You call it COLD CALLING.
And if by this two word phrase we are referring to B2B selling and the goal of getting an appointment, or appointment setting, then we are talking about the same sales practice.
In the 1950's a man who started a business part time began to use the phone to get appointments with furniture sales retailers. That began his learning of TELEPHONE PROSPECTING. In 1961 he emigrated from England to Canada and got a job in a office equipment company. After leaving that one he ended up at APECO, the company that had been the top photocopier company prior to Xerox.
APECO taught prospecting as a skill, which is the first professional skills training he had on the topic, ten years after he started this practice on his own during a time when sales people were exclusively still "wearing out shoe leather".
In 1964 this man, Mr. Peter Burke, MySalesDad©, won the National Sales contest at APECO in his first full year with the company.
He was so good at getting through to key individuals in businesses that he began to be asked to teach these skills. This he did at APECO, DENNISON(1967), OLIVETTI(1973), CALCAN (1977) and, eventually, through his own sales training company, PRO-FORMANCE MASTERS (1983). It was partly as a result of these requests that Peter became a trainer. And through training and his own desire to eliminate the very negative phrase for telephone prospecting that he changed COLD CALLING.
We know it as GOLD CALLING® !
Roll forward to 2007. Twenty four years after starting his own sales training company, now in his 79th year of living, he has now been recorded for the first time.
This new recording, done by Peter Burke or what many refer to him as The Father or Telephone Prospecting©, starts with an interview, during this discussion with me, his son, he reveals what has changed and how it has changed, as well as what has not. This revelation includes the fact that what he did then, way back in the 50's, works equally well in the new millennium!
It would also be very accurate to say that the phrases "mastering telephone prospecting", "the master of telephone prospecting" refer just as accurately to Peter Burke's skills and/or training.
Using repetition to increase retention, this audio is the only product ever created that has a high probability of teaching you one of the greatest skills in B2B selling, which is the use of the phone to get into new accounts, called Gold Calling®.
Prior to the 1950's telephones were not commonly used for selling. This was the 30's, before the 2nd world war, it was the depression. Things were tough all over and the expansion of the use of the telephone was stunted. It was not until the post war boom in the 50's that telephone use exploded and became common in all businesses and households.
This is why the skills of telephone prospecting were not known or taught then. It is why he was self taught. And how he became THE FATHER of this skill, though Inventor might be a strong word to use, he certainly was one of the inventors of this particular skill.
The audio recording and the book he co-authored entitled "The disappearing art of prospecting©" will soon be released. For now you can subscribe for a free copy of the MySalesTrainer monthly training program by clicking the link.
Stay tuned for more on the recording and the book.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Saturday, January 5, 2008
How has selling changed due to Postmdernism, 'The Information Age' & NEW AGE SELLING ?
The study of this subject is one where no one has all the answers. We don’t know yet what all the effects of a post modernistic society and the information age really are. Though there are many of us who have notched as much of a slide backwards in important areas of development as any true gain in terms of benchmarking the effects of what is oft touted as the most beneficial development of and for mankind.
Postmodern Parables as a concept developed within religion to deal with obvious change is very revealing. There appears to be far more concrete understanding coming from this camp, the ministers of the cloth, than those poorly researched preachers of direct marketing and new-age sales.
And who can argue this change?
In today’s world we can distribute an article in hours, which includes writing it! We can write a book in anyone’s house or coffee shop (by anyone with a computer, which is most of the developed world) and sell it as an e-book within the day of its completion. In other words information can and is being delivered at a scary pace.
And I must say, as I have begun to focus on this subject within the last 3 months, I’ve found it to be truly fascinating.
One need only look at Oprah. Just by adding a publication to her Oprah’s Book Club it is an instant best seller. Or doing a show on “Going Green 101” and suddenly
The reality is that two things are happening as a result of the affects of the information age, those that are real and those that are imagined. To understand this let us take our first example yet again from Oprah’s Book Club. I believe it was A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, the now infamous author that fictionalized his personal experiences, thereby perpetrating a fraud – one that became a best seller because of Oprah.
Clearly, Oprah usually recommends excellent material/products that fall into the REAL category. Whereas the influence of this post modernistic Diva, TV and the Information Age culminated in many beneficial promotions of great information, whether that in the form of good novels and factual readings that benefit readers or environmentally friendly household cleaning products, but at least once she also got scammed. Having inadvertently promoted something that was IMAGINED, as it was a fraud, though no doubt a well written hoax.
