Said the Cold Call To The Socialite
Recent headlines about AC/DC’s drummer’s brush with the law got me thinking – why would someone want to kill someone? Such a passionate act must be a result of some big or egregious cause, or at the very least a means of avoiding harm. Then I remembered that in sales we see this all the time, over and over, people are trying to kill cold calling.
There are many misconceptions about LinkedIn. It’s not just for job searches or networking. It is a unique lead generation platform.
I have a confession to make. I haven’t updated my LinkedIn profile* for 18 months. I know. Shame on me. I’m supposed be a leader on things like that, but I’m human too.
Everywhere you look these days, experts are proclaiming that people are 60%—or more—of the way through their decision process before they contact you or your company.
Most people don’t believe it when I tell them it’s super easy to increase their sales IQ. But first, let me tell you about some interesting data.
A question I regularly ask when working with a group of reps on prospecting, is “who do you call on?” or “who do you want to call on?” The answer I get is “the decision maker”. Now I have used a lot of different directories and databases, and they all give a title, not role in decision. But let’s say they did, the real question is what happens when you speak to that decision maker. Unfortunately often this opportunity does not go as well as hoped, for the sales person, and the decision maker.
When quotas are not directly tied to earnings, salespeople pay little mind to them. Quotas become nothing more than background noise rather than tools that direct sales activities.
Everywhere you look these days, experts are proclaiming that people are 60%—or more—of the way through their decision process before they contact you or your company.
In short, they’ve been online, studying their problem or looking for better ways to achieve their objectives. And, they’ve checked out some options.
I never wanted to be in sales. I only went into this field because I had an idea to start a company. The SCORE consultant I met with told me my plan wouldn’t succeed unless I learned how to sell.
I love reading articles, books, and all things sales. Some I read to learn, others for pleasure – some people just write well; and then there are those that I read just to see how badly I disagree with the writer and their views. Among these my favourite by far, the ones I read for a laugh, a good deep belly laugh, are the articles that usually have headlines such as “The Secret to…”, where the author wants readers to believe that they have discovered or uncovered THE SECRET element that will forever demystify sales and selling; along the lines of Edison’s light bulb. As though before reading the piece we were stuck in the dark ages, having to make wick and gather wax to make candles, then rub sticks together making fire to light our candles. But now, thanks to this immensely generous pundit, finding prospects and closing sales will be as easy as switching on the light. I know that when they wrote the thing they did not intend for me to giggle, but making the reader laugh is usually their only redeeming value.
“I really care about my customers,” Terry told me as we were driving to an appointment. “I try to do the very best I can for them and make sure that their needs are met.” “Sounds good,” I thought to myself. “But I wonder if it’s true.”
