All Posts by Andy Preston

Cold calling is one of the things most people seem to ask me for help with, usually because they want to get better results from it – although some people like to avoid it altogether! However for a smaller business, often the problem with their cold calling isn’t cold calling – it’s something earlier in the process that’s causing them problems later on.

Now, whilst in these circumstances getting better at cold calling can help, it’s sometimes more important to look earlier in the process, to ensure you’re giving yourself and your team the best chance of success when it comes to the phone call.

Let me give you some examples we’ve uncovered whilst working with clients recently….

Problem Number 1 – Poorly Planned Sales Process

This is a common problem that occurs far more often than it should! Whether it’s the manager, director or business owner that hasn’t thought the process out fully, or that the salesperson just hasn’t ‘got their head around it’, either way this needs looking at before the sales calls start!

An important point to look at here is what has happened prior to the call you’re about to make? And compare that to what should have happened! Has the person responded to an advert? Have they come from a web enquiry? If it’s a ‘pure’ cold call, where have you sourced the data from and what is it like?

If it was a response to an advert for example, what ‘filtering’ have you done on the advert? Did you want only the good quality enquiries (useful for a small sales team that can’t handle larger call-volumes, and salespeople with less experience), or did you want all the enquiries you can get, so you can use your sales skills to try and get a positive outcome when you call?

The more ‘filtering’ you have done, the ‘warmer’ the enquiry is, generally speaking. I’ve seen far too many companies do too little filtering – usually because they naively think that the more responses they get, the better the advertising worked! It just means you’ve got lots of ‘follow-up’ calls with people who are less interested – which becomes a problem if you don’t do a lot of cold calling and aren’t used to the rejection!

Problem Number 2 – Poor Handling Of Initial Enquiry

Think about this for a moment. If your enquiry comes in over the phone, who is the person who takes that call? Someone that’s been well trained in sales? Someone who’s completely conversant with the campaign that generated the lead and knows everything about it? Someone you can rely on to have the best chance of converting that enquiry into business?

Far too often companies spend large amounts of money on websites, advertising, branding and marketing campaigns, yet when those campaigns generate an incoming lead, they fail to deal with it properly! They fail to invest in the most critical part of the process – the part that could win or lose them the business – the training of the person handling the incoming enquiry!

If it’s an enquiry that came in via your website, how quickly do you respond to the enquiry? Within a few hours? Or is it more like days? Some people I’ve talked to recently often don’t respond to them at all!! Hands up all of those who respond to the email or web enquiry with an email. You deserve to be shot! This is the main (or perhaps the ONLY) opportunity to engage the prospect into your sales process and you’re going to do it by sending an email? Dear oh dear….

If it was a telephone enquiry, what questions do you or your staff ask that person? Questions that just get the ‘facts’ or the ‘details’ of what they want? Or do you ask questions that uncover buyer motivation, desire, needs, control the call and win the business (and a new customer) at the end of it?

Problem Number 3 – Wrong (Or No) Focus On The Call

The third thing you needed to think about is the call itself. A common problem with people making cold calls or follow up calls is that they fail to consider what outcome they want from the call BEFORE they make it!

Are you trying to make an appointment from the call? A sale? Trying to get the prospect to visit you? A conference call? If none of those, what specifically are you trying to achieve?

Far too many calls are made without an objective in mind. Those are the sort of calls that tend to ‘drift’ – with little or no control from the salesperson – that give the recipient the impression that there wasn’t a clear reason for the call, nor for the conversation they’re now having – therefore they want to get out of it as quickly as possible!!

Your call structure needs to be designed and delivered with your outcome in mind! Otherwise, the prospect is far more likely to achieve THEIR objective from the call (in some cases theirs is to get rid of you!) than you are to get yours!

Problem Number 4 – Lack Of Confidence With Selling In General

If this relates to you directly, don’t worry. The majority of people I’ve worked with have some challenges with confidence at some point – and some on a regular basis!

