Making 100 Calls is Pure Bologna

Sales gurus who give bad advice really make me mad. Because of their "guru status", they're often out of touch with what it takes to be successful in today's business environment.

So here's what got me ticked off this time. The other night I was catching up on my reading. Within 30 minutes, I encountered the exact same advice from "the ultimate success expert" who's also a "leading authority on human potential and personal effectiveness."

His name is irrelevant. His advice is dead wrong.

If you're trying to crack into corporate accounts: Do not use "The 100 Call Method." Let me repeat myself. Do not use "The 100 Call Method."

That's what this guru suggests you do if times are tough and sales are down. He says that when you make 100 face-to-face calls as fast as you can, "sales will start to pour in and your bank account will start to fill up."

That's a bunch of bologna! When you're selling to corporate decision makers, they won't meet with you if you haven't invested time learning about their business. That's the price of admission to big companies today. These buyers won't give you one second of their precious time if you haven't demonstrated that you're willing to invest in them first.

Making 100 quick calls can only lead to even greater discouragement since you are virtually guaranteed to fail.

GURU ALERT: Don't listen to sales gurus who have not worked in the business-to-business marketplace. Many of the current icons come from real estate, automotive, insurance or financial services sales. They've never sold to corporate accounts.

They don't know how difficult it is to find decision maker's names. They've never had to deal with voicemail, unreturned messages and customers who would rather stay with the status quo than make a change.

Yet they continue to spout advice as if they're an expert in business-to-business sales. Not only is their guidance fundamentally wrong, you'll actually lose or delay sales opportunities.

Unfortunately many unsuspecting "accidental" sellers believe that what they say is the gospel truth. It isn't.

Comments

[Ryan Hyde]

Jill,

I have your book and am striving to apply your techniques. Your advice today answered a question that has been bugging me for a while. I read all the sales books from the Gurus and listen to them on my iPod. However, some of the advice they give is not applicable to my situation.

This post was helped me relize that not only are they "the Gurus" human but their advice should not always be applied to our businesses.

Thanks for the great work you do.

[Steven Muncy]

"The Emperor has no clothes". Good catch. Good advise.

[Laura Ricci]

Jill,

Thanks for this post. I tire of re-educating folks who were touched by the "numbers are all that counts" gurus.

[christa]

Wow I can't imagine making fast sales pitches especially to CEO's, VP's and such. I mean they want ALL the information and facts before they make a decision!

[George E. Zorgo, Jr.]

HITTING THE WALL AT 100. "OOM!"

Jill,

Following the Gurus advice will only result in hitting the wall in a shorter time period and at a higher velocity.

Let's all have a mystical experience. Repeat after the Gurus . . . "OOM" . . . "OOM" . . . "OOM". Yes, I feel it coming, an "Out Of Mind" experience.

George

[Bill Gadless]

I've really found a balance of volume vs. targeted calling is the best bet. While certainly the CEO or VP is going to be most impressed with a call from someone who has done thorough research, how many of these thoroughly researched calls can a salesperson make a day? 3? 5? So, while 100 calls a day might be a joke ... making 40 with SOME knowledge of each company gets much more exposure more quickly....while not sounding completely in the dark about each company being called.

[Barry Welford]

I very much agree, Jill. In fact the ideal is where someone in the company contacts you to find out how you can help them. That didn't happen pre-Internet but now it's entirely possible if you're sufficiently visible in the right places on the Internet. At the very least, you may get on their radar screen so that if you do try to call them at an opportune moment (as determined by the research you've done on them), then they have a vague recollection they've heard your name from somewhere.

[Patrick Kilhoffer]

Jill,

This is a good example of people repeating specific advice that has worked for one person and assuming it will work for everyone. At the root of it is good advice: when sales are down, increase your sales and marketing activity. The problem comes when people try to give specific advice to a wide range of industries.

