Cold calling thoughts

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Sandy O’Dell gets it right, I think, on four out of five points in an article on cold calling by phone (requires free registration). I won’t steal her content by listing the top five, but I will mention the subtle one I disagree with: Don’t Leave Voicemail Messages…Unless You Absolutely Have To.

It has worked enough for me and my sales professionals in my business-to-business selling career that it’s an automatic in my routine. A compelling message left with a true decision-maker gets a return call, in my experience, approximately 10% of the time. That’s a bad average if you’re a major league baseball player needing hits. But if you’re making 200 dials every week to set appointments, and you’re leaving 40-50 messages, that’s four to five return calls. That’s four to five people taking time out of their schedules to call you back, knowing you’re a sales rep.

The key is in whom you call, and what you say. More to follow…