Which category does New Age Sales deserve to be put into? The answer to this question clearly depends on case by case examples. Some are REAL, some are IMAGINED (meaning we imagine it to be real) and some are a combination. The later means some of the information within a source is REAL and some within the same source are also IMAGINED, as with the anomaly that is the Oprah brand, not to be confused with Oprah the person.
Has the world changed? There is no doubt about some of the effects. Take the elderly parishioner of a local ethnic church who reads the paper daily from his Eastern European homeland on the Internet. He may not believe he was changed by the post modernistic society but that is as classic an example as you can get.
My own sister lived in
Yes, the world has changed but has it changed to the extent that the folks at Google and WEBEX want us to believe? Are we at a point where our profession is seeing a new sales variety that would compare sales as it used to be as version 1.X, as is 1.1 and 1.4, being replaced by SALES 2.0? A radical suggestion, is it not? But it is getting serious air time!
In other words, the inference is that selling is now developed to a new generation (or level), not to be confused with “for a new generation”. Is this suggestion in a nutshell REAL or IMAGINED?
To see just how far this has come as a post modernistic concept, specifically applied to the market and selling, look no further than an excerpt of an article that was posted online on December 20th, 2007, by Dale Underwood about the prospect asking “How much does your product cost?” …
“Ever get asked that question before you’ve had a chance to deliver your value proposition? It’s becoming more common in B2B sales, but why? The primary reason is that most prospects have already researched your products on the web before you ever step in the door and they don’t want to waste their time if they can’t afford it.”
I ask again, is this REAL or IMAGINED?
The week before Christmas I called a well researched suspected prospect to introduce that person to a service, one which we get orders for over the phone. He heard my value proposition or at least my BENEFIT STATEMENT, as anyone who answers the phone will unless they cut me off, and asked “How much is it?” Then, after hearing the price, he said “I am not interested.”
I described this prospect to be of the SUSPECTED type and rightly so. In this case, my research proved not to bring me to a good prospect, he did not QUALIFY as he did not have the money for my service. But this prospect had not been to my website. He had not even researched my style of service. In fact, he had never given it any thought at all. I know, because realizing I could not go further I asked.
I also know because I surprised him, not the other way around. And this is where a clear separation between two kinds of selling can be seen. As with those using the term SALES 2.0 it appears the assumption is that the prospect always comes to you from an Internet search engine.
But … hold on a minute … how is it all these new age writers could be spreading ideas nearly devoid of what we might be used to, we the professionals that sold extremely effectively before the Information Age. This is the confusing part as there is no one prior to me that I can find who is attempting to connect the dots (not that this first attempt is likely to do so in a way that is awesome).
One thing is certain. B2B buyers do not have all day to sit and look at services and products online. Most own businesses and they spend far more time researching how they will make money then how they will spend it. This means that if you have an idea about how to help these people they will not find you. You must be prepared to go to them.
If the buyer researched online and found you then, sure, I agree, he/she likely did read your website. But do decisions get made by reading a website and calling up and asking for a price? Or are they in relation to serious needs?
What is missing here is profound sales knowledge. The kind only truly understood by one who has worked successfully as a B2B sales rep, knows prospecting and knows off-line direct response marketing and online advertising, an individual who has learned all disciplines. Not to worry, I am such a person. I was a sales trainer 24 years ago and I was featured in April ’01 in one newsstand magazine and found my way onto the cover of another in Feb. ‘04 for success online. I know direct response, online advertising and sales from a trainers standpoint.
Therefore, I honestly feel I am one of a rare few that can talk knowledgeably and in depth on this topic as it relates to the selling profession. And, before I go on, by no means are my statements aimed at putting down the author named above but his writings indicate he is an entrepreneur who thinks about sales from a direct response standpoint, not one who is truly as a member of our profession (though this is just a guess).
No question, there are B2B Businesses that buyers search for at Google or Yahoo in numbers significant enough to support growth. However, the fallacy is that every buyer looks for everything they buy online. And, in order to prove that I have to introduce selling to you or, at least, re-introduce it, as you may have to some degree already been indoctrinated in NEW AGE SALES.