As companies have ‘re-engineered’ themselves over the last few months, in a number of cases it’s meant that non-traditional sales staff are now having to handle parts of the sales process as part of their role. These staff members didn’t sign up for a sales job, but are now having to do sales activities – whether they like it or not!

Whether it’s a marketing person making sales calls trying to get appointments for field sales representatives, or an administrator handling incoming sales enquiries, if they aren’t confident with the activity they’re undertaking, that means less effective calls, lost opportunities, and therefore – lost sales!

Any person tasked with taking on any element of ‘sales responsibility’ within a company needs to be confident with that aspect of sales. A lack of confidence in any element of the sales operation can be a source of lost sales – something most businesses can’t afford at the moment.

It’s vital that action is taken to equip all team members with the mindset, skills and confidence required in order to maximise sales opportunities right now. Otherwise you could be virtually gifting business to the competition….

You can ask any questions about this article or sales in general, by contacting Andy here

Andy Preston is a leading Sales Expert, Trainer and Motivational Speaker. He runs the Ecademy ‘Sales And Cold Calling Tips Club’ as well as writing for magazines, newspapers and trade journals all around the world on anything related to sales and selling.

You can get Andy’s free cold calling and sales tips HERE

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2009. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines. Media enquiries – details here

Whenever I write a ‘Sales Lessons From…’ article, people often initially think ‘what on earth has this got to do with my business?‘, or ‘how can I relate this to my sales role?‘
However, they’re often surprised when they read more of the article how much they actually can get from it, and often change their personal or business approach as a result….

I’ve been to the Dubai 7’s a number of times now, but this year as well as the global recession, Dubai itself has been particularly badly hit. There are various ‘lessons’ that can be learnt from this year’s 7’s tournament that particularly apply to business, and to sales. Have a look below and see what you think….

Sales Lesson Number 1 – Don’t Be Afraid Of ‘Downsizing’

In the past, the Dubai 7’s has attracted around 50,000 people. This year, because of the ‘credit crunch’ and Dubai being hit particularly hard, it was more like 30,000. Now the stadium was therefore only going to be two thirds full at best. Therefore the organisers took action based on this – by putting netting over the top tiers of the stands and cordoning them off – people therefore had to sit in the lower tiers – resulting in it looking busier and creating far more atmosphere than having people dotted about all over the place.

They’d also taken action to ‘downsize’ in other areas. Crucially however, it didn’t affect the atmosphere, the experience, or the enjoyment of the event! This is something that’s critical to try and retain in your business – even if you have to downsize in terms of capability, people or offering.

Many businesses have had to look particularly hard at themselves over the last few months. Looking at operations and how they could become more efficient. Looking at their service offering and how it could be ‘tweaked’ to get a better response from potential purchasers. Looking at their staffing levels and seeing whether people were in the best positions or had the best responsibilities to get the best out of themselves and add the best value to the organisation.

As a result, many organisations have had to ‘downsize’. Others however have been hesitant to take this step, hoping instead that the market will ‘return’ or they just need to ‘ride it out’ for a little longer. However it’s the companies that are able to deliver a good service efficiently that will be among the best-placed to take advantage as the market goes back up. And the ones that aren’t as efficient will be struggling….

Sales Lesson Number 2 – Don’t Give Others A ‘Head Start’

In rugby just as in business, you can’t afford to give your competitors a ‘head start’. After playing solid rugby and looking good as they moved into the semi-finals stage, England came unstuck against Samoa.

The problem wasn’t that England weren’t capable of beating them – they were. The problem was that Samoa had scored 3 tries before England had ‘woken up!’ It’s very difficult in a game lasting 7 minutes each half to come back from 3 tries down early in the game.

England had the skills, the players and the capability to win – yet giving Samoa that kind of head start ultimately cost them the game – and the chance to play New Zealand in the final.

