The pattern is always the same: sellers who avoid prospecting not only don’t cold call, they don’t engage in any regular lead generation activity. They wait around for leads to fall into their laps through advertising, websites, or client calls.
If you consistently fill your pipeline with qualified leads without cold calling, my hat is off to you. Close the book. It’s been nice sharing time with you. On the other hand, if you are like the rest of the selling world, you could use more qualified leads and more appointments, and there is not a more consistent way to generate leads and set appointments than cold calling.
Three Reasons Sellers Avoid Cold Calling
I’ve often contemplated why so many salespeople dislike cold calling, and over time I’ve concluded that there is no single reason for it; however, consistent objections regularly surface. Based on research, interviews, and trainings, I have identified three common cold calling concerns which fall into the following three categories:
1. Cold calling can be uncomfortable: Many sellers find cold calling terribly unnatural. That’s understandable. Most of us have been raised not to talk to strangers. Many sellers are uncomfortable with the “smile and dial” nature of cold calling. There is no doubt that “churn and burn” prospecting mentalities can be difficult to deal with.
2. Cold calling opens us up for rejection: Fear of rejection can be paralyzing. Most salespeople have a high need for acceptance. Because a large percentage of cold calls end in some form of refusal, just the thought of cold calling can make some people physically ill. I had a workshop participant admit that he would rather be put into a potential buyer’s voice mail than face a buyer verbally for fear of rejection.
3.Cold calling can be difficult: Many salespeople find cold calling to be the most trying aspect of selling. It takes mental discipline and emotional stamina to deal with the rejection that comes with cold calling. It takes self-control to set aside a certain amount of time each day to prospect. For many sellers, the discipline to cold call for at least an hour a day is a challenging habit to develop.
Challenge Brings Growth
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.
—Mark Twain
Regardless of the challenges associated with cold calling, it is still one of the most productive prospecting activities in sales. Furthermore, every challenge provides an opportunity for growth as I learned in my senior year of high school.
My senior year of football taught me valuable lessons about overcoming challenges and endurance. Not only did we have a tough coach (a former lineman for the Los Angeles Rams), but he didn’t like basketball players, and I was the starting point guard on the varsity basketball team. He thought basketball was a sport for wimps, (these were the days before Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone, when basketball was not yet a full-contact sport). Because I had spent the summer playing in basketball camps in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, I was unable to participate in the mandatory summer football weight lifting program. When I came back from basketball camp to start August two-a-day football practices, I was in for a shock. My coach informed me that because I had missed the summer weight lifting program, I was not eligible to start for the team. I was devastated, and to top it off, the coach informed me that the only way I could make up for the missed days was to lift weights for an hour each day at lunch between the morning and afternoon practices. Cramming weight lifting between two-a–days amounts to a nearly Herculean task, but I agreed to the schedule and for two weeks did three-a-days. Unbelievably challenging, it was the most difficult physical task I had ever faced. I threw up after sprints in evening practices. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. I was so angry that I contemplated quitting.
Fortunately, I did not quit. In fact, I grew into such fantastic shape that by our first game I was in better physical condition than anyone on the team. I not only started at wing back on offense, I started at corner back on defense as well. I was our kick off and punt returner, and I went on to set a high school record for the most receptions in one game. (If it sounds like I’m bragging, I am. Oh, the glory days!)
More than simply creating a fond memory, my football experience taught me valuable lessons about life. I learned that by overcoming my weaknesses, I grow stronger. I also learned that behind every challenge there is an opportunity to mature and that any reward worth having is difficult to achieve. Most importantly, a hard day’s labor with something to show for it feels great!
Cold calling is no different from the challenges I faced on that football team. When we face our challenges and conquer our fears, we accomplish great tasks.
Facing Prospecting Fears
Never take counsel from your fears.
—General George S. Patton
In order to overcome cold call reluctance, sellers need to face their fears head on. No one likes rejection or enjoys feeling uncomfortable. Difficult tasks can be daunting. Most human beings prefer the path of least resistance. Therefore, let me bluntly ask, “Why do it then? Is cold calling really worth it?” The answer is a resounding “Yes!” The reward is worth enduring the process. We may have our egos bruised along the way; in fact, we should expect it. By enduring this skin-thickening process, we reap experience, and we increasingly become proficient. This level of performance will give us the opportunity to look back and chuckle when we see the new guy desperately trying to disguise the fear-induced, eye-twitching, feeble attempts to justify not cold calling.
Over time, prospecting not only becomes easier, it becomes enjoyable. Successfully qualifying a lead or setting an appointment becomes one of the highs associated with selling.
When all is said and done, the key to eliminating cold calling anxiety is call volume. After making a few hundred or a few thousand cold calls, sellers lose their fear of cold calling. It really is that simple. The first few hundred calls are the toughest. Once sellers get past those initial calls, they typically lose cold call butterflies and realize that the outcome of a single call is not significant to their overall success.