Is it best to sell when you are up against competition or when you are not? And what is the best way, other than through referral, to be in a no competition selling situation when you DON’T represent a unique product?
If you don’t understand the answer to this query you are not what we might refer to as an extremely well trained sales person, as it is not a trick question. But don’t worry, you do not have to remain as you are!
Much like Oprah with James Frey, the NEW AGE SELLING and SALES 2.0 authors have not verified the authenticity of the various idea promoters that influenced them. Nor are they usually great sales people themselves, many not being sales people at all. Most have their own self interest to protect and do not know that they are promoting a lot of misleading information. In point of fact, they are the worst kind of deceiver, those who are themselves deceived.
Still, some of this information is valid - again, this can get confusing. Bare with it please, this is important.
To face a buyer without being up against competition, when your product is not unique, you must be a master prospector because, as with the age before the Internet, the World Wide Web and Google or Yahoo, people who answer ads did not just answer yours. And, make no mistake, in terms of generating new B2B business, a website is nothing more than an extension of your advertisement, albeit one with a built in lead capture system.
Surprising the prospect is a skill that is being lost. And, that is sweet music in the ears of real prospecting geniuses, as we know we are facing less and less competition.
This knowledge also verifies a reality that is IMAGINED.
Remembering that to each of us perception is reality, that which we imagine as real is just that and herein lies the confusion as well as the reason why, when information can be promoted at light speed, that bad information is spreading where once it would not have. I mean, can you envision a book publishing company printing a book about sales and distributing it world wide with their own money if it was authored by someone who had never proven themselves in our arena and become a renowned speaker/trainer?
Now, at this stage in the article, I have to clarify. It is without doubt that my comments above SALES 2.0 and NEW AGE SALES being IMAGINED are valid. And, as with the example given about Oprah’s Book Club, it is also just as valid that some of what is being said by these authors is also valid, meaning in some cases my comment is INVALID!
Again, as stated already, this is the confusing part.
If I say sales has not changed I am referring to B2B selling. Specifically the kind that you cannot sell easily online and is not searched online frequently.
If you got a lead from the Yellow Pages in 1985 or your Website 2007, more often than not, the buyer in both cases has checked out the competition too, this has not changed. The difference is the 2007 prospect may know more about your organization and product than the prospect in 1985 did.
The operative word in the last sentence is MAY. Not all of us spend time reading websites, many prefer to ask questions or simply find websites so vast that they cannot locate what they want easily and would rather save time by calling and asking, which also causes frustration because they get voice mail instead of help!
The point is, statements about buyers being better informed should not be made as if they are all encompassing. They are not necessarily valid and, again, each case must be looked at individually.
The ministers of the cloth are now talking about the effect of the Information Age not being better educated people, not at all. In general people do not sit down and read books any longer, therefore they have a lower command of language. This results in not being able to think certain thoughts and overall, we expect to see a real change in patience, specifically lack there of!
“Some buyers are better informed” is valid. Inferring instead that “all buyers are better informed” is not, this is imagined and that is the way it always will be.
But who cares? In the end, if you have to sit across a desk from a buyer to get a sale rather than something that can be sold online or over a telephone, what difference does it make what the prospective buyer has done in terms of research? It is still going to come down to you, the relationship you build and how well you are able to find out what they want and showing them you can provide that to them.
If the buyer in this case asks the price before a visit then that is good, who wants to waste time visiting a buyer that has not the budget to acquire what you sell? However, it is my strong assertion in this article that buyers do not seek to buy when they have no budget, not if they are successful people. Because they have better things to do, namely making money.
The SALES 2.0 concept has been born out of a couple of beliefs. First, that the salesman does not surprise the prospect. And this is fed by businesses where there is no prospecting to speak of, where prospects find you rather than the other way around. The writers therefore really have a skewed view of selling as a profession and usually are not able to prospect themselves, they do not get it.
In a business where the industry is searched online regularly it is easy to understand how this ‘Google Society’ concept takes root in anyone’s mind. The reality is that many mundane products are just not thought about by business people. And consumer type products that are searched online at a much higher degree.