In your business are you giving your competitors a ‘head start’ right now? Do you find yourself saying things like ‘we’re in survival mode at the moment’, ‘no one’s got any budget to buy from us’ or ‘let’s just get through the next few months?’ If so, you could well be giving your competition a ‘head start’ on new prospects, or even your existing customers!

Perhaps you or your team have also not been prospecting for new business as much as you could over the past few months? That’s certainly going to have an effect on your business pipeline for the following few months as well! Where else have you been giving your competitors a ‘head start’ on you recently?

Sales Lesson Number 3 – Pick Your ‘Team’ Carefully

Rugby 7’s is a different type of game to the 15-a-side equivalent. The pace is faster, with more emphasis on ‘explosive’ pace and the ability to keep and run with the ball, with far less emphasis on kicking.

The teams who do well at the 7’s game are the ones that pick their team carefully. Just looking at the players the successful teams pick you can see they’re focussing on being quicker than their opponents, with speed from a standing start a vital attribute. Ball handling skills are also key, as many turnovers happen in 7’s, so keeping hold of the ball is vital! The teams that do well have picked their team based on these factors.

When it comes to your business, how have you picked your team? Have you consciously picked the right blend of people with the right blend of attributes to succeed in the current market? Or are you left with people that are just doing that job because they’ve been there for a number of years?

How about if you were to start your business again tomorrow? What would you differently? Who would you assign into the job roles you’d create? Why would you pick them for the roles over others? What skills do they bring to the table that makes them ideal candidates for those roles? Are they the sort of people you can rely on in a difficult market to lead your company back to where you want it to be?

Sales Lesson No 4 – Make It Easy For People To Buy

Far too many companies make it too difficult for people to buy, especially when it comes to cross-selling or up-selling additional items!

At the Dubai 7’s, they’ve eliminated the problems of people queuing for drinks, then not having the right cash, plus the temporary staff that the organiser has hired pocketing large amounts of the cash takings!

You simply go and buy ‘tokens’ for food and drink at special booths, then getting your drinks and food is much simpler, much quicker and the organisers don’t have to worry about their temporary staff pocketing takings! It’s a simple but efficient way of doing things.

So, how can you apply the same principles in your business? How are you making it easy for people to buy from you (or buy more from you) currently?

Think about the ‘customer experience’ of people buying from you. What are you doing before or after they purchase that makes you stand out from your competitors? What ‘bottlenecks’ in your process are standing in the way of you getting more business from customers?

You can ask any questions about this article or sales in general, by contacting Andy here

Andy Preston is a leading Sales Expert, Trainer and Motivational Speaker. He runs the Ecademy ‘Sales And Cold Calling Tips Club’ as well as writing for magazines, newspapers and trade journals all around the world on anything related to sales and selling.

You can get Andy’s free cold calling and sales tips HERE

You can also see more about Andy’s training for small businesses at www.salesbreakfast.net

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2009. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines. Media enquiries – details here

This one is for all the ‘networkers’ who are always talking about what you ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ have on your business card…..there are also a few ‘reality’ tips below from me!

Please don’t watch the video if you’re easily offended – thanks to a printing client for sending me this….

What was your favourite part of the video? Mine was ‘it doesn’t fit in a rolodex….because it doesn’t belong in a rolodex!’ lol

Now onto the more serious tips!……

Andy’s Top 5 Tips For Business Cards

Tip No 1 – Get the best looking business card you can afford!

Remember, once you’re gone, all they have left to remember you by is your business card – so make sure it’s made a good impression!

This means getting it designed properly, and having your branding consistent with your website etc, so it’s a consistent message to would-be-clients.

Tip No 2 – Ignore the ‘rubbish’ people say about being able to write on it

So many so-called ‘experts’ talk about this. But far more important is the quality of the card and the design (see tip 1). Most people that talk about this say you should be able to write on the card so they can make notes to remember you by. Well if they can’t remember you to start with, you’re obviously not that memorable! That’t not a good sign!

