Cold Calling to Generate Appointments

I know, I know, Cold Calling is the least glamorous and most undesirable thing a sales person may ever have to do in his or her career. My motto is "the things you don't want to do are probably the things that are keeping you where you currently are".

Reasons why people don't like to cold call.

1) Sales people (or any person) just don't like rejection.
2) You feel like you're bothering a secretary or office manager.
3) It's easy to get a sense of entitlement where you think you're company should be investing in marketing to generate leads.
4) It's time consuming.
5) It's a lot of work for a possible appointment that could take 9 months of longer to turn into an actual sale that means something.
6) It takes discipline in your calendar, which means you have to make it a priority and no one likes to prioritize something they hate to do.
7) You see other sales people achieving great results without making any cold calls.

These are a few reasons why sales people don't like making Cold Calls, however I can flip everyone of these reasons around to tell you why you need to be cold calling.

1) Sales people (or any person) just don't like rejection- rejection is the root of success, it is the foundation. You won't find any person in sales who didn't go through rejection to get where they are at today. You have to embrace it and attack it.
2) You feel like you're bothering a secretary or office manager- You are, but here's a news flash; it's their job to be bothered. A tough gate keeper usually equals an easy sale, because the actual decision maker talks to so few sales people he will typically take your call if you can get through the office manager.
3) It's easy to get a sense of entitlement where you think you're company should be investing in marketing to generate leads- The only constant in sales is your daily effort. You can only control your actions and your attitude. I've worked for companies where I've built an entire sales territory off of cold calling and other companies where I didn't have to make one call. I recommend preparing for the worst case scenario. If your leads dried up today, what would you do?
4) It's time consuming- Cold calling is the most productive return on your time you can have in a day if you know the techniques that make it effective.
5) It's a lot of work for a possible appointment that could take 9 months of longer to turn into an actual sale that means something- The key to success in sales is knowing when to close a deal while knowing how to build a pipeline. You have to develop long-term thinking to maintain consistent sales.
6) It takes discipline in your calendar, which means you have to make it a priority and no one likes to prioritize something they hate to do- My recommendation is take 20 minutes a day a make as many calls as you can. Don't devote too much time to it on any one day, but consistently devote time.
7) You see other sales people achieving great results without making any cold calls- There are a few sales people out there that have never had to cold call before. If you've read this far I'm guessing your not one of them. So just understand that everyone has a different path or journey. You cannot compare your path to succeeding in sales with anyone elses.

I'll talk more about technique and skills later this week. i am open to questions as well.