In the thread I wrote a couple of nights ago and posted at the salespractice.com forum, I took some time to make the point about low quality information that is being spread through the Internet. I would recommend you read that forum thread, thus avoiding the repetition of redoing that portion. And, it is critical, if you are enjoying this article, that you have read that also;
http://www.salespractice.com/forums/t-7801.html#post29500
I want to leave you with a reminder; consider the source. Please, whatever it is that you do in the future, before you allow your thoughts to be limited consider whether or not the information you are receiving is written or recorded by a true master. Odds are, if it shows you an easy way out or, put another way, a quick cure for pain, it is not well researched and written by someone who has not been there and done that.
The focus on the importance of CUSTOMER SERVICE in NEW AGE SALES sometimes makes me laugh. Here we are with voice mail systems that are hard to negotiate to get a live body, is that good customer service? No, it costs businesses money. And, great customer service is far from new.
The information age is new. And, it is causing shorter attention spans. Other than that the way we sold in our profession, the kind that requires a sit down meeting to do the deal, that has not changed. It is not an act of a sales dinosaur, it is the most professional method of communicating there is.
I have used WEBEX hundreds of times to demo and do presentations. And, in fact, the first presentation that led to one of the largest software sales made to the auto industry in the last 5 years began with a webinar. But only after the phone call that prospected them to have a look … and I will leave you with that.
I may add to this Beware the dark side thread later on, as I continue my research into NEW AGE SALES. For now I hop you can trust in me to tell you that you are never likely to be replaced by a computer or a website, no matter how much Google might wish it so!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Guts
Nothing is more important to a business person than GUTS.
Being part of the sales profession is no different than being a business owner because every sales person, though they represent a company or companies, is really in business for themselves as well. The only difference is their commission is their receivables.
“Hold on” you might say. “What about … ” and then you could list off other things that the great motivators (self development) speakers share. And those are issues too. For instance; visualizing your success is critical. Knowing your destination and seeing it while also being willing to adjust it as time passes, these things are all significant but without the guts to act, they are only dreams.
Determination is another word that is used, meaning will power, fortitude, grit or strength of mind. But I prefer GUTS. And ancient roman poet and philosopher said it this way;
“Fortune favors the bold” ~ Publius Vergilius Maro
I will start with MySalesDad©, he is my real dad and is in his 79th year as I write this. He won the National Sales Contest in 1963 for them largest North American copier company Apeco. Forty-four years later he is still achieving at the highest level.
What he has accomplished after he had a stroke is more than most achieve in their prime. But that is just another example of guts. First let me tell you it was his call that opened the door to
Last week, I had a new prospective client. I wanted to impress them. So I had this ol’ codger (a British expression), I call MySalesDad©, make two appointments for them. I had one prospective client even before I signed a contract with them!
Why does a man do that when he has no guarantee of being paid? Not even any guarantee the deal will be signed and the appointment set? Simple. He has guts. Even though he knew I might blow the sales call, not get the deal and the 25 calls or so it took to find a prospect would be wasted, he did it anyway. With nothing but hope that it would turn out to be big.
Why do you wait for leads when you are in the field already and have time between calls? Why not ask the previous sales contact about their neighbor before you leave? Then you know a little more when you walk in. And even if all you get is a phone number and name while you are there, you can call them back.
So what if you get leads supplied. Why not use the guts you have to add to them?
Dan R was a great guy. Everyone liked him. Then he had a debilitating stroke. It hit his left side so badly he could hardly walk and we were all saddened to hear the news. A half year later he had occasion to visit and you know what this old sales guy’s attitude was identical. Upbeat, looking forward, no “woe is me” whatsoever. The man has guts.
In his early 60’s MySalesDad© had an advance of a large sum built up slowly over time. This was a result of some issues in his life stopping him from achieving the sales he had for more than a decade. Out of the clear blue he was offered to allow the whole amount of $30,000 be written off if he would simply resign, with no other conditions. Without a blink he said; “Best single payday I ever had!”
A week later he was on at a competitor and fired up. He went out and competed with his old company and won many sales, keeping his old accounts. That took GUTS.
My own story has been told but you might not know it. I was in a basement apartment, no car, no job and no bank account. I even lost my dog to my ex. I could have cried about my situation at 37 years old but instead I had a clear vision and used my guts. With only a computer, a printer and a phone, within three years I was billing a million plus a year from home.