I would change that advice to "When times are tough, review what you have done in the past that worked and do a lot of it, very fast. If direct mail worked before, increase your direct mail budget. Whatever it is, do it. Just don't roll over and play dead when times are tough and wait for times to get better before you take action. Take action today. Take lots of action. Just make sure it's effective action.

If researching your prospects for an hour makes sense prior to making the first call in your industry, great. Do your research doing non-office hours so you can maximize your productivity during office hours. Do whatever works and do as much of it as you can, even if you have to tape your favorite television shows for a while.

[Tim Young]

Many people, such as the unnamed guru, focus too much on metrics, such as how many calls to make. Too few people focus on what's really important, which I believe is "what to say". In B2B complex selling, knowing what to say means:

1. do enough research to have a sense of who your customer is and what their need is,

2. listen to what they say and give no thought to your pitch while you're listening,

3. be situationally fluent so that you can have a valuable dialogue with them.

By situationally fluent, I just mean that you have to know everything about your offerings and how customers use your offerings, so that you can apply that knowledge to the conversation. Then, you're not following a script, but you and the customer are having a discussion. And that's where you want to be.

Tim Young
www.tycoleads.com

[Ron Forster]

Hello again Jill. It takes a lot of courage to reject the (brain-washing) ingrained attitude of all the cold call die-hards. They'll argue that cold calling is the only way to make contact with someone. The problem with cold calling is, "It doesn't work," in fact, I don't think it ever did, at least not consistantly or efficiently. The reasons are many as to why cold calling doesn't work. You talk about this and various leveraged marketing technologies in, "Selling To Big Companies," in fact, you personally use the methods mentioned in your book every day. Example: Cold calling couldn't possibly get your message out to the thousands of people you contact daily. Your book, "Selling To Big Companies," is a must read and apply. To help champion how you feel about cold calling, may I also recommend, "Cold Calling Is A Waste Of Time: Sales Success In The Information Age," by Frank Rumbauskas. www.nevercoldcall.com. And finally, thanks Jill for your book and newsletters, and please continue to keep us informed and truly inspired.

Ron

[Scot DeCristofaro]

Hello Jill-

You are 100% right...Never, ever, ever make 100 calls just to play the "percentage game". I must admit however if cold calling is done correctly, it can be the most productive sales tool for you and the prospects. Sales is not about "sell"; sales is about "Helping People Find a Solution". If you approach cold calling from this position, you may find the personal touch even more productive then emailing.

There is no magic answer to increasing sales, rather it is a combination of things, and a good professional coach, consultant, etc can make a huge difference in a sales organization if the correct advice is provided.

Happy Selling and keep up the good work Jill. You seem to have a lot of respect from your peers. My Best-Scot

[Mitch Bossart]

You go too far saying "cold-calling doesn't work."

I produced 36 new customers in 18 months--all beginning with a telephone call.

The problem I see with most cold-calling efforts is that people generally do not understand the purpose of what they are doing or how to manage the activity.

Effective pipeline management is a rarity in this industry, which all begins with the infamous cold call.

[miro forest]

I have found that experienced sales folks in theis business know their sales cycles and have found ways to resonate with them. In some cases the cycles are months and months with the quick hits being out of normal. Relentlessness over time with good solid research produces results every time.
miro

[chris blackman]

How true.

Cold calling doesn't work in my business - management consulting.

Warm calling, on the other hand, works quite well.

And referral works best. Instead of "Why should we use you?", the question becomes "Do you think you'd be able to help?", followed by "When can you start?"

Cold calling might work well for low-cost, low-involvement gizmos. I don't know, I've never sold those. I imagine if someone came to my door and offered me a product I magically needed at a price I was prepared to pay, then they'd get the order on the spot.

The rest of the time, nah! Cold calling is a lottery. Warm calling, list cultivation, referral, are all pipeline-building tools.

[Vernon Dye]

Jill,

After starting to integrate your value props into my lead activities, I'm approached by senior mgt about increasing appts between our CEO and prospects' CEO's for getting acquainted meetings. Can you comment? Or, point me to a link that speaks on this subject?