Although I continue to feel nervous, I have a though to hang on to when the situation does arise, and I will remember the expectations I have to set when I make these calls. Thanks, Jan.

I have been gathering a group of 16 sales professionals together to do a blitz twice a month for the last 8 months (Quick math says that’s 256 employee days). What I’m looking for is some sort of system or tool that will allow me to measure and track the effectiveness of these blitzes.

I want to ensure a couple of things:

1. When my Sales team arrives for the blitz they are maximizing their use of time in prospecting.

2. After they have gathered the blitz information there is a good, diligent follow-up.

3. We are able to measure how successful each blitz has been in the short and long term in order to continuously improve our methods.

Any ideas for the last part?

I think it starts with what’s in their heads. People often expect to get from “complete stranger” to “most valued vendor” in one call. And when that doesn’t happen, they get all flustered, lose motivation and suffer from call reluctance. I think it’s a bit of a self inflicted wound.

Look at it this way. You have 40 hours a week to achieve your income goals. The last thing you need is appointments with people that don’t have a business fit with the product you sell, are not in the market, don’t have any money, don’t have a problem you can solve or simply don’t want to talk to you – yes, there are people like that as well.

So why should the outcome of a cold call always be an appointment and why would that even be desirable? Finding out that the prospect doesn’t have a significant problem is just as good as far as I am concerned. Wouldn’t it make more sense to look at cold calling as a way to investigate if a prospect is even remotely worth pursuing?

That’s how I would approach the cold call as well. You’re not looking for an appointment. You’re not looking to sell. You’re looking for a brief conversation during which you can get to know them, they get to know you – and if that leads to an appointment, great. If not, that’s more than OK as well.

“I am X with company XYZ – I am not calling you for an appointment but we have done some business in your industry in the past. I am calling you to see if you’re interested in a very brief phone conversation between you and I – during which you can get to know me and perhaps some new developments in the industry and I have a chance to learn about you and your business. If we both decide at the end that this should lead to an appointment, great – if not, that’s perfectly fine with me”.

See where that takes you.

especially corporate accounts, are more likely to turn sales people down

even in a very rude way. In this case, therefore, sales team must be

well-prepared psychologically.

I’m a DOS of a 5-start pre-opening hotel in Beijing, China. And I’m running a sales team conprised of many green sales staff. From your experience,

what suggestions would you like to offer me to help those young guys

successfully overcome their psychological obstacles, fear, and shyness.

And what should I do ,in a more effective way, to spur up their courage to

push open a door and face strangers.

Thank you

Figure out where non sales related tasks can be reassigned or minimized and keep the team focused on generating leads and closing business.

Measuring their performance of these tasks in the most efficient and automated way should always be a priority.

So, while I feel your pain – the thing to do is to limit their responsibility for and involvement in “non-business generating” work. If you cut lead generation activities to save time, you’ll shoot yourself in the foot.

Let’s say every person makes calls at least has a cell phone. What if each participant sent a text message in with brief details about each call? Something like the company name, the lead quality (hot, good, fair), and the contact name to begin with. Then that person brings in whatever backup info they have, along with the business card.

The text message could state: “abc corporation, hot lead, met with judy jones re: full service, contract ends next month!”