There's been lots of talk on the blogsphere about cold calls being dead or alive. There's even research that backs it up now saying that over 90% of prospects will not accept a meeting if it's from a cold call or email by a sales rep.
It's the end of the cold call world as we know it- so forget carving out 3 hours to make outbound calls, forget your fancy dialers pre-loaded with cold lists, forget saying "it's all a numbers game," and forget listening to managers who claim they used to do it when they were reps.
The reason cold calling is dead is because of the birth of Sales 2.0 and until we really understand what it is, we will never understand why cold calling is dead. So instead of focusing on what is dead, let's focus on what is alive:
The Customer is Alive- That crazy, busy, independent customer is spirited and they want your attention= all of it. When you reach out to them, they want you to be unique and authentic about your intentions and watch out, they will get mad as hell if they get your generic and robotic messages.
Social Intelligence is Alive- There is so much sales intelligence out there with great tools such as InsideView that help you engage in an intelligent dialogue about their world.
Organizations are Alive- When you are calling B2B, you have a huge opportunity to learn about the corporate culture of a prospect's company so why not spend a bit more time learning what is fueling their growth
Corporate Hierarchies are Alive- You must practice the 2×2 rule by calling deeper and wider into the organization and not hanging out with one contact. Hierarchies are a living and breathing microcosm.
Tools are Alive- The reason for so many tools today is because the customer wants to work differently. They want engagement, collaboration, education, mobilation and application.
Messaging is Alive- Don't just rely on one communications vehicle- combine your prospecting efforts with phone, email, text, Skype, social, IM- make them work together.
You are Alive- This is the most exciting to be involved in the sales profession. Salespeople no longer have to beat up prospects to get their business and be void of any personality that might detract from your presentation. The best salespeople today are taking risks while staying authentic.