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• Cold Call Strategy - It’s a Winning Investment by Jerry Hocutt
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Cold Call Strategy - It’s a Winning Investment
by Jerry Hocutt

Would you be excited if your competitor called and offered to give you his list of customers because he’s going out of business?

Then what if, when you got off the phone, you got a call from five other competitors and they each told you they’re cutting back on 50% of their customers over the next five years and “Would you like to have their names?” Are you beside yourself in joy?

Is such a thing possible? Believe it. It’s happening under your nose every day. That is, it’s all happening except the part where they’re calling you to give up the names of their customers.

Because customers are loyal to their salesperson, their loyalty leaves the company once she walks out the door. In essence, when she leaves she’s gone out of business leaving behind a list of customers who, given the proper motivation, will change vendors. And if each competitor goes through several salespeople each year, well, you do the math.

Add to that the published Bain & Co. study in the Harvard Business Review that showed U.S. companies lose 50% of their customers every five years and you’ve got the making of a perfect storm for finding new customers. Only one final element is missing: you.

How do you get their list of customers?

Cold call. What? You really think they’re going to call and hand them over?

But, here’s the problem with cold calling. The fear of rejection. That’s the #1 reason salespeople don’t cold call. On the flip side, cold calling is the #1 activity sales managers want their salespeople to take to fill the pipeline with new customers.

Can’t we all get along?

What if you, as the sales manager or owner of your company, could devise a strategy to remove the fear of rejection from the salespeople’s minds so they can make their calls?

Try this. Set aside one day a month for your salespeople to work the phones and cold call prospects outside of their territory. The purpose of the calls is not to get a sale. (It’s the pressure of finding new business that causes the fear of rejection.)

The reason for the calls is to (a) gather names of prospects in your territory, and (b) get the names of who they’re doing business with. You’re on a name collection binge.

Change is in the wind

When you get wind of change at your competitors, you’ll have a list of their customers and you’ll be in the door before your other competitors can get their windbreakers zipped.

Look at what you’ve accomplished by calling to identify prospects and their vendors. First, you’ve created a list of real prospects that have real money and really buy what you sell. (And admit it. You don’t have a list of every prospect in your territory now. Customers, sí. Prospects, no.)

Second, you know who your prospects are doing business with. You can start building relationships with those people and position yourself for change. You’ll rapidly move up in the pecking order to be the first vendor they’ll talk with when the new winds blow.

Why call outside your territory?

By having the salespeople call outside their territory, they remove the fear of rejection. Even if the prospect is ready to buy now, the salesperson has to turn the lead over to the salesperson whose territory that is. If the prospect isn’t interested, “Hey, no skin off my nose. I couldn’t have sold him even if I wanted to.”

At the end of the day reward your salespeople with a nice dinner at the restaurant of their choice. Give prizes (cash and trips are always welcomed) to the top three salespeople who collect the most names.

No fear of rejection. The pipeline is filled. And you’ve created a better lead list than you could buy.

Now do something with your new found assets

Distribute your new list of names to the salespeople in those territories and have them go to work. Do their research. Find the names of the decision-makers. Discover why they’re doing business with their competitors. Determine what your company can offer that the competitors can’t.

Have your salespeople keep their ears to the ground. Stay on top of the competition. What are competitors doing to lose their accounts? Did the customer’s favorite salesperson leave? Does the competitor have a reputation for billing problems? Do their service people treat their customers as hostiles? Are they slow in delivering their product or service?

Does it work? You know…collecting names of prospects and their vendors? It does if you keep in touch and grow the relationship. I’ve done it successfully for over 30 years. To me, collecting names and keeping in touch is like an investment. They’ll eventually mature and pay off with interest.

About The Author:

Jerry Hocutt is the author of Cold Calling for Cowards: How to Turn the Fear of Rejection into Opportunities, Sales, and Money. Get an autographed copy at his website, www.ColdCallingForCowards.com.

Attend Jerry’s FREE 60-minute Cold Calling for Cowards® webinar August 23, 2007. Get customers to call you! Register at his website www.ColdCallingForCowards.com and see 14 reasons why you should be there. Registration is limited. Reserve your place before your competitor beats you to it!

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