“You will have to make direct solicitations, the “cold call”.

It was as if I had just told this salesman-candidate that he would have to spread ten trips of land with a shovel every day…

This scene took place twenty years ago, during a selection interview with a candidate whose CV extolled his sales and development skills. He seemed very disappointed, and that’s an understatement, when I told him that the position available was mainly for direct solicitation.

If I am to believe the vendors I meet regularly, this scene could have happened yesterday.

“Cold calling!” he said with a look of disdain. You know, I prefer to use social media so that customers come to me, know what they want, want it immediately and have money to pay. In those cases, I’m a great salesman. Thanks, we’ll call you back. See you next time!

But what is so shameful about cold calling? Fear of rejection, many will say. Fear of disturbing, of being seen as a nuisance, fear of showing potential clients that you have to stoop to soliciting in order to survive, fear of being told “no”, etc., others will say.

In short, all the fears that a salesperson can imagine will be used as excuses not to solicit.

Yet developing your ability to do direct solicitation, with ease and skill, can greatly increase your market value to an employer. All companies are looking for people who can recruit new clients and they are prepared to pay you very well to do so.

Here are some of the advantages of being a good direct marketer:

• You are in a class of your own. Few salespeople excel at cold calling.
• You control your development instead of waiting for the phone to ring.
• You choose your customers, which is sometimes quite an advantage.
• You control your income because you control your speed of development.
• You fill in the gaps and avoid the associated loss of time.
• You benefit from the surprise effect because the customer is not expecting you.
• If you do your approach well, you come across as professional and proactive.

And here are some ideas on how to excel in direct solicitation:

• To make you feel less reluctant, imagine asking for information, as if you were asking a stranger for directions. You have done this many times before, haven’t you? Soliciting is the same thing.
• Build your self-confidence by setting small goals with small rewards. Increase your goals as you progress.
• Prepare – in writing, but don’t read it – an approach scenario that will arouse the interest of your interviewer. “I’d like to meet you to talk about my products” is not likely to arouse his or her interest. But “our products could save you a lot of time and money. When can we meet to discuss them?” may do the trick.
• Using the main features and benefits of your products and services, prepare answers to the five most common cold call objections: I’m not interested, I already have a supplier, I don’t have a budget, send me your documentation and I don’t have time. You need to have more selling points than they have objections.
• Be relaxed and speak with a smile. If necessary, isolate yourself.
• Record yourself, listen to yourself and play back your conversations to your supervisor or to people who know about them.
• Do it regularly. Habit and experience are the best sources of learning.

Good cold call!