Warming Up the Cold Call
It’ s not unheard of to have a rep maintain that cold calls are, if not a thing of the past, certainly a practice not nearly as common as they used to be. Everything from the ability of potential customers to hide behind their voice and e‐mail and overly efficient gatekeepers have combined to make the traditional cold call more challenging than ever before.
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That’ s why the endorsement by one rep for this vestige of years ago— the time-honored cold call— was somewhat surprising. Over the course of a lengthy lunch a veteran rep salesman voiced his enthusiasm and dependence upon cold calls for drumming up new business— but with a few caveats.
“ I’ ve got to be honest in saying that naturally I depend upon my repeat customers and the existence of major projects for the majority of my income. However, whenever I find a gap between regular calls or have the need to fill a hole that’ s been caused by a cancellation, I jump at the chance to make contact with a potential customer I’ ve never seen before.”
Perhaps the first thing to keep in mind when considering the efficacy of making cold calls, according to the rep, is the cost of a sales call.“ Remember, the rep’ s time is his major commodity and he should be careful how he manages and spends his time. Keeping that in mind, however, if