Webinars on Demand:
Jerry Hocutt is the founder of Sales Webinars on Demand: training programs that are easy, affordable, and convenient. Salespeople become more productive more quickly. His trilogy of Cold Calling for Cowards webinars (http://www.saleswebinarsondemand.com)have over 300 proven, easy tips that help people in business make better calls to increase their sales.
Contact:
Jerry Hocutt
Hocutt & Associates, Inc.
(800) 378-5941
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