Last week, Doug posted:

Rick, I was debating with a fellow networker today the pluses and minuses of networking to get referral leads vs. cold calling to get leads.

Networking takes a significant amount of time, and since you need to give to your network and spend time developing it, it could take months before you get a decent referral. Once you start getting them, they are of good quality referrals with a much higher hit rate.

With cold-calling it’s all a numbers game. How many cold-calls do I need to make to get a certain number of appointments to get a certain number of customers. While not glamorous if you work the system right it seems much more predictable.

The question is, can you really compare one to the other and decide which is best for your business? I tend to shy away from cold-calling because it’s not my strong suit, but how do I know that it might not be a better process when you look at the total amount of time spent cold-calling vs. the time spent over months to build your network.

I know the theory is that my network will grow exponentially and eventually will require less time for the amount of quality referrals it brings, but how do you really know?

Any hints?

Yes, but not anything that you want to hear. Make cold calls. Don’t stop networking. Don’t stop doing anything else. Do trade shows (from both directions). Do a blog. Do advertise and market. Do everything, but do everything to support your cold calling effort. Here’s why.

You can’t control whether there’s a networking event, trade show, or some other opportunity tomorrow, but if your plan says to make 20 calls between 9 and 11 tomorrow morning, you have absolute control over that whether or not it happens. I’ve made my calls from my office (Surprise!), my deck, the beach, my car, a coffee shop. If I’m committed, it happens.

You can stay focused. When you’re networking, it’s a two way street. They’re networking with you, too. So, you have to politely listen to their drivel before you can start telling them how awesome you are. (You know that’s not in my head, but don’t be surprised if you ever run into it in others.) When you’re making cold calls, it’s all about you. True, they may be trying to get you off the phone, but it’s different and planned for. You might find yourself actually getting interested in someone’s drivel at an event, and you forget what you’re there for.

I have an associate, Mike Eagan, who is very wise. One day, in his wisdom, he realized that “Successful people regularly do the things that they don’t like to do.” A lot of people prefer to network. Wine, cheese, chicken fingers, nice hotel or restaurant. You get none of that when you cold call.

When I started my collection agency, twenty years ago, I did no advertising and little networking. I went to little league, soccer, and basketball games and practices with my sons at night. I went to parent/teacher meetings, concerts, and plays. I was busy not networking, so I had to do something else. My plan was to make 30 cold calls starting at 9 every morning. 30. Not 29. Not however many I could make between 9 and noon. 30. Monday through Friday. Usually I was done by noon, but sometimes I was still calling at 2. I didn’t make appointments for mornings. If a prospect (or my dentist or anybody else) asked me for a morning meeting, I booked it three months out. If they were serious and needed me sooner, they’d find afternoon availability. I called every business in Holden. Then I called every business in Rutland, then Paxton, then Princeton, then West Boylston, then Sterling. Then I started calling businesses in Worcester, but I never finished. Here’s what happened. I know this is hard to believe, but my cold calling actually worked and I got clients. I was actually spending afternoons being billable. Go figure! I was also actually satisfying my clients, so I was getting a fair amount of referrals. Eventually I got to the point that I was getting enough referrals to reach my growth goals without cold calling and without networking. So I weaned myself from cold calls. Now, the only time that I make cold calls is when somebody asks, “Can you show me how to make a cold call?” and they pay me a ton of money. With all the humility and modest that I can muster, I’ll tell you that they are always impressed; it’s always worth the money to them; and I always have fun. Now, how come it worked for me?
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> I was one of Dave Kurlan’s first clients. I signed up when I was 32. I had been to engineering school and had my business degree. I was making money, but realized that I didn’t know it all. I became an avid student. I went to extra classes. I practiced. I asked questions. I got coaching. I hung out with and watched the best. No matter what anybody tells you, you cannot learn it alone. You need to read it, be shown it, have it explained to you, practice it, do it, have somebody watch you do it, have somebody tweak it, until it works. So, if you’d rather do anything, than make cold calls, you’re normal! Don’t sweat it! Call Mike Eagan, TODAY! Tell him you read my blog and you’re ready to be evaluated. Don’t be surprised if he says something like, “I’ll be the judge of that.”. Just suck it up and do what he says.

#1 rule………..Have fun!

Laura asked: Hi Rick, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on creating and maintaining control of the entire sales process.   Laura

Doug replied: Laura (and others), That’s an interesting one. I just finished reading an e-book on Socratic Selling. They say that the salesperson shouldn’t control the sales call. That the client should. The salesperson’s job is to ask questions to lead the prospect to the need. But you have to listen to the prospect so find out their pains and let them control the basic call. I like to socratic part. Asking questions. But I’m not sure about letting the propect control the call. Maybe we just let them think they are in control?    Doug

Dave Kurlan replied: Laura and Doug, Control is a two-way street.  Socratic Selling is a complicated questioning process.  Having the prospect control the process is akin to having the passengers fly the plane. You can control the process with your questions but the questioning process must be simple and actionable.  You can easily learn to do that by reading Baseline Selling.  Go to www.baselineselling.com for more information.     Dave Kurlan

OK. What do I think? I think that the person asking the questions is in control. The person asking good questions is not only in control, but is asking them in such a way that the prospect feels as though they are in control. However, the person asking great questions is not only in control and allowing the prospect to feel as though they are in control, but the entire process is moving the prospect toward an acceptable decision.