If someone represents a genuine opportunity to you, it’s YOUR responsibility to follow up with those people – so keep those cards seperate from the others and get them in your CRM system or diary – fast – if they represent genuine opportunities to you.

Tip No 3 – Only pass cards to people you want to keep in contact with

From a sales point of view, there’s pretty much zero point in just handing out your cards to everyone and collecting theirs – unless you’re just keeping the printers in business!

Let’s face it – you’re not going to follow up with everyone anyway (unless you think that a ‘standard email’ is following up? I hope not!), so why bother? Ask for and keep the cards of the people you want to stay in touch with….

Tip No 4 – Have something memorable on your card

Have something memorable on your card that makes you stand out from your competitors. And by ‘memorable’, I don’t mean ‘cheesy!’ If you are the ‘face’ of your business, a picture is essential. Spot varnish and ‘cut outs’ are fairly inexpensive options these days to make you appear different. Otherwise, direct the recipient to an offer or certain part of your website designed to engage them with you and your company.

Tip No 5 – When face-to-face, exchange them at the start of the meeting

So many people get this wrong. If you’re in a face-to-face meeting with a client, exchange them at the beginning of the meetings. This saves the ‘awkward moments’ wondering about when it’s a good time to exchange them. Put the card on the table in front of you, so you can easily remember the client’s name and responsibilites – I’ve seen too many people forget the client’s name part-way through a sales meeting! Don’t let this happen to you….

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains the mistakes most Sales Managers make when running meetings for their sales team! Instead of being a motivational, uplifting boost to your team, most sales team meetings are boring, too product and information driven and insanely dull affairs for most salespeople. Read this article to help you avoid the common mistakes most Sales Managers make, and get your meetings back on track!….

Whenever I’m talking to (or working with) Sales Managers, they invariably ask me for some help in running the team sales meetings. They realise that running a compelling sales meeting is vitally important, but often fall into running meetings that don’t inspire, motivate or even engage their sales team.

Have a look at the common mistakes most Sales Managers make below, and make sure you don’t fall foul of them!….

Sales Management Mistake No 1 – Dragging Them On Too Long

Far too many sales team meetings drag on too long! I’ve known meetings that could have been done in 2-3 hours drag on all day. I’ve also known meetings that could have been done in 30 minutes last 2-3 hours.

The longer the time period, the more difficult it is to maintain interest and attention from the attendees. Lunch will go for longer than scheduled, people don’t make it back from breaks on time because they’re taking/making a call etc etc.

So think about what you want to cover in the meeting, and how long that would take. Just because you may have the field reps up to the office for the day, doesn’t mean that meeting has to take all day for example.

Sales Management Mistake No 2 – Too Much ‘Whinging’

This is mean to mean too much whinging from your team, but I’ve also known Sales Managers be guilty of this in sales meetings! Remember, your sales team are all together in one place (whether physically or virtually) and they’ll use that opportunity to ‘gang up’ on you if you’re not careful.

This can be a tactic used by the more experienced people, or the people whose figures aren’t where they should be this month – or both!

Some salespeople will also have their ‘favourite topics’ for this – ‘the company doesn’t do enough marketing’ is one example. Another is something like ‘our prices are not competitive compared to…..’ And the old favourite ‘well if we had done such-and-such back in 2005….’

You need to be aware of this, prepared for it and deal with it as soon as it comes up!

Sales Management Mistake No 3 – Lack Of Preparation

This again counts on two levels – both the salespeople and yourself. If the salespeople are unprepared, it’s normally because of a lack of communication or understanding between you, or a tactic to distract you from looking closely at their figures and activity – usually when they’re underperforming!

Lack of preparation on your own part normally happens when there’s pressure on other things – then suddenly the sales meeting creeps up on you and before you know it, it’s the night before and you haven’t planned the day properly.

