Warm Calls...

Company boss Steve sees one of his sales guys, Alan typing away on his keyboard...

Steve: "Aren't we meant to be making prospecting calls Alan?"

Alan: "Errr yeah...but you know those cold calls you wanted me to make? I'm in the process of making them 'warm.' 

Steve: "What do you mean?"

Alan: "Well cold calling is a massive waste of time, so I'm planning to 'warm call' all my prospects after sending them a highly targeted email."

Steve: "OK...so how long will that take?"

Alan: "Depends on the lead and how much research I need to do."

Steve: "What if the email doesn't get through or is duly ignored as an unsolicited proposition?"

Alan: "Well then- at least I tried."

Steve: "And how do you know your hook or reason for reaching out is on point without speaking with them first?" 

Alan: "From my in-depth research."

Steve: "But what if your research is wrong, based on false assumptions or biases?"

Alan: "Well I'll do my best based on the information available."

Steve: "And what if they ignore your email & won't take your call? Will that mean the 15-20 minutes of research was a complete waste of time?"

Alan: "Erm...listen...how about I do it this way today & report back with my results?"

5 hours later...

Steve: "So - how did your emails & 'warm' calls go?"

Alan: "I had two responses via email - not interested, no reason given & I got through to four decision-makers, bad timing for two, one had bigger priorities & the other said to call back in 6 months..."

Steve: "So couldn't you have found that out by simply calling in the first place?"

Alan: "Well...erm..."

Steve: "And how many said - 'Oh Alan it's you, I just loved your email & was wondering when you'd call...so... let's talk business!' 

Pick up the phone.

There is simply no other way to disqualify prospects. 

'Warm calls' are an illusion driven by sales 'influencers' who should know better...

And is most likely borne out of insecurity & then tapping into the irrational fear way too many people have about cold calling strangers. 

Manage your fear.

And pick up the phone.

#sales #coldcall #prospecting