Four years after starting I was featured in a magazine started by the former Editor-in-Chief of Success magazine. Three years after that I was on the cover of another magazine. All it took was Guts.
In my twenties I was set on starting a sales newsletter. That vision was always there but the Internet made it far easier. So, about 4 years ago I started investing my money. Now I have a proprietary technology that will send out a newsletter, personalize it from my sales rep, ad his picture and delivery it to clients.
I married technology to my original dream and made that dream even better. Now my original dream is coming true but in a way that is far superior to what I ever imagined approximately twenty years ago. And this took guts too, as the cost was astronomical.
The guts it takes to start a business or begin in a territory and believe you are not only going to succeed but also establish yourself as a top producer or build a huge business, this is what this article is about. We will add on to this article in the future, telling stories of people, what they overcame and what their success are. For now, it is time for a gut check. Are you doing everything you can to build your client base? Be honest.
If you are not already receiving our newlsetter, go to MySalesTrainer.Saturday, November 24, 2007
Who invented phone prospecting?
History took place on a hill overlooking the banks of the Grand River in
What was the selling profession like before
With little survives prior to the World War II in written word about sales, partly because Hitler ordered all but approved books burnt and because printing as we know it had just emerged as an industry, we cannot write knowledgeably about it today, but we certainly know what has happened since through reference library research and memory.
Even old sales organizations have changed dramatically. Such as APECO, which all but disappeared, and Watkins, which was changed in the 90's from its struggling century old direct selling model to network marketing. Thus there is little left available from these organizations for us to research either.The only way to know much about what happened in the past is memory - to have the good fortune to ask an old sales dog what they remember. Unfortunately there are not many of those around but I have a surprise for you. One such, who was also a “sales inventor” is, as of November 22, 2007, both still alive and still generating new business, if you can believe it!
Though our knowledge of sales skills and technique before the industrial and information ages are sketchy at best, we know that sales people called on buyers without announcement in most cases. Before
There simply were no was to make appointments in those days, even after the 2nd world war, hence the expression “wearing out shoe leather”. But it was not long after that war that phones were prevalent enough to start using them to get an appointment. And early in the 50's, without any training or any outside suggestions, one such man started just that.
Since this practice of telephone prospecting and telephone appointment setting was not known there were no skills and techniques to be learned. And, sadly, more than 50 years gone from the time when telephones were first used by sales people, there are still sketchy skills taught. And, in fact, there is a whole fraction of the sales training field today that feels the use of the telephone should not be taught for prospecting, that business people hate being interrupted.
No one knew how to use it back then. Just a few pioneers broke the mold of “wearing out shoe leather”, which is all that the old timers did, and picked up the phone to get through the door, rather than just “making the rounds” and ‘door knocking’.
This man is now in his 79th year of stomping on the planet. And, above all others, he has built a reputation of mastering this skill.
It the sixties he hated the term “cold calling”, feeling it conjured negativity by it’s very name. It was he who invented the term Gold Calling® by changing just one letter, in order to make it a more positive expression. It was me, his son, that registered that mark nearly 40 years later.
Since that time he was the top sales person in several organizations. Trained them internally and even ran a sales training company of his own on the side for more than a decade while in his late 50's and early 60's . But he came out of an era that did not have the Internet. As a result his name was not known and, though his prospecting seminar is incredible, he never recorded it, as he preferred to achieve and only trained to stay sharp, as a hobby, if you can beleive that.
Luckilly, I have seen the value of his trained and experience as well as added to it. It is my pleasure to share with you both his ideas and the ideas that put me, his son, on the cover of a North American wide magazine 42 years after the phrase Gold Calling® was first used!A blend of old school and new, taking the best of both schools is the beginning of what is know mysalestrainer.com and goldcalling.com.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The great sales debate
I have emerged from sales training retirement for one very important reason. I simply cannot stand by idly and watch the amateurish training information that's being feed to sales people online, which amounts to nothing more than complete and utter nonsense!
What bothers me the most is - this nonsensical info - it is selling. Young sales minds are having their heads filled with inaccurate information or that which is not even close to being the truth. And, as a result, sadly, this can and will be passed from one ear to another, in some cases for years, hurting our industry and, worse, people's livelihoods.