The Point? It takes mental and emotional courage to conquer prospecting fears. Once conquered, however, sellers fill their calendars and pipelines with qualified leads and experience consistent selling success.
Chapter 3
Pipeline Management
While studying with Plato, Aristotle publicly disagreed with many of his teacher’s ideas and philosophies. Consequently, Aristotle was banned from Plato’s famed academy. Rather than being a setback, being banned from the academy liberated Aristotle from the abstract thinking of the school and allowed him to pursue his ideas in a manner unrestricted by the Socratic theory that non-physical forms such as truth and beauty were the keys to understanding. Aristotle maintained instead that sense, experience, and reason were the keys to understanding, and he developed methods of analysis and categorization that were based on observation and study.
Aristotle studied by dividing elements into constituent parts. Using a process of division, he set about categorizing the entire biological world. He grouped animals with similar characteristics into genera and then divided the genera into species. His chief grouping defined animals according to whether or not they had blood, which effectively divided them into groups known as vertebrates and invertebrates.
Aristotle’s methods are still used by scientists today. In biology, plants and animals are classified by the structure of their bodies in a descending hierarchy of categories, a process called taxonomy: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. Remember your biology teacher reviewing the mnemonic saying, “King Phillip came over for good spaghetti?” Human beings, for example, progress through the following classification process:
• Kingdom: Animal
• Phylum: Chordates
• Class: Mammals
• Order: Primates
; • Family: Hominidae
• Genus: Homo
• Species: Homo Sapiens
Scientists use the taxonomy system for clarity, organization, measuring purposes, and consistency.
The Science of Managing Sales Pipelines
Like the scientific process, effective sales processes use definitive categories to identify and track prospective clients. The DNA Selling System uses a process similar to that of the taxonomy method in order to categorize and classify sales leads. Nine pipeline categories are used to track, manage, and report pipeline information (see Figure 3.1).
Pipeline categories are used to differentiate and represent the various stages buyers undergo before making a purchase. Sadly, what’s not obvious to unsuccessful sellers is that not all leads are created equal. There is a difference, for example, between an unqualified lead and a qualified lead. There are even variations concerning qualified leads because some qualified leads are in the initial stages of the sales cycle, and some are “hot,” ready to close.
Good pipeline management processes and programs differentiate and categorize the various stages buyers go through prior to making a purchase. These categories should be reflected in any type of lead tracking system—manual or electronic. Consistent pipeline terminology allows sales representatives, managers, and executives to “manage with the force of facts” using common contact management reports.
Pipeline Categories & Terminology1
Figure 3.1
Manual Lead Tracking Systems
I am amazed at how hard people and organizations will work to obtain qualified leads; however, I am equally amazed at how easily they let qualified leads slip through their fingers. Call it apathy, lack of concentration, or just plain disorganization, but without proper pipeline management, leads, referrals, and potential clients fall between the cracks and are lost. As a result, business is lost.
There are multiple methods of tracking leads. You can use manual systems such as appointment books, wall schedulers, calendars, notebooks, or index cards. In theory, these systems are simple and easy to use since you simply record relevant information about each lead on cards, paper, or calendars and then use them to follow up on sales leads. Sellers typically organize card systems by date of follow up so that they can look at any day of the month and know who to follow up with.
There is a downside to using a manual system; they are cumbersome. When pipelines grow, sellers end up with too many cards, pieces of paper and files. Things become confused, misplaced, and lost. Additionally, in most manual systems, information can only be retrieved by date of follow up, so if you need to look up a particular lead, you won’t be able to locate it alphabetically. Manual systems also limit a seller’s ability to create accurate pipeline and performance reports.
Electronic Contact Management Systems
Building and maintaining client relationships throughout the sales process requires accurate records of events, actions, comments, and expectations. Maintaining those records in a system that is easily accessible is critical to preserving long-term customer relations.
When communicating with buyers, or when prospects call back, sellers need to be able to quickly note conversations or access notes concerning previous conversations. Readily accessing information about past discussions demonstrates competence and gives customers added confidence that the seller is organized enough to manage their business.
Computers, software, smart phones, PDA’s, and the internet provide sellers with lead tracking systems that are nothing short of fantastic. Sales automation and CRM (customer relationship management) programs such as ACT!, Goldmine, Sales Logix, Seibel Systems, SalesForce.com, SalesNet.com, SAP, and SugarCRM.com provide sellers with electronic lead tracking capabilities.
The beauty of using a software or Internet contact management program is that account data is cross-referenced so that it can be retrieved with the click of a mouse by name, location, date of follow-up, or sales category. You can print proposals, keep detailed notes, track an unlimited number of leads, and have multiple calendars without losing a thing. You can search by account name, callback date, location, or even by lead statuses like unqualified or qualified leads. The program even tells you who to call each day and includes detailed notes and information from previous discussions.
Additionally, most reputable CRM systems integrate seamlessly with social media programs such as facebook.com and linkedin.com.
Salespeople reluctant to invest in modern technology need to ask themselves: “Is the cost of not having a modern lead tracking system more than the price of the technology?”
Note: Any salesperson serious about becoming a high-income earner has no option but to utilize modern technology. Technology gives sellers a competitive edge over salespeople who use antiquated pipeline management methods.
To find a lead tracking program, sellers can search on the Internet under the titles “Contact Management,” “Sales Automation,” or, “Customer Relationship Management.” You can also find contact management advertisements in sales and marketing publications such as Power Selling and Sales and Marketing Management.
Internet based lead tracking systems allow sellers to manage pipelines remotely without having to load, upgrade, or maintain software. With access to the Internet, sellers can log in and retrieve pipeline data using ASP (application service provider) Internet programs. The programs are easy to learn, easy to use, and provide all of the capabilities necessary to easily track and manage leads. Furthermore, electronic lead tracking programs provide detailed reports that provide up-to-date information and reflect the overall health of a sales pipeline.
Although electronic contact management programs have pre-configured pipeline categories, terms, and definitions, most come equipped with the capability of adjusting the categories and terminology of the program to match the words, definitions, and language with which you are most comfortable.
Sample CRM Interface
Figure 3.2
Pipeline Reports for Sales Managers and Executives
In 1814, Coalition forces from Prussia, Russia, Britain, and Sweden invaded France and marched on Paris. After twenty-one years of warfare, Napoleon Bonaparte was finally forced to abdicate and was exiled to the British controlled island of Elba. Astoundingly, in 1815 he was rescued from the island, resumed control of France and attacked the Coalition army in Belgium. On June 18th, the battle of Waterloo ensued when British commander Arthur Wellington counter attacked Napoleon. The fate of nations hung in the balance. If successful, Napoleon would bring another decade of war and conquest. If defeated, Europe could once again experience peace.
Perhaps no one had more riding on the battle than Nathan Rothschild. The London branch of the great Rothschild banking house had taken a keen interest in Wellington’s attack. Nathan Rothschild had staked the family fortune on arming and supplying Wellington’s vast army and had done so with British bonds. Because the house of Rothschild was the largest single holder of British bonds, the outcome of the battle of Waterloo would forever alter its financial fate.
But Nathan Rothschild was no dummy. He and his family had developed a vast network of European informants and had created their own private messenger service. Day and night, the blue uniforms of the Rothschild couriers could be seen in coaches and in ships carrying messages, information, securities, notes, debts, and orders to buy or sell. Obviously, of all the information his agents delivered, the most urgent was the news they carried about battles, warfare, and weather—news that moved markets.
On the morning following Wellington’s attack, the 19th of June, Nathan Rothschild slipped out of London and made his way to Folkestone Harbor to receive news from the other side of the English Channel. A few hours later, a Rothschild’s agent arrived and handed him a Dutch Gazette newspaper with news of the battle. After scanning the headlines, he sped back to the London Excha
nge.
As he entered the Exchange, anticipation filled the room. The Rothschild reputation for inside information was well established and investors knew the stakes were high that day. Rothschild maintained a calm but stoic expression and then motioned to his brokers to begin selling his British bonds. This could only mean one thing: Wellington had been defeated. Panic struck the Exchange as Rothschild continued to sell, and sell, and sell more. Bond prices collapsed.
With the price of bonds almost completely worthless, Nathan suddenly reversed course and bought every British bond on the market—hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of bonds. Moments later, and after he had cornered the entire British bond market, news of Napoleon’s defeat by Wellington surfaced.
Because of the information network the Rothschilds had developed, in one day, and with one, bold stroke, the Rothschild family treasury was transformed into one of the world’s largest fortunes ever known.
The Point? Information can pay big dividends. Sellers and managers who develop accurate information systems have a competitive edge over sellers, managers, departments, and companies that don’t.
Patrick Henry International instructs sales managers and executives in P4 Management Principles—a management philosophy centered on the four elements of a successful sales organization: People, Processes, Performance, and Profitability. In order to implement P4 Management Principles, sales leaders must have consistent pipeline terminology and accurate reporting capabilities.
Pipeline classification and terminology are so vital that when Patrick Henry International sets up The DNA Selling System for sales teams, organizations, and businesses, one of our first goals is setting up or modifying contact management processes. We make this a high priority because without accurate pipeline classification, it’s almost impossible to track, manage, report, or accurately forecast revenue projections.
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