No More Cold Calling is not just a banner or an enlightened sales person's statement of affirmation. It is an alternative to the old practice of pitching your products to totally unknown people through phone calls and letters. It claims to totally revamp the whole concept of the cold call as a way to introduce and maintain a business relationship.
No More Cold Calling is the trademarked series of seminars developed by Joanne Black, who heads her own company which promotes and trains companies on referral selling. She has over 30 years of experience in sales management, consulting, coaching and training.
The No More Cold Calling book and seminar series are recommended for business owners, entrepreneurs, sales leaders and sales people. Some of its clients have included KPMG, Charles Schwab, Advance Consulting, Spherion and M3iWorks.
The No More Cold Calling workshop aims to train sales people with alternative techniques to target customers who have an actual need for their products or services and avoid reliance on chance to make a sale. This totally random approach is eliminated by teaching sales persons new strategies and approaches.
The workshop trains sales people to direct their efforts on getting referrals to establish contact with qualified prospects. Establishing productive referrals is at the heart of this workshop, effectively eliminating the need to resort to cold calling as a means to expand your business.
The cold hard truth
Cold calling is a simple process: getting in touch with a total stranger and try to sell your business or product using a practiced or scripted sales pitch. It is the dynamics within the process that makes it more complex. In order for the cold call to be successful, it should establish contact with a person who has actual need for the product and who would actually make a purchase.
Years ago it was a simple matter: either they hung up or listened and interacted. But now, cold calling is more than just a person-to-person telephone conversation. Sales people can actually make cold calls via fax, direct mailing and even emails. The method may have been modified, but the purpose has remained the same: to market a product and close the sale.
With the large number of sales people using cold calls to conduct business, less than 5%, a very tiny percentage actually like it. So how come they still use this method? It's a force of habit, the boss insists on it, sales people before them have used it successfully, they actually get clients cold calling, it's a tried-and-tested means to promote sales, the list goes on.
Cold calling has its highs and some sales people have actually experienced some measure of success by using it, but today's sales force know it's a dying art and it is absolutely not the only method out there. In fact, it is one of the most ineffective ways to find the kind of customer that can give you a significant business.
The myth of cold calling
Some sales person feel stuck with cold calling as this seems the most practical way to promote a business. It is an old process that needs a total overhaul.
More than 85% of customers do not want to talk to cold callers and 90% can't even remember their interaction with sales people on the phone. This only shows that cold calling seldom works.
So how does No More Cold Calling Work?
The No More Cold Calling workshop involves two parts. The first part includes business positioning, creation of a customer profile, time control and increasing results. The workshop will train the business owner and sales person to recognize where their business stands versus their competitor through positioning. Positioning offers a better view of the business strengths and needs, its product's viability and its business practices compared to that of other companies in the same industry.
The workshop also includes business strategies and practices that include developing their unique customer profile, geared towards finding the right demographics for their products and targeting that group for a more focused and sustained sales effort. This develops a refined vision of the company's goals and better understanding of the products benefits vis-a-vis that of the existing competition.
The second part of the workshop trains sales people to build their referral network through a step-by-step process by creating strategies to initiate profitable contacts. The second part of the training focuses on developing a referral plan through specific and measurable action plans.
The workshop is a one-day session that can accommodate up to 25 participants. Bigger groups may also be trained by special arrangement. The No More Cold Calling series is also available in a self-study workbook and audio CDs.