I know that’s not the specific answer that Laura was looking for. She was hoping for “the trick” that always works. Sorry, but tricks don’t work. People don’t like to be tricked. Start by understanding that salesperson is in control from moment #1. The salesperson can dial the phone, walk in, open the store, stand in a booth at a trade show, or intentionally put himself in front of a prospect. They can maintain control by asking a question that the prospect wishes to answer and does. They can ask a question that a prospect feels “forced” to answer, but doesn’t want to. Or, they can blurt out some statement so the prospect can say, “Just looking.”, “Not interested.”, or some other response that indicates that the salesperson should leave them alone. It starts there.

Whether you are an expert in law, accountancy, marketing , IT, web design, graphic design, carpentry, plumbing, HR services, or any other area, your prospect doesn’t need to know everything that you know. How do you know what they do need to know? Ask good questions, that keep the prospect interested and engaged and naturally lead to an acceptable decision, while at the same time won’t cause the opposition to voice an objection like, “Leading the witness!” or, “Irrelevant!” or, “Argumentative!”. (Too many lawyer shows.) Any of those objections will cause a prospect to feel that you are trying to take control away from them and they will resist and you will be at their mercy.

In short, there is no short answer. Your style will eventually be combination of other peoples’ styles. So, look at various styles. Watch the practitioners. Determine which styles work. I, personally, have read many books including both of Dave Kurlan’s. I’ve attended hundreds of training sessions by dozens of trainers. I’ve had several coaches work with me. I practice, practice, practice. When you’re as committed to yourself as I was to me, you’ll take control and do the same.

We all know about selling to emotions rather than intellect, but check this out.

http://www.emergencemarketing.com/archives/2006/05/appealing_to_a_buyers_pri.php

As you can probably tell, I have an opinion on almost everything related to sales. To date, I’ve been blogging about stuff that I see salespeople do that bugs me or stuff that I see that I really like. Kudos again to Corridor Nine for an awesome event. Thanks, while I’m at it to Pete, Dave, and Doug for their support, suggestions and help. Thanks to you for reading, commenting and voting.

OK, what do you want to read? Do you want me to blog about the cost of an bad salesperson vs. the cost of sales training? Do you want me to blog about takers? You know, the referral people who take but never give? Do you want me to blog about salespeople who don’t follow through? Do you want me to blog about being in control of the whole process? I’m not talking about the sales process, how about people who are always late? always disorganized? always getting ready? always have excellent excuses?

Something else?

Use the comment option to suggest a blog topic. Start it off with, “Rick, what do you think about ……..?” or, “Rick, I’m having this issue. Any suggestions?” or, “Rick, settle an argument. My friend says… and I say … Who’s right?”

It might be fun.

A few weeks ago, I bought a Cadillac. Nice car! Every bell and whistle! I’m very happy. On Easter Sunday, I went to our family gathering and my mother told me that my father was probably happy now that one of his sons finally got a Cadillac. Finally, after 54 years, I have my father’s approval.

Tonight, as I often do, I called my mother as I was driving home from work. She caught me up on her weekend, said that she was tired, talked about an upcoming wedding, Mothers’ Day, and her new computer. This led her to saying that she had read my blog. She told me that she didn’t realize that I used such showy words, like my father. She also said that she didn’t realize that my father was such a good speaker until she went to a meeting where he gave a talk. Less than a month after I bought a Cadillac and earned my father’s approval, my mother is comparing me to my father in a good way. Cool! I’m ready, Lord. Take me now!

Then she says, “… but you made a mistake. You used ‘there’ when you should have used ‘their’.” Thanks, Mom.

(At least she didn’t comment with the correction. “Ricky,…….there……their…..”)

OK, everything above is true and the end was a bit of a tease, but I really do want to thank my parents for giving me a good record collection. So many people grow up with: “Don’t talk to strangers.”, “Don’t make waves.”, “Be satisfied with what you have.” I grew up with, “We expect great things.”, “You can do anything. Anything!”, “Don’t worry about them, march to your own drummer.”

I remember being in elementary school and having all of my friends berating me because I said that Frank Sinatra was a better singer than the Beatles. My wife saw the Beatles “live” twice. She wishes she saw Frank “live” once. My wife might agree with me now, and even my friends might agree with me now, but let me tell you that it was pretty difficult being “different” in elementary school. I owe that strength to my parents.

OK, so is this just about how awesome my parents were, or is there some kind of lesson here? Here’s the lesson. We all have records in our head that were put there during childhood for our own protection. Two things: First, our parents had to put them there. It was their job. Second, we can’t stop them from playing. They’re automatic. Look both ways before you cross the street. Chew your food before swallowing. Use the bathroom before you go on a long trip. All very important. Also important are: Don’t talk to strangers. Not now! It’s not polite to talk about money. When I say “No”, I mean “No.” These can be killers when you’re trying to sell and there are hundreds of records and you can’t stop any of them from playing. Sometimes I pay attention to the records that my parents gave me. Sometimes I don’t. The trick is hearing the record and being able to say, “That doesn’t apply in this situation.”

If you don’t know what records are holding you back, a good place to start is to contact me and have yourself evaluated. If it turns out that you have a lot of work to do, don’t be upset, it just means that you had good parents who wanted you to be safe, secure and normal.

Thanks, Mom! Thanks, Dad! For making me the way that I am.