Consult Carson 7/3: “Do you still believe in cold calling?”

From today’s mailbag: “My leadership clings to cold calling as a large part of our outreach.  Many of us think this is a dead initiative.  What say you?”

Carson: I believe we should never discriminate against a potential revenue source.  However, it is incumbent upon us to prioritize our lead sources.  Are we cold calling when we could be pursuing other forms of outreach, marketing and targeted lead generation?

What are your absolute warmest leads?  Are they being prioritized in your current setup?

There is certainly room for cold calling provided you are managing your process toward the most lucrative leads and cold calling with the time remaining when other potential opportunities are exhausted.

Certainly, cold calling can come across as somewhat of an old school mentality.  Often, making hundreds of dials nets us a few decent decision maker conversations and even fewer sales.  It can be exhausting getting to the “yes” and our sales process suffers because our skills don’t stay sharp.

On the other hand, if we are mixing in pure cold calls – whether on the phone, in person, e-mail, etc. – in with the management of our warmest leads and cultivation of seeds with a higher propensity to grow that we can build upon, it can certainly be a complement to our approach.

Does your division and leadership have a policy by which you can present your feedback and the feedback of your team regarding the calling protocols?  Hopefully, you are able to present any potential problems along with proposed solutions to your management.  I feel any time you are able to concede to their points (i.e. that cold calling can be a worthy use of time, citing examples) all while pointing out shortcomings in the current process (citing examples) and presenting a solution that satisfies their desire for cold calling along with your mutual desire of making more money and nurturing potentially more fruitful leads, you can reach a compromise.

So, yes, I believe in cold calling in certain situations as a complement to your current lead sources.  Explore with leadership where additional lead sources could lie!  Explore with leadership different ways to make more revenue from the existing cold calling regimen!  Respectfully state your case along with a well-substantiated look at what current cold dialing is yielding and present a plan that can enhance results, morale and profitability.

If you show you are after the same end results as your manager, and they are an outside the box big thinker, you have a chance to make a real difference.  Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t, but you don’t want to just be along for the ride, do you?

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Carson V. Heady posts for “Consult Carson” serving as the “Dear Abby” of sales and sales leadership.  You may post any question that puzzles you regarding sales and sales leadership careers: interviewing, the sales process, advancing and achieving.  You will also be directly contributing to his third book, “A Salesman Forever.”

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Carson V. Heady has written a book entitled “Birth of a Salesman” that has a unique spin that shows you proven sales principles designed to birth in you the top producer you were born to be.

If you would like to strengthen your sales skills, go to http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ICRVMI2/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_yGXKtb0G28TWF