The Million Dollar Cold Call

People seem to get a thrill turning up their noses at folks who sell by telephone for a living.

But let me say, if theyre well trained and compensated properly, theyre worth their weight in gold.

Ill give you an example or two.

My former insurance agent, who retired blissfully to the golf course a few years ago, had a sales support person who was simply dynamite. She would not only handle all of the inbound business, such as rating policies, adding and changing policy terms, and channeling claims, but she was a remarkable dialer-and-smiler.

In her spare time she made cold calls, seeking fresh business, and she pitched existing clients for referrals and upgrades and additional lines. For instance, if clients had their cars insured, they were invited to get a life insurance quote.

Jim, the agent, calculated that it was worth every penny he paid his assistant to make these calls, and he gave her substantial bonuses for succeeding, because over the course of time, a new client was worth about $30,000 in commissions to his agency.

That means a great cold call that put a new name onto the books was worth a ton.

Contrast this reality with the popular misconception that cold callers are cheap labor that can easily be outsourced and offshored. Could dialers in India be as successful as Jims assistant?

No way. They wouldnt sound local, they wouldnt have a command of the atmospherics of the current insurance market and competition, and theyd sound superficial, not rooted in the community as Jims agency was.

Im fond of telling the story about the institutional investment salesman at my Texas-based clients site who went from January through October without making a single sale.

He was on straight commission so he earned nothing for ten months of exertion. Then, in November, one of his prospects said yes, rewarding him with a ONE MILLION DOLLAR COMMISSION.

If you do the math, he probably made 10,000 calls before he struck pay dirt.

So, how much was each call worth to him?

One-hundred dollars was what he earned for each of those 10,000 calls. Thats a lot more than your typical doctor, lawyer, and average Wall Street investment banker earns.

Of course, this gentlemans calls were worth even more to his employer.

Do you know why cold calling is also known as prospecting?

Because theres gold in those calls, partner!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than a thousand articles. and several popular audio and video training programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary brings over two decades of sales, management and consulting experience to the table, with some of the best academic credentials in the speaking and training industry. A Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies and successful family owned and operated firms.

His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com and he can be seen on CNBC at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=417455932# and reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

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