Why so many sales managers consider cold calling among obsolete sales development techniques
Be it small firm or large multinational— most sales managers get promoted because they did a good job in sales
While sales skills vary, when it comes to translating those skills into making their sales team succeed the managers follow pretty much the same playbook.
Complacency And Reluctance To Experiment
That playbook has many names --- but complacency...also known as droning unremarkably through daily corporate life...is all too common.
Have sales development techniques you want to test with your sales team?
Sorry, but without top management support and attention even the smallest sales and marketing experiments go nowhere.
This reluctance to experiment has become epidemic and may already have taken hold of your sales and marketing organization.
Ready to buck this trend?
Some overlooked sales development techniques with big time benefits include cold call marketing.
It's easy to test...has proven consistently effective in every B2B marketing segment...and requires no investment in IT technology.
Furthermore, it's "the most effective way to set up appointments with the right decision makers at your target accounts"(Harvard Business Review On-Line has more here.)
Yet today's sales organizations give cold calling the cold shoulder.
Digital channel marketing get's all their attention. Plus cold calling is misery for their sales people!
What about cold call outsourcing?
Sorry, even here's there's a catch...
Top management will insist only salespeople with deep understanding of the markets they are selling can do sales development cold calling.
It's myth based on ignorance rather than tested cold call business experience.
Bottom Line: A good over the phone sales person can work any industry.
Same for face-to-face sales.
The top producers are at home regardless of product or service they sell.
The secret is making your calls with a personal touch that engages your prospects ---- getting them to interact with you one-to-one so they trust doing business with you.
Cold Call Sales Development Techniques: Getting Real-World Appointments
Quality business development appointments do not happen overnight.
Routine follow-up calls plus e-mail follow-ups work wonders to get you in the door for a face-to-face meeting.
Also, business development lead generation by phone is a form of direct marketing.[singlepic id=74 w=270 h=190 float=right]
And building a highly targeted database is the key to any successful direct marketing campaign.
Therefore, view each call as a means for fine tuning your business development database. It's a work in progress that never ends!
Improve Your Cold Call Sales Development Techniques
Get updates on ways Business Development Phone Marketing can help your business grow ---especially in this economy.
Also, go here for DMA 2012 response rate reports for lead generation marketing media. Plus this Advertising Age update on B2B phone marketing.
Also, for further study: