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Ever read “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson, MD? Well, the cheese has been moved when it comes to cold calling.

The biggest challenges faced by sales professionals today are getting past voice mail and getting calls returned, according to a survey by Teleconcepts Consulting.

Things Aren’t Going To Improve
These issues have always represented a roadblock when prospecting. I’m afraid the phone is going to continue its decline in its potency as a stand-alone prospecting tool.

There are numerous current studies on the effectiveness of prospecting by phone. Most of them indicate a one-percent close rate. For every 100 calls made, only one of the contacts turns into a customer. Mileage may vary depending on industry, but it will be poor.

Negative ROI (Return On Investment)
I was watching a video by Jeffrey Gitomer recently and he made an outstanding observation about the one-percent close ratio when cold calling by phone and using no additional resources or tools.

It has a negative ROI.

The substantial investment in time calling the other 99 prospects – who don’t buy from us – causes us to lose ground because we could be using that time doing something productive.

Beyond The Phone
There are resources available to us today that allow us to: 1) be better prepared before attempting to contact a prospect, and 2) “pull” prospects to us.

1) Be Prepared
Many salespeople call prospects with little knowledge about the company or person they’re calling. In 2010 this is completely unacceptable to prospective customers. They expect us to know something about their company or they will simply not engage us.

Prospects don’t want to hear about our company; they want to know that we are knowledgeable about them. Knowing something about their company elevates their perception of us.

It’s simple and fast to reference Jigsaw, NetProspex, LinkedIn, Ryze, Plaxo, Xing, etc. on the web.

2) Pull-Prospecting
Instead of beating the phone to death (which we know doesn’t work so well anymore), why not have prospects come to us? Your competitors are doing this. It’s time for you to start too.

Your primary objective in the activities below is to become a noted authority in your industry. Someone that people go to when they have a need. To become referable.

• Beginners in pull-prospecting will join LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to establish a presence. They will join groups and pages aligned with their industry on LinkedIn and Facebook and participate in discussions.
• Intermediates in pull-prospecting can write short articles specific to their industry and distribute them to prospects and customers. They can also guest post on blogs relevant to their industry.
• Advanced pull-prospectors will start a blog. See blogger.com.

The New Realities
Many of us grew up using The Yellow Pages and a phone to prospect. It’s all we had.

We now have many more resources available, thanks to the Internet. Because of the plethora of information on the web, we can know more about prospects before we initiate contact. We have to know more. It’s a new rule of engagement.

The Internet also gives us an opportunity to gain credibility in our field and become referable – to pull prospects to us.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer
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By Scott R. Sheaffer,
“Comatose Management”
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Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
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Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
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I read a number of other sales tips blogs – and their authors read this one as well. I never editorialize about any of their posts, but today is different.

I read a sales tips post recently from a fairly well known sales blog that made me realize many in the sales profession continue to be frozen in time. Even sales writers and trainers.

Change is difficult for everyone, but sales professionals, sales management, sales trainers and sales writers need to promote the realities of selling in 2010.

Why I’m On My Soapbox
The author of that sales tips post included a list of recommended reading for sales professionals. The suggested materials are written by well-respected authors. The problem is that these resources were written in the 70’s and 80’s.

Extremely relevant 20 to 30 years ago. But not today.

Caveat Emptor
Think carefully before consuming and digesting any sales training materials produced before 2008. Many game changers in the sales profession were below the radar prior to that date:

1. LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. These social media tools are fundamentally changing how we find and communicate with prospects and customers. Pure “smile and dial” calling from massive lead lists is dead.

2. Ecommerce. Your employer’s ecommerce website has affected how you sell. Your prospects and customers demand the ability to find information about your products and buy them over the web if they wish. As a result, the dance between direct sales and ecommerce has to be resolved in every company. Who controls the customer? How do we pay salespeople on ecommerce sales?

3. CRM (Customer Relationship Management). I’m not a big proponent of these tools primarily because of poor design and the implementations are even worse. However, these tools are getting better and companies are becoming more proficient at using them. The concept is too good to go away. It is quickly becoming a part of all medium to large sales organizations.

A Challenge
It’s obvious our profession has changed substantially in the last two to three years. As human beings, we are hard-wired to resist change. We want to fall back on what we know and are comfortable with.

But it always costs us money when we are mentally lazy as sales professionals.

My challenge to you is to discard the training manuals, books, CD’s and cassettes (I know you have some) that predate 2008. Get out of your comfort zone and immerse yourself (and your sales team) in new materials that represent the selling realities of 2010.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer
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By Scott R. Sheaffer,
“Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
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I’m frequently asked to recommend a “motivational speaker.”

Old-school motivational speakers are the dinosaurs of sales training. Their sales tips represent nothing more than countless takeoffs from the book “The Power of Positive Thinking”  by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. This book was written in 1952 and was not endorsed by the mental health community at the time. Still isn’t.

We’ve all heard the famous speakers this book has spawned. They can be moving. They can inspire. I’ve even allowed myself to get a little misty-eyed once or twice.

However, motivational speakers are grossly out of sync with the needs of today’s sales professionals.

Tony Robbins’ Story
Tony Robbins. You know, the nine-foot giant with the piano keyboard smile. The guy that made walking on fire in your bare feet something akin to being Superman.

He is the definition of a motivational speaker.

The walking on fire thing demonstrates the superficiality of his kind of “training.” Everyone can walk on fire. We don’t need Tony Robbins to help us do it. And how does this change our lives in a meaningful way?

This is one of the reasons the viewing public made the decision not to tune into Tony Robbins’ recent new reality show. Two episodes and NBC yanked the plug. People are a little more knowledgeable than they were in the 70’s and 80’s.

Most of us understand that the inspirational antics of Tony Robbins don’t help us perform better in our jobs and in our lives.

Sales Tips That Make A Real Difference
Sales training based on research and experience will keep your sales skills sharp. You’re not looking for a feeling; you’re looking for results.

Fortunately, current sales training is moving in the direction of measurable outcomes. In other words, does this sales training improve the long-term results of the people who took it?

Don’t waste your resources on trainers whose content is purely motivational. Their message has a half-life of about 30 minutes.

Conclusion
Tony Robbins’ two-episode reality show tells me that most people share my opinion about the value of walking on fire. None.

Personally, I’m pleased that motivational speakers are on the endangered species list.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

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