The Harsh Truth About Cold Calling

I think it's time we accept the harsh truth about cold calling, it's dying #NoMoreCalls.

First let me happily admit that cold calling is still relevant TODAY. I'm happy to admit that it's still a good sales activity right now, I'm happy to admit that even LinkedIn, the largest professionals social network, is asking their sales people to cold call, I'm happy to admit it's not dead.....yet.

I'm going to explain why cold calling is dying and what will replace it but first I want to explain why I'm able to justify this bold statement:

1. I'm a cold calling master - I've spent years cold calling tens of thousands of people and bringing in hundreds of thousands in revenue from cold calling. I've taught hundreds of sales people how to cold call properly and continue to do so. I'm not some social selling fanatic or someone afraid to pick up the phone.
2. I'm a millennial - Love or hate the term millennial I represent the largest percentage of the workforce today and I represent the future of both seller and buyer. Over the next 5-10 years your salesforce will change and your buyers and decision makers will change, they will mainly be millennials.
3. I'm a social selling master - Over the last few years I have also mastered social selling using it to bring on new customers and generate big revenue. I spend a lot of time helping people understand and utilise social media to create sales and business opportunities alongside cold calling.
4. I'm not selling cold calling training or social selling training! A lot of people who are involved in this debate are either selling cold calling training or social selling training, which makes them bias. I'm a neutral party only interested in the sales industry and it's future.

In the past, before the internet, before social media, before email, cold calling was the boss. It was the top sales activity to generate sales opportunities and build pipelines. Over time new communication methods have emerged and right now we sit at a transition period where a percentage of decision makers are from the time where the phone was the main communication method and a percentage are communicating in new ways.

Currently the most effective sales people are prospecting using both cold calling and social selling. They're utilising social media to build strong personal brands that give them credibility and allow them to build trust. They're researching their calls to be able to offer more value to their prospects and to be more effective sales people. They're then using cold calling to get through quicker.

The future looks very different though. People are already turning off to cold calling. Governments are making it illegal, setting fines and businesses are blocking cold callers. It's starting to be seen as a cheeky sales activity and not one that represents the true value a sales professional should offer. We're trying to shake off the "bad pushy salesperson" image and yet we're still promoting cold calling which in reality is pushy and intrusive.

Last year millennials took over the workforce as the majority but they've yet to take over the decision maker space. Over the coming years millennials will make up the majority of decision makers and they way the communicate is very different to their predecessors.

Decision makers of the future will only answer calls if they know who you are and you give them a good reason to.

Millennials DON'T use their phones to make calls. They don't like making or answering calls. Yes this doesn't count for all millennials but it does represent the majority. Instead they communicate via social media, email, instant message and video. Modern buyers today are making decisions based on credibility proven through social profiles and social activity, information sent via email and discussion over video. It won't be long before the majority of buyers will make decisions like this.

Like it or not, social is the future of sales.

Cold calling is relevant now, but it's at the end of it's product cycle. It's a dying activity and it won't be long before it will be very rarely used and certainly not something you will want your teams spending time on.

The future of sales will digital selling, combining social media, email and video to win sales. Face to face will always be key for large decisions and long term relationships and warm calls will have their place.

To summarise...

• Continue to buy the cold calling books, buy cold calling training, attend cold calling seminars and keep making those calls #OneMoreCall. It's very much still a profitable sales activity.
• Invest in the future of sales and make sure as a company and a sales operation you properly understand the world of social, personal brand, email and video. Like any successful sales strategy they all need proper training and management.
• Invest in understanding the millennial buyer and the millennial seller. They have different needs and preferences and success will come from understanding this generation.

Would you like a FREE sales e-book?

I'm going to be publishing an e-book later this month which will be packed with amazing tips for both cold calling and social selling. If you would like a FREE copy please put "YES" in the comments box below and make sure you like this post.

I'd also love to know what you think. Are you pro cold calling, pro social selling or in the middle? Add your thoughts and ideas into the comments box.

I hope you found this blog helpful and informative! If you enjoyed this post please do click LIKE and click SHARE to share it with your network, thank you.

If you enjoyed this post please take time to read some of my other recent posts.

The 10 Things That Will NEVER Change In Sales

How To Make Cold Calling Fun!

Successful Salespeople SELL With Why...

The 10 Films You MUST Watch If You Work In Sales!

Did Gary Vaynerchuck Just Prove Cold Calling is DEAD?

About the author: Daniel Disney is the Founder and Owner of The Daily Sales and one of the leading sales speakers/coach/trainers across the globe. Daniel has extensive experience in building large follower bases (100,000+), writing leading blogs and creating viral content (The Daily Sales content makes over 7,000,000 impressions every single month). Daniel writes regular posts and blogs on Sales, Leadership, Millennials, Technology and Social Media. As a millennial seller, Daniel is on a mission to help businesses and sales teams revolutionise the way the sell using modern strategies. Daniel is available for Keynote Speaking, Sales Consulting, Sales Coaching, Social Media Consulting and Advertising. Check out his profile for more information.

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