Stop being lazy…Why Cold Call Selling Still Works
written by john c ashworth
I know. This might be hard for you to believe. Or, maybe more likely, you believe it on some level, but question the effectiveness and efficiency of the method. Or, you just don't like it and don't want to have to do it. I don't either. Because I know it's literally one of the least efficient ways for a business to generate good sales leads. But it does in fact work, and I suggest you do whatever it is you need to to steel yourself to the idea and get to work. That's what I'm doing today. And I do it any other time my pipeline is drying-up, and I want to stir things up.
My late father, Billy Chicago, used to say that about me...
"The thing about John is that he's always out there stirring things-up."
That really reinforced the idea for me. I looked up to and respected my Dad very much. He was a salesman too. And cold-calling was exactly what he did when he needed to find customers for Warren Printing; and it worked for him too.
The challenge is that because it's not the most efficient thing you'll do to generate leads, it's easy to get discouraged and very quickly, or avoid the work altogether. Cold-calling also doesn't often produce an immediat result. And that can be even more demorilizing.
Today is my last day of work for the week. I'm headed to San Antonio Texas to go watch my son Carl graduate from Air Force Boot Camp. I'll tell more of that story in the coming weeks. It's a good one. My real point here is that following a massive quarter of sales in Q2, my pipeline is as dry as the Califonia desert and if I'm going to hit my numbers for July, today is a day when I need to make things happen. Or, at the very least, go stir some things up - as many things as I can - so that upon my return on Monday, the seeds I planted already this month, and especially today, will have begun to reach for the sun.
I know this will work.
I've done it countless times before.
...and yet it would be so easy today to get lazy, head into my vacation a little early mentally and promise to hit the phones hard on Monday.
Nope! Time to get to work.
No matter what, today I bring my ladel; and I get to work stirring things up.
I suggest you do the same.
-John
PS It doesn't matter what kind of business you're in. Cold call selling still works. The story I read this morning that inspired this post was one where a local business had been drop-in called on by a pizza shop owner, a baker, and a computer salesperson. All three made sales. The observation was that 40% of these kinds of calls will yield business, especially when combined with a special offer. It reminds me of my work as a pizza delivery man for Dominoes while in gradutate school...we used to head out in the middle of the afternoon and spend a few hours hanging coupons on doorknobs. This ALWAYS produced a great night at the shop. It literally NEVER failed to bring more business than we would have had otherwise.
PPS The image above is that of mailbox stuffer I received this spring. I still do my own lawn, but I think about this guy every time I go out to do it. Especially when the temperature tops 85-90 degrees. He didn't get me this year, but he almost did and if I ever do need help, this is the guy I'll call. I'm sure he landed plenty of other business with his efforts this spring. He came around twice.