Whether intentional or not, I’ve sat through many meetings that felt like this was the case!

If the meeting isn’t properly planned beforehand, the meeting can feel like a waste of time to all the participants. Before the meeting, think about your outcomes, what you want to cover (not just copying the agenda of the last meeting!) and how to get your message across in the most effective way.

Sales Management Mistake No 4 – Not Challenging The Team

Another common mistake Sales Managers make is not to challenge the team, particularly around their sales pipeline, or prospecting lists. Far too many salespeople are allowed to get away with just paying ‘lip service’ to these important activities.

I remember being sat in a sales meeting where one of the salespeople was reading out his sales pipeline and going through which businesses he thought he would convert before the month was out. When he said a certain name the rest of the team started sniggering. He’d mentioned the same company name 4 months in a row and didn’t appear to be any closer to converting them! Whether he was deluding himself, or genuinely felt he was going to convert them, I’m not sure!

Either way, he should have been challenged on it! The Sales Manager concerned unfortunately just nodded and moved onto the next salesperson. Therefore, none of the team to the exercise (or the sales team meeting in general) seriously, and just saw it as an excuse to get away from their normal work for a few hours – not the sort of outcome you want from a sales team meeting, is it?

Sales Management Mistake No 5 – Too Much About ‘Product’ Or ‘Information’

This is another common problem with most sales team meetings. Some Sales Managers think that the meeting is only about ‘information delivery’ to their team. I’ve even seen some managers get out ‘memos’ that they’ve sent to the team previously, and then go through them in the sales meeting! Seriously!

Another version of this is that valuable time at the sales meeting is taken up with ‘product’ discussions – some people even invite suppliers in to present their latest products to the team. Unfortunately, these ‘presentations’ often fall short of the mark – not tailored to the audience and appear to the supplier’s ‘stock’ presentation that they’d give to potential buyers (not resellers), forgetting the important fact that the team isn’t there to buy their product, they’re there to sell it for them!

The impact on the team therefore is usually is too technical. information overload, and boredom!

Think about the reasons you have the sales meetings with your team for a moment. Surely some part of these meetings should be motivational? Particularly if your team are based in the field and it’s your only opportunity to see them for the month? Doesn’t it make sense that part of the meeting should be about motivating the team and helping them deal with their current sales challenges, rather than boring them to death?!!

Oh and on that note, you do include some sales skills training and drills as part of the meetings, don’t you?

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2009. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

This article has recently been updated.

See the updated article here.

Every now and then everyone needs a little inspiration, don’t you agree?

As salespeople (or business owners who have to sell) it’s important that we keep our motivation levels as high as possible – particularly in the current climate, where we could be finding things tougher than usual, and getting more rejection and objections than previously.

Sport has links to selling, as it serves us by providing examples of excellence. Having done some work with professional sportspeople on peak performance, some of the traits required for suceess in that field mirror the traits required to become a top salesperson.

I saw the video below, and it reminded me about the pursuit of excellence. Watch and it and I DARE you not to feel inspired by it! There are some good sales lessons in it too, about persistence and not giving up (the first minute where he’s trying to get across the railings) calm and poise in difficult situations and about working hard on your skills to give a good performance when it matters!

Watch the video and let me know your favourite bit – mine’s probably the somersault off the tree at 3:05….

Enjoy the video!

I was talking with a group of salespeople and small business owners the other day, and they were telling me about the ‘sales challenges’ they’re experiencing at the moment.

Some commented that they were struggling to generate new sales leads, as their usual levels of incoming leads had slowed down somewhat.

Others commented that it was getting tougher to get meetings, or to get new potential clients to take them seriously.

Another group commented that getting commitment from clients and closing them down was their biggest problem.

So I’m interested to know – what do you think the biggest sales problem is for most salespeople (or business owners that have to sell) right now?

Enter your comments by using the ‘leave a reply’ box at the bottom of the page….

