For any business to survive and thrive, selling is one of the activities that they must do well. And cold calling? Well, that’s normally a big part of selling. Selling involves identifying the right prospects for your product or service, calling on the ones most likely to listen and, ultimately, convincing them to buy. Sounds simple enough, I know, but how many of you can honestly say that you look forward to picking up the phone and cold-calling in an attempt to close a sale with someone you’ve never met before? I hate it with a passion!! And I’ll bet I’m not alone on that front.
For most salespeople, cold calling is one of the most dreaded tasks of the job. But of course, it’s a necessary evil. Cold calling is time-consuming, nerve wracking, and a tremendous waste of resources.
Imagine having a job that required you to plow through a list of 100 names a day. If you’re lucky, you might slog through and earn two or three promising leads–which can be very frustrating. But what if you could cut the number of calls you make, and spend time getting to know qualified prospects even before you pick up the phone? That would be pretty awesome, wouldn’t it?
How to Make Cold-Calling Not Suck [so much]
Cold calling doesn’t have to be a source of angst for business owners.
In fact, according to my very smart friend, Tom Martin, of Converse Digital, you should never call a stranger. In today’s world, your prospective customers leave digital clues all over the Internet. You just have to care enough, and know enough, to look for them. Tom says, “These digital footprints are the key to social reconnaissance and building Guerilla Insights into your target audience. When you understand how to find and then link these clues together, you can pretty much find out almost anything, about almost anyone.” And that, my friends? That’s the kind of work you can do up front that will definitely make cold calling exponentially less hateful. Not to mention produce better results.
Social Reconnaissance: The Key to Success With Cold-Calling
What is Social Reconnaissance? It may just be the most important first step you can take to sharpen your sales skills. And the reality is that if you’re not doing it, you’re probably wasting time, money, and a whole lot of effort.
You totally want to know more, don’t you? Well, Tom’s hosting a webinar on this topic (and it’s free). Even better? The webinar is just 18 minutes long. So there’s absolutely no reason for you not to register and send your best salespeople to attend. The Social Reconnaissaince webinar will be held on Wednesday, March 11th at 11:45 am CST. You can register now by clicking here.
It’s important to note that the webinar is limited to the first 100 attendees who register and show up on March 11th. So even if you register early but delay when it comes to showing up, you might not get a spot. And there won’t be a recorded version of this webinar for later viewing, so register, show up early, and invest 18 minutes in learning how to be more effective at cold calling.
It may just be the most beneficial 18 minutes you’ll spend. If you do attend, be sure and let me know what you think—I’d love to hear.
Photo Credit: pdpao via Compfight cc
Power Your Cold-Calling with Social Recon [Webinar] is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency
