Cold Calling Is Fun!

---

Don't worry - I haven't gone mad. (Not yet.) Cold calling is never enjoyable. You know it and I know it. Then why would I say it?

Because I can recall countless times when I heard someone declare, "Making cold calls is tons of fun!" Believe it or not, I even did it once. I'm serious. In the first years of my sales adventures, when I was job hopping, failing by making cold calls, and having no idea why it wasn't generating sales - after all, my managers all said it would work - I began deceiving myself into believing that cold calls are fun, and that I love cold calling.

I decided that if cold calls work, like everyone told me it would, then the problem must be with me, so if I changed my attitude while making cold calls, the cold calling would suddenly work.

It didn't.

No matter how much I deluded myself into thinking that cold calls were fun, and no matter how many others might try to do the same, it still doesn't get results.

Of course I'd feel really great after those long days of cold calling. Sure, it was hard work, but I really felt like I'd achieved a great deal! All those days of making cold calls would surely pay off down the road, right?

Nope. They didn't.

Eventually, cold calling causes virtually all sales professionals who do it day in and day out to become victim to the feared state known as "call reluctance," a condition caused by the never-ending rejection of cold calling. Contrary to popular belief, never-ending rejection doesn't "toughen you up" - psychologists have proven that what it really does is beat you down, and causes a downward spiral.

I got to that point myself after many long years of cold calls. It's called a "rut." I've witnessed it with entirely too many salespeople. They listen to the nonsense from sales managers and old-timers: All those time-worn cliches about "getting out into the trenches," "dialing for dollars," "banging doors" … you've heard them all, I'm sure.

But thankfully, I lifted myself back up again and made it my singular goal to never cold call again. And when that finally happened I stopped cold calling forever, and removed all of that rejection and needless stress from my life, then my sales numbers increased dramatically. What's more, I even anticipated getting up and selling every day, rather than of fearing it.

I was not only using all of my productive selling time in front of qualified prospects (rather than spending all day searching for someone to sell to), I was with prospects who really wanted to buy! I didn't have to "close" them and overcome endless objections. Which meant that my closing percentage went up as well, raising my commission checks through the roof.

So if you really desire to join the top 1% of elite sales superstars, stop telling yourself that cold calling is fun, but rather, start using powerful, modern prospecting strategies and techniques that will bring highly qualified prospective customers to you - people who are willing to buy right now.

What are those specific strategies and tactics?

The other day, another sales author and me sat down and it took us about 30 seconds to rattle off over a dozen solid sales prospecting techniques that work better than cold calls, everything from traditional business networking, speaking at free events, and offline marketing, on up to Internet marketing, social media, LinkedIn, and beyond.

If you still believe there are no alternatives to cold calls, you're wrong! Use your imagination and get creative and you'll wonder why you ever wasted time making those cold calls in the first place!

---

---

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com