Never go in Without a Name

Cold calling as a prospecting activity is something that requires focused commitment and skill.  Effective cold calling requires abilities that go beyond the simple, numerically driven tasks of “banging on doors” or “dialing for dollars.”  There is an art form to cold calling that makes those activities effective and efficient. 

Around nine years ago, I participated in a two-day training program on cold calling.  The instructor was Dave Hibbard.  On the second afternoon of  our two-day training, our sales team took to the streets and put our newly developed skills to work.  We made cold calls.  We divided the geography around our training location into segments and banged on doors.  In one three hour “test”, our team:

• Got past the gatekeeper and met with someone over 80% of the time we “knocked on the door”
• We uncovered a business opportunity over 20% of those calls

Aside from the many unique techniques that are too much to detail in this blog, there was one crucial component that I never forgot about this experience.  Whenever you make a cold call, always know the name of the person you want to see.  If you do not have the name when you walk-up, the gatekeeper will tag you as a salesperson and you will likely not get through.  Part of the preparation or the organization required to make contact with your targeted audience is knowing who you want to talk to.  Do your research, ask around, and plan your activities and approach.  When you have a contact name, you have a more legitimate presence other than “cold calling.”  The chances of you speaking with your contact go up significantly.

To learn more about effective cold calling techniques, contact me: dave@salescooke.com