One reason for this problem is the Internet and how easy it is to publish, like blogging. The 'net is so prolific that information can be published and distributed as often as daily. So, I've decided the best way to combat a tool that is potentially harmful is to join 'em (in blogging).
There are too many sales training offenses (if I can put it that way) to list in one article, especially if I am to explain to you why the training materials are rubbish. And, ultimately, there are only two types of information about ours, which is the world's greatest profession;
There is little wonder why this trash is selling. It comes down to the bad experiences of poorly trained people. And I blame this on those who hold sales management jobs and business owners.
If your sales people are suffering through sales activities or practices they have little understanding of how to do effectively this is ruining their chance to have good experiences. And, because of the pain caused as a result they buy into any reasonable well written information that leads them to believe there is no need to suffer ever again. Little wonder!
The situation is so bad in the sales industry that if I was to tell you that in almost every B2B industry there is an easy way to get appointments with highly qualified, ready to buy prospects without having to prospect you or most would be all over me like white on rice. So much so that a book on this topic (Never Cold Call Again) is now being claimed as a best seller.
Another sales professional I've interacted with makes claims that telephone prospecting is not affective, period. And, while I can certainly confirm that some levels of this practice and within some industries it is not affective for most, I can also guarantee you there are many examples where there is absolutely no other way. Ands these pay the biggest commissions!
In addition to the last revelation, there are many B2B industries where it is dead easy to get appointments. So easy in fact, that any time or money invested on advertising or marketing, even the word of mouth kind, is nothing more than a complete waste (understand, it would take more than one blog post to explain this point properly).
This - so called factual information about the use of the telephone to find quality prospects - is just the beginning of the misleading information online and in print. Want a real life example? Here;
My sales dad, now in his 79th year, who is still working, made a "cold call" to Toyota about 4 years ago. Would you call that about the highest possible level to call at? I sure would. Want to know what happened? A 12.1 million dollar sale, that's what happened!
Now, this trainer I have alluded to who claims cold calling is far less affective than what he teaches (naturally!) is about to have the very core of what he believes shaken up so much that if it was the ground he was standing on, he would fall down as if in an 9.1 magnitude earthquake!
Here is the truth; if you teach sales people that the only way to build a business is through referrals, Internet presences (website & pay-per-click ads) and blogging plus joining the local Chamber of Commerce and other organizations, such as The Rotary Club, you are selling misleading information. Want simple proof of this statement? No trouble, here you go;
If you could show Toyota how to make their company 15% more efficient with a revolutionary new piece of software that manages their production lines, would they tell Ford about it? No? Why not? because they would be helping their competition. DUH!
Toyota are not stupid. They are going to keep that secret weapon in the form of the revolutionary software installation to themselves for as long as is humanly possible and that means there aren't about to participate in the generation of any referrals any time soon. Capiche? I mean ... Heellllllooooooooo ?????????????
Want more proof? Sure, not trouble; If you sell in a vertical market all across the country will the local Chamber of Commerce membership or Rotary Club participation help much?
Read the simple truth; referrals do not work in every B2B industry. Relying on this source alone will mean your business will fail or, if you are a commission sales person, you will starve. Period!
Taking the example of Toyota and the manufacturing intelligence software they bought for all of their plants worldwide just one step farther; would blogging have worked to get that account? Would a website and newsletters work? Better yet; would permission marketing work?
As an answer to the the last question and to make a vital point about the lousy information out there; not unless you called the buyer first to get their permission. And if you are going to call, why put them on an email list? Why not do your job and sell. In other words; just tell them what you can do for them while you are already on the phone!
Toyota were not looking. They had no idea such an amazing product existed that could change their efficiency. They were never going to look on search engines for a BLOG or a WEBSITE and without a search no PAY PER CLICK advertising is viewed. Therefore , if you take long enough to try to get their attention by pussy-footin' around with this new style of attracting customers, like producing e-newsletters month after month containing words like "if Toyota had this they could improve efficiency by 15%" your competition may get wind of it first and re-invent your product, then beat you to that king sized order. And, if that happened, why would you have lost the business? Because you were too afraid to simply pick up the phone.