Best Regards

Andy

PRESS RELEASE

Leeds Businesses Get Early Morning Wake Up Call From UK Sales Guru

Small business owners and sales people in Leeds were put through their paces by UK sales guru Andy Preston after his Sales Training Breakfast Club arrived in Leeds.

During the early morning training session which started at 7.30am at The Village Hotel, Leeds South, Andy Preston addressed business owners and sales professionals from local businesses including BMW, Auditel and TLC Business Supplies, on how to win more business from cold calling.

“In the current climate, the ability to win new customers or gain more appointments over the phone is vital. I felt that is was particularly important for local businesses in Leeds to get the results they deserve from their cold calling activities” explains Preston, Director at sales performance company Outstanding Results.

Feedback From Attendees….

The event provided food for thought for many in attendance with Andy Ryalls from BMW commenting, “Andy has totally changed my mindset about the ‘worst’ part of my job’, and Jo Elsy from TLC Business Supplies said the session left her feeling ‘very positive’. Preston believes that it is critical to help boost the morale of small business owners and equip them with the skills they need to thrive, despite the downturn.

“We all know that small businesses are helping to keep the economy going yet most have little or no budget available to dedicate to sales training, but need to be good at selling to stay in businesses! The bitesize training given at the Sales Training Breakfast is perfect for busy business owners and sales people and is proving extremely popular both in the UK and abroad,” adds Preston.

The Sales Training Breakfast Club is hosted in a number of locations including London, Manchester and Dubai and is designed to help small business owners, consultants and salespeople get more sales and more customers every month. Launched in early 2008 by Preston, The Sales Training Breakfast Club was created specifically to help give businesses across the country access to quality sales training at a price they can afford.

Further Events….

The next Leeds Sales Training Breakfast will be held on 4th AUgust 2009 at the VIllage Hotel, Leeds South at 7.30am. For more details or to book a place, call Andy Preston on 0845 130 6779, or visit http://www.salestrainingbreakfastclub.com/salestrainingleeds.html

The other Sales Breakfast events can be seen here – http://www.salestrainingbreakfastclub.com

Places are in high demand so early booking is recommended.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains why you’re not currently getting the results from your cold calling that you could be…..and what you can do about it to get the results you deserve……..

Please note: This is the second part of a 2-part article. To read the first part, go here now.

Whenever I’m talking to business owners or their sales teams, the topic of new business development and cold calling in particular always evokes interesting reactions.

Cold calling is one of those topics that everyone has an opinion on – even those that don’t do it! And the salespeople and business owners that do it normally fall into one of the camps – love it, loathe it, or tolerate it!

However, no matter which of those camps you or your team fall into, most people don’t get the results that they want from cold calling, so below are some reasons why that is the case, and also some ideas on what to do about it!

So why isn’t your cold calling working as well as it could be?…..

Reason No 5 – Wrong Attitude

I always find it interesting how many people start a cold calling session that are defeated before they even start! These people can always find an excuse for not doing the calls ‘oh I haven’t got the time’, ‘I’ve just got to ring a few existing customers first’ and ‘I just need to tidy my desk for the 17th time this week!’

And when they actually have to make some calls, they are convinced that decision makers don’t want to speak to them, that no one will buy because of ‘the recession’, that cold calling is a pointless activity and won’t work, etc etc.

What kind of impact does this sort of thinking have on the potential results of their cold calling sessions do you think? Might it be affected in a negative way? Of course!

Then, when it comes to handling objections, the same negative attitude and mindset affects them here as well. Let’s take the example above, where the salesperson has ‘decided’ that no-one is buying because of the recession.

What do you think will happen to that salesperson’s attitude the minute that the person they’re talking to says something like ‘we don’t have a budget’ ‘or we’re cutting back at the moment’? That’s right, they’ll say to themselves ‘see I knew it, no-one’s got any money at the moment because of the recession, maybe I should get out of sales and get another job?’

