Do you think I was born yesterday?

As a sales performance strategist, trainer and coach I get plenty of real life sales related research done every single day. This is because I am also a business owner and as a result I'm bombarded with cold calls from people trying to sell me a myriad of goods and services. Quite frankly the standard is appalling which makes me sad for the profession of selling but happy that I know there is plenty of work for me out there!

In the 'connected world' where we can find out pretty much everything about anything via the web and get the answers in seconds, why are salespeople still asking me "Could I ask what your business does?" I have a word for sales people that do this and it's "stupid", well that's the polite version!

When a salesperson calls me and I'm at my desk, the first thing I do once I have their name is look them up on LinkedIn. Most times I have to ask them their surname as 80% of sales callers only use their first name! Which idiot decided that was a good idea? 

While they are giving me their sales pitch I am reading their profile and guess what? The messages I am hearing from their mouths are different to what it says on their profile. I hear things like "I work in partnership with my clients" but on their profile I see "Quota driven closer and top sales performer". I hear "I build long term relationships with my customers" but I can see they have been with three different companies in the past 18 months! They tell me they have a professional approach but their profile picture is a 'selfie' taken at a boozy sales conference after party!

Cut the bulls#it clichés people, you are trying to build trust. Get to the point, please talk like a normal human, not a hysterical teenager on helium. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is a true reflection of what you do for your customers and not just a list of your sales awards.

If you cold call me and you are 'good' I will tell you so, even though I may not need what you are selling. If you call me and you are terrible I will ask you for the name of your sales manager as that is what I like to call 'a hot lead'.

If you wan't to learn to make really effective cold calls, ones that you would be happy to receive yourself, then contact me to talk about telesales training options or take a look at the public course SlideShare.

Thank you for reading.

If you liked this blog please click the button and also share with your social media networks. Please also add comments (I love feedback). And finally please follow me on Twitter @StuartAllenFCMI for daily doses of business news, sales tips and a dollop or two of motivation! 72,000 other people from around the world already do.