Now, clearly, this example with Toyota is just one. But I could go on and on about this, with example after example where by nothing the sales person does will keep them busy except old school, hard-nosed prospecting. And I can talk at great length about Permission Marketing and 'new school prospecting' (I am almost afraid to call it this) , which is really marketing, as I had over 44,000 opt-in subscribers on a newsletter that started before the book Permission Marketing was published. In addition, my face graced the cover of a newsstand magazine because if my knowledge of this area too.
I know what works and when and can tell you that all encompassing advice about prospecting - specifically warning anyone away from the telephone - is ridiculously amateurish at best. Meanwhile, this infamous trainer and others convey this about telephone prospecting; "It is despised by buyers, it is no where near as effective as other methods, so why would you ever do that?" And, this is a direct quote.
Standing on your electronic soap box telling any sucker that will listen that telephone prospecting is a waste of sales people's time may be what they want to hear but it is just plain misleading. It is so far from being an all encompassing truth that it is like saying the recent plight of the U.S. Dollar has nothing to do with The Trillion Dollar War in Iraq!
Please. I mean, I literally feel like throwing up. Here are thousands of sales people searching on the Internet because their various companies haven't the access to really good sales trainers and sales training information, to the point where they are desperate to earn a good living for their families but their searches end up feeding them absolute garbage that simply is not true.
If you boil it all down, the reality is there are very few good sales trainers. Most of the people at recognized sales training companies are not good at part of the sales process, especially what is known as COLD CALLING, so why are they teaching rooms full of eager sales beavers?
Some of the training from well known sales training companies who do not slam cold calling is also lousy!
If sales training was considered as important as lifesaving or water rescue training or wilderness first aid or anything else that could be life threatening there would be serious lawsuits all over the world as people died. But, hold on, isn't sales training dealing with people's very livelihood? Doesn't your family's well being fall into a category you would personally call critical ... ???
This BLOG is just the beginning. I am going to start The Great Sales Debate and prove all of this information to be misleading. If you are interested check out this for a start, browse to Sales Practice.com (not my site) and see the debate that's about to start, which will be going for weeks, it promises to be an interesting experience indeed.
What bothers me the most is - this nonsensical info - it is selling. Young sales minds are having their heads filled with inaccurate information or that which is not even close to being the truth. And, as a result, sadly, this can and will be passed from one ear to another, in some cases for years, hurting our industry and, worse, people's livelihoods.
One reason for this problem is the Internet and how easy it is to publish, like blogging. The 'net is so prolific that information can be published and distributed as often as daily. So, I've decided the best way to combat a tool that is potentially harmful is to join 'em (in blogging).
There are too many sales training offenses (if I can put it that way) to list in one article, especially if I am to explain to you why the training materials are rubbish. And, ultimately, there are only two types of information about ours, which is the world's greatest profession;
That which could be said to be leading and that which is very definitely misleading!
There is little wonder why this trash is selling. It comes down to the bad experiences of poorly trained people. And I blame this on those who hold sales management jobs and business owners.
If your sales people are suffering through sales activities or practices they have little understanding of how to do effectively this is ruining their chance to have good experiences. And, because of the pain caused as a result they buy into any reasonable well written information that leads them to believe there is no need to suffer ever again. Little wonder!
The situation is so bad in the sales industry that if I was to tell you that in almost every B2B industry there is an easy way to get appointments with highly qualified, ready to buy prospects without having to prospect you or most would be all over me like white on rice. So much so that a book on this topic (Never Cold Call Again) is now being claimed as a best seller.
Another sales professional I've interacted with makes claims that telephone prospecting is not affective, period. And, while I can certainly confirm that some levels of this practice and within some industries it is not affective for most, I can also guarantee you there are many examples where there is absolutely no other way. Ands these pay the biggest commissions!
In addition to the last revelation, there are many B2B industries where it is dead easy to get appointments. So easy in fact, that any time or money invested on advertising or marketing, even the word of mouth kind, is nothing more than a complete waste (understand, it would take more than one blog post to explain this point properly).
This - so called factual information about the use of the telephone to find quality prospects - is just the beginning of the misleading information online and in print. Want a real life example? Here;
My sales dad, now in his 79th year, who is still working, made a "cold call" to Toyota about 4 years ago. Would you call that about the highest possible level to call at? I sure would. Want to know what happened? A 12.1 million dollar sale, that's what happened!