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? But it’s happening a lot more than you’d think. What happening to trying to handle that objection, position back the value and re-close for the business? Didn’t even show up! All because the salesperson had the wrong attitude and had already ‘decided’ that the person wasn’t going to buy – and the first piece of ‘evidence’ that seemingly confirmed their suspicions, they gave up….

Reason No 6 – Lack Of Pride

I’m often astounded when I meet salespeople (and business owners who have to ‘sell’ as part of their role) that don’t appear to be proud of what they’re doing. Instead of being proud of themselves, their role, their company and their products and services, far too many salespeople sound like they’re almost ashamed instead!

Think about when you’ve ever received a call from someone trying to sell to you. If the person has sounded weak, uncertain and has started to apologise for the fact that they’re even calling you, what kind of impact has that had on your perception of this person, their company, and their products and services? My guess would be that it wouldn’t be particularly favourable!

I’ve even heard some salespeople say things like ‘oh I’m sorry to bother you’, or ‘sorry if this sounds like a sales call but…’ It IS a sales call! Be proud of the fact! Be proud of the fact you’re in sales, your company and your products and services, instead of apologising for them!

God knows what the potential customers think of the salespeople who apologise! Do those salespeople think the client’s going to say something like ‘there, there, it’s okay. I don’t mind this sales call. It’s okay, please go ahead and pitch me….?!!’

Sales is a difficult job to start with. Cold calling is even tougher. Why on earth would you want to make your job even more difficult by trotting out this kind of rubbish?!!

Reason No 7 – Lack Of Activity

Now I know some of you are going to complain about this one (those would be the sales whingers ;-)) But seriously – lack of new business activity is one of the biggest reasons salespeople don’t hit their turnover or profit targets.

And before any of you start banging on about ‘oh but Andy I want to make quality calls, not quantity’, let me explain further. I don’t mean that I want you to make lots of random calls with no direction, no quality and no value. What I mean is that I want you to make quality calls, I just want you to make more of them!

Let’s face it – no matter how poor (or how good) your sales skills are, based on your existing conversion rates if you make 10% more calls, you’re going to get to speak to 10% more decision makers, make 10% more meetings, 10% more proposals, and therefore 10% more business! Just from a 10% increase in activity alone!

Now if you were to read the rest of this article (and the first part) and work on your sales skills, you can increase your sales figures even higher…..and some of you could also increase your activity by more than 10% of course 😉

And this also comes back to ‘reason one’ that I mentioned in the first part of this article – that mentioned ‘preparation’. If you haven’t planned to do a cold calling session uninterrupted, how on earth can you expect to get in the ‘zone’ as athletes call it – ready, focused, motivated and call after call continuing with the same energy and enthusiasm that’s needed to help persuade people over the phone?

Reason No 8 – Lack Of (Or ‘Rusty’) Sales Skills

This is a topic that people are becoming more and more aware of in the current market. There is a general lack of sales skills, but especially so in the ‘new business’ and ‘cold calling’ arenas.

For far too long, cold calling has been viewed by some people as a ‘necessary evil’, something that ‘junior’ salespeople do, and generally looked on as something that people with a year or more of sales experience don’t have to do anymore. They’re wrong.

Cold calling and new business generation is something that every salesperson should do, regardless of age, seniority or experience. It helps to keep you ‘sharp’, being able to deal with the tougher objections (so when they come up from existing clients, you can deal with them easily) and helps you to fill your sales pipeline.

For some salespeople however, they’ve never developed those skills, possibly because they’ve been in more of an account management or ‘incoming’ sales role. It might also be that they haven’t had to cold call for a while and their skill are ‘rusty’ at best.

To be successful at cold calling and new business generation, you need to have a good level of skill at call openings, getting past gatekeepers, questioning, objection handling and closing at the very least! How do you currently rate yourself or your team in those areas? And when would be a good time to do something about it?!!

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..