As many of you know, I have a LinkedIn group called Sales Playbook. There are 51,000 of us and from time to time, we like to take on issues that strike a chord with sales reps.

A few weeks back, I decided to post the following question;

Fact or Crap . . .You’re Lazy If You Don’t Cold Call?

There are many who feel that a sales rep is lazy and quite the slacker if they don’t cold call and;

There are many who feel that there are more effective ways to get the attention of a busy buyer!

Please weigh in with your thoughts.

I received 194 comments like;

“Lazy – not necessarily. The numbers don’t lie. I think that some are confusing cold calling with prospecting. I rarely (if ever) cold call. I have owned, and am the sole sales person for my business, for 21 years. My business grew 20.14% last year and I didn’t make a single cold call. Now, I will admit that, we have 21 years of name recognition and a reputation for outstanding customer service in our community-so there’s that. So far this year I lost my #8 account (to acquisition) and #9 account (to someone’s uncle’s cousin), and my #1 account reduced their book of business nearly 30%, yet I am ahead 11% YTD..again no cold calling. Do I prospect, hell yeah. PPC, SEO, IB Mktg, community volunteer, weekly Networking breakfast, cigar “coffee” talks with other local business peeps, donate to local charities, sit on local charity boards, work my current clients for new business, follow up on referrals (these are not cold calls), follow up on internet leads thru my website, regular social media postings (some automated), monthly e-mail;s to my list, at least monthly mailing (gasp :0 old fashioned direct mail), to 4000 local businesses, talk to local business groups about marketing, SM etc when given the opportunity…etc etc . Quite honestly I even hate to pick up the phone…so no fellas, call me lazy, but no cold calls for this guy.”

“Lazy! It’s hard for some people to get motivated to cold call, but I approach it that it’s only cold once and that I am going to help that potential customer (as opposed to selling them). By focusing on assisting them, it helps by putting yourself in the customer’s shoes, understanding their challenges (not always price), and providing solutions. I can’t cold call enough – in my industry, it is a necessity.”

“If someone is getting the results that they, and their company, need and expect, how could they be called lazy? The chosen method is of little consequence when presented with stellar results.

On the other hand, if the results are not there and the effort is lacking, I suppose lazy could be an accurate characterization.”

“Each prospect likely has a preferred way of communication. I see the effective sales professional being versatile, using all methods, e-mail, call/voicemail, social media, trade shows, etc… If they don’t integrate calling into their prospecting ever, I would say yes they are lazy, or maybe they just have very low confidence.”

We even had people automatically assuming that if someone doesn’t make cold calls;

• They are scared of the phone
• They just don’t know how to make cold calls
• They just need to get themselves motivated to make the call

What troubled me the most about some of the comments, was a lack of acknowledgment that someone who isn’t cold calling, and getting results had found a better way to build their business.

The same could be said for some of the commenters who were against cold calling in that some of them refused to acknowledge that there are people who get results cold calling.

To An Extent, I’ll Point The Finger At Your Manager

There are some managers who understand that everyone has their preferred platform and that preferred platform ISN’T based on what their rep prefers and;

It sure as hell ISN’T based on what worked for the manager “back in the day”.

It’s based on your prospect’s preference.

And there are other managers who think that if you don’t cold call . . .

You’re lazy!

Your Turn . . .

Fact or Crap . . . You’re Lazy If You Don’t Cold Call?

Please weigh in with your thoughts.

Oh, and if you found value in today’s blog post, please forward it to your team (including your manager)

I’m also thinking this could be a topic to be discussed/debated in your next sales meeting?

There’s So Much More To Hunting Than Cold Calls

There’s a whole world of “touches” available to the aspiring sales rock star.

Things like snail mail, Fed Ex, drop offs, drop ins, networking, social networking, creative approaches, referalls, email etc.

That’s why I created our How To Hunt More Effectively online sales program.

The purpose of this course is to help you capture the attention of a potential client who forgets about you the moment they hang up the phone.

We talk about . . .

• Different types of touches and how to get them to work TOGETHER instead of in a “silod” way
• Creating a message within those touches that grabs their attention
• Mapping your communication into a logical, easy to implement plan

Click HERE for details or the handy dandy banner below but do it soon because we launch on September 23rd.

For discounts (and extras) on 2 or more enrollments, please email me directly paul@yoursalesplaybook.com