Now, this trainer I have alluded to who claims cold calling is far less affective than what he teaches (naturally!) is about to have the very core of what he believes shaken up so much that if it was the ground he was standing on, he would fall down as if in an 9.1 magnitude earthquake!
Here is the truth; if you teach sales people that the only way to build a business is through referrals, Internet presences (website & pay-per-click ads) and blogging plus joining the local Chamber of Commerce and other organizations, such as The Rotary Club, you are selling misleading information. Want simple proof of this statement? No trouble, here you go;
If you could show Toyota how to make their company 15% more efficient with a revolutionary new piece of software that manages their production lines, would they tell Ford about it? No? Why not? because they would be helping their competition. DUH!
Toyota are not stupid. They are going to keep that secret weapon in the form of the revolutionary software installation to themselves for as long as is humanly possible and that means there aren't about to participate in the generation of any referrals any time soon. Capiche? I mean ... Heellllllooooooooo ?????????????
Want more proof? Sure, not trouble; If you sell in a vertical market all across the country will the local Chamber of Commerce membership or Rotary Club participation help much?
Read the simple truth; referrals do not work in every B2B industry. Relying on this source alone will mean your business will fail or, if you are a commission sales person, you will starve. Period!
Taking the example of Toyota and the manufacturing intelligence software they bought for all of their plants worldwide just one step farther; would blogging have worked to get that account? Would a website and newsletters work? Better yet; would permission marketing work?
As an answer to the the last question and to make a vital point about the lousy information out there; not unless you called the buyer first to get their permission. And if you are going to call, why put them on an email list? Why not do your job and sell. In other words; just tell them what you can do for them while you are already on the phone!
Toyota were not looking. They had no idea such an amazing product existed that could change their efficiency. They were never going to look on search engines for a BLOG or a WEBSITE and without a search no PAY PER CLICK advertising is viewed. Therefore , if you take long enough to try to get their attention by pussy-footin' around with this new style of attracting customers, like producing e-newsletters month after month containing words like "if Toyota had this they could improve efficiency by 15%" your competition may get wind of it first and re-invent your product, then beat you to that king sized order. And, if that happened, why would you have lost the business? Because you were too afraid to simply pick up the phone.
Now, clearly, this example with Toyota is just one. But I could go on and on about this, with example after example where by nothing the sales person does will keep them busy except old school, hard-nosed prospecting. And I can talk at great length about Permission Marketing and 'new school prospecting' (I am almost afraid to call it this) , which is really marketing, as I had over 44,000 opt-in subscribers on a newsletter that started before the book Permission Marketing was published. In addition, my face graced the cover of a newsstand magazine because if my knowledge of this area too.
I know what works and when and can tell you that all encompassing advice about prospecting - specifically warning anyone away from the telephone - is ridiculously amateurish at best. Meanwhile, this infamous trainer and others convey this about telephone prospecting; "It is despised by buyers, it is no where near as effective as other methods, so why would you ever do that?" And, this is a direct quote.
Standing on your electronic soap box telling any sucker that will listen that telephone prospecting is a waste of sales people's time may be what they want to hear but it is just plain misleading. It is so far from being an all encompassing truth that it is like saying the recent plight of the U.S. Dollar has nothing to do with The Trillion Dollar War in Iraq!
Please. I mean, I literally feel like throwing up. Here are thousands of sales people searching on the Internet because their various companies haven't the access to really good sales trainers and sales training information, to the point where they are desperate to earn a good living for their families but their searches end up feeding them absolute garbage that simply is not true.
If you boil it all down, the reality is there are very few good sales trainers. Most of the people at recognized sales training companies are not good at part of the sales process, especially what is known as COLD CALLING, so why are they teaching rooms full of eager sales beavers?
Some of the training from well known sales training companies who do not slam cold calling is also lousy!
If sales training was considered as important as lifesaving or water rescue training or wilderness first aid or anything else that could be life threatening there would be serious lawsuits all over the world as people died. But, hold on, isn't sales training dealing with people's very livelihood? Doesn't your family's well being fall into a category you would personally call critical ... ???
This BLOG is just the beginning. I am going to start The Great Sales Debate and prove all of this information to be misleading. If you are interested check out this for a start, browse to Sales Practice.com (not my site) and see the debate that's about to start, which will be going for weeks, it promises to be an interesting experience indeed.
© Steven Burke
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