Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It’s Only Common Sense: Cold Calling—There is No Short Cut!

I’ve been reading a number of business books about cold calling techniques lately in order to help my clients with their cold calling. Every single salesperson in every single company I work with really hates cold calling. They come up with all sorts of reasons why it doesn’t work. They complain that because of voice-mails and e-mails and all the other new electronic barriers, it has become virtually impossible to get through to a real live person.

They tell me that no one wants to see them anymore; people would rather find their suppliers on the Internet than talk to real people. They tell me that the buyers think they know everything about everything, including their products, so that they don’t need to see any sales people and heaven forbid they do not want to be “sold” on anything; they do not want to hear a sales pitch under any circumstances.

They tell me these things with a certain look in their eyes. A look that seems to be saying something like, “Please don’t make us go out there. Please just tell our boss that cold calling is dead and that there has to be another way.”

But of course, I cannot do that. Everything does begin with that call. Sales is all about making a call to someone you don’t know and asking him to do something he doesn’t want to do. That’s the business we are in and the life we have chosen.

There is hope. If you are a true student of your craft as all good salespeople should be, then you can get help…if you truly want it. You can study the art of cold calling and you can take courses. And there is no shortage of books about cold calling in this day and age. Do a search on Amazon and you’ll find enough to fill your trunk and the back seat of your car. I know, because I have read most of them over the years. Most of them are helpful, but there is one that stands out, which I refer to when I am faced with those sad faces of salespeople pleading with me to find an alternative to cold calling. 

That book is appropriately enough called, Cold Calling Techniques That Really Work, by Stephan Schiffman. This is the best book I have ever used for cold calling techniques and to help other people with their own cold calling challenges. Not surprisingly, the book’s seventh edition just came out. I have read a couple of the other editions in the past, but when I saw that a new one had just come out, I grabbed it and devoured it in one night.

One of the reasons that I like this book so much is because of its no-nonsense approach to cold calling. The author makes no bones about it; cold calling is a fact of life, and if you are going to be a salesperson you have to master the ability to successfully cold call. Schiffman takes the reader through 12 straightforward, concise chapters on becoming a better cold caller.

He even breaks it down to the exact number of calls you have to make to get an appointment and the number of appointments you need to get an order. He offers practical advice on “when to hold them and when to fold them” when it comes to chasing a customer. He claims that if you have had three appointments with a buyer and there is still no inkling of a sale, then get out; it is never going to happen.

In fact, one entire chapter is devoted to how to get by the gatekeeper and then how to leave a voice-mail that will get you a returned phone call!

This book takes you through the entire process, from cold call to order, in a number of well-directed steps. But I warn you, there is no silver bullet here. There is no magic formula. Rather, the book is filled with common sense tactics on how to get in front of potential customers and how to make the sale once you get in front of them. Tips from how to make sure you are talking to the right person to how to get that second appointment are all included in this little 158-page handbook.

But please, heed this advice: No matter what book you read, whether you read this one or not, the important thing to remember is that in the end, the salesperson is the one who makes it happen. You can read all the sales books in the world, and attend all of the seminars and webinars that money can buy; in the end, it’s the person in the mirror who has to have the ambition, the passion and the diligence to make it happen.

It all starts with you. It’s only common sense.