{"id":724,"date":"2007-03-06T10:31:31","date_gmt":"2007-03-06T16:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/03\/cold-calling-numbers-game\/"},"modified":"2007-03-06T10:31:31","modified_gmt":"2007-03-06T16:31:31","slug":"cold-calling-numbers-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/03\/cold-calling-numbers-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Cold-Calling Numbers Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Is it me or is the saying &#8220;<em>it&#8217;s a numbers game<\/em>&#8221; an overly-simplistic statement regarding a grossly inefficient tactic?&nbsp; Weight lifting is a numbers game.&nbsp; Sales and marketing is not.&nbsp; Some instances where this statement is&nbsp;applied:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>cold-calling\n<li>networking\n<li>job searching\n<li>mailers\n<li>invitations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I&#8217;m sure there are other examples but those stand out in my mind.&nbsp; There is a modicum of truth to the statement.&nbsp; Yet, it lacks the strategic aspect needed in today&#8217;s market.&nbsp; This throw away line is often the dismissive final comment from a person whom lacks a formal strategy and\/or has reached the end of his or her tactical moves.<\/p>\n<p>What about adjusting the approach, shifting tactics or rethinking the entire task?&nbsp; These thoughts are viewed as over-analyzing a simple task.&nbsp; Cold-calling, for instance, does require a salesperson to make the calls (and many salespeople won&#8217;t).&nbsp; But lacking strategy and tactics on the call leads to a colossal waste of time.&nbsp; In that instance, it is not a numbers game.<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s information age requires salespeople who have the ability to speak at an informed level.&nbsp; The days of cold-calling a VP and asking, &#8220;What does your company do?&#8221; are gone.&nbsp; Salespeople need to have a cursory understanding of their prospect&#8217;s business and even to some extent, the challenges that company is facing in the market.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously the greatest cold-calling tactic will be pointless if the salesperson does not make the calls.&nbsp; However, there are certain aspects that a salesperson can use in his or her approach.&nbsp; Plan the call, have a toolbox to handle common situations and focus on the quality of the call before the quantity.<\/p>\n<p>As a sales manager, don&#8217;t use the throw away numbers line on your sales team.&nbsp; If you are struggling with the format of the call or coaching your team, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.selectmetrix.com\/Coaching_Sales.html\" target=\"_blank\">we can help<\/a>.&nbsp; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is it me or is the saying &#8220;it&#8217;s a numbers game&#8221; an overly-simplistic statement regarding a grossly inefficient tactic?&nbsp; Weight lifting is a numbers game.&nbsp; Sales and marketing is not.&nbsp; Some instances where this statement is&nbsp;applied: cold-calling networking job searching mailers invitations I&#8217;m sure there are other examples but those stand out in my mind.&nbsp; There is a modicum of truth to the statement.&nbsp; Yet, it lacks the strategic aspect needed in today&#8217;s market.&nbsp; This throw away line is often the dismissive final comment from a person whom lacks a formal strategy and\/or has reached the end of his or her tactical moves. What about adjusting the approach, shifting tactics&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/03\/cold-calling-numbers-game\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-sales-management","category-sales-techniques"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-bG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52194,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2019\/07\/1-important-change-to-prospecting\/","url_meta":{"origin":724,"position":0},"title":"1 Important Change To Prospecting","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/KnqadkJmQCI Has anything changed more in recent years than prospecting?\u00a0 Cold calling a business phone number to sell a potential prospect is a marginal task, at best, today.\u00a0 Email is a similar task with similar results.\u00a0 Salespeople who do their own prospecting need an advantage, a shift, in their approach.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Techniques&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/KnqadkJmQCI\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":742,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/03\/how-to-allay-sales-fears\/","url_meta":{"origin":724,"position":1},"title":"How To Allay Sales Fears","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"A quick note from a well-constructed sales ad I just read.\u00a0 The company is a medical device manufacturer and contained a strong sentence for attracting salespeople: A strong work ethic is required to meet sales quotas. You will be supported by solid marketing programs, support staff, and innovative products that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Employment Ads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Employment Ads","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/employment-ads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/windowslivewriterallayingsalesfears-6011overpiled-desk-thumb6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":936,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/05\/change-your-sales-language\/","url_meta":{"origin":724,"position":2},"title":"Change Your Sales Language","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"May 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We are all familiar with common sales terms like \"cold call,\" \"closing\" and \"overcoming objections.\"\u00a0 These terms are engrained in the common sales vernacular.\u00a0 But think of the implications of these mechanistic terms. SellingPower.com has a most interesting article titled Watch Your Language!\u00a0 Here's the hook: Who taught you to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":925,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/05\/an-ad-without-clarity\/","url_meta":{"origin":724,"position":3},"title":"An Ad Without Clarity","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"May 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"In reading through more sales ads this morning, I kicked up an example of an ad without clarity about the position. Here are the qualifications: -Hard working and dependable -Sales experience is necessary (____________ industry, preferred) -Must have no travel restrictions in covering assigned multi state territory -Must be computer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Employment Ads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Employment Ads","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/employment-ads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1847,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/01\/10-cold-calling-nuisances\/","url_meta":{"origin":724,"position":4},"title":"10 Cold Calling Nuisances","author":"Lee Fratzke","date":"January 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I hate to admit it, but I'm a fan of Jeff Foxworthy and his, \"You know you're a redneck if....\"\u00a0 Eyes on Sales has an article by Drew Stevens that puts a spin to Jeff's famous cliche, \u201cYou might be a cold calling nuisance if\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Drew has 10 quick tips\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1396,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/01\/cold-calls-or-connections\/","url_meta":{"origin":724,"position":5},"title":"Cold Calls Or Connections","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"January 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"We have been debating the merits of cold calling recently here at Select Metrix.\u00a0 My take is that it is an archaic approach that appears active but produces little.\u00a0 I don't recall the other argument since mine was so persuasive (that ought to get Lee going). Here is another take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Techniques&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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