I wrote a few posts ago about the cold call and how it has changed and how it is NOT dead but definitely enormously different than in the past. And this is true but still a necessity for a few reasons. Here is one. The Cold Call is a useful tool in figuring out how well a new hire or a person new to sales will absorb the SALES mentality. Now I am not talking about seasoned sales people but merely focusing on junior employees looking to step into a sales career. Maybe they are right out of college or high school or maybe someone looking to make a career change. I started out in my career in sales with a box of cards with names and numbers on them was told to call these numbers and say a script. I thought my boss was nuts. I would think to myself, this is going to be my job. This is what I will be doing day in and day out. I would say how am I going to make any money doing this. However, I put my head down and did it. I listened to how everyone around me spoke on the phone and became a complete sponge. Taking in all of the information and learning from my experiences on the phone. I did not give up or get TOO discouraged where I ever wanted quit. But, what this experience did for me was teach me the foundation of sales. You need to have thick skin, persistent, need to always be thinking about new business and never give up. If new hires in sales cannot handle cold calling then most likely they are not made for SALES. If new hires cannot adapt to challenging tasks in sales such as learning from those around you, learning from many mistakes made on the phone or during experiences and or handling objection then they are probably not for SALES. If people entering into SALES, think that its just gonna be easy to make money in the best profession in the world, they are definitely not for SALES. If new hires cannot be persistent and realize that most customers looking to invest in our solutions don't know they need what we have and will resist, should not be in SALES. Cold Calling taught me all about these things and I am confident is the best tool to weed out the individuals that are just not made for it. Now this is not a knock on anyone's intelligence whatssoever. This is merely a fact based on my experiences and if you could cut someones losses short and teach them that hey this job just isnt for them they will respect you more for this than if stringing them along. Give everyone a chance. Put them in front of the telephone, give them names and numbers and have them tell people there story. This reveals many traits. I challenge you all to try this.
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God Bless our Hurricane victims on Long Island. Our prayers and thoughts are with you!!!
Shawn
sr@shawncreilly.com
