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by Kelly Riggs
For the past few months, social channels have been lit up like Times Square, engaged in a mind-numbing debate about the “best” tools to use in creating sales opportunities.
In a nutshell, the debate is this:
“Which method works best in producing sales opportunities-
cold-calling, email, or social selling?”
There are a few nuances, but that’s basically the argument that has been raging among some of the most visible members of the sales training/consulting/coaching profession. Inside that debate are the responses and opinions of hundreds of salespeople, sales executives, and other interested parties.
The problem with these kinds of debates is that it contains no scientific rigor whatsoever, but every voice seems willing to tell the world they are ABSOLUTELY right. Well, right at that moment anyway, since a few experts seemed to have changed their opinions recently.
For example, the telephone was given up for dead a long time ago as a viable means for contacting decision-makers, but it seems that particular “Old School” method has witnessed a bit of a revival recently. You can read more here to find out the ways telephone marketing is making a comeback.
The same could be said for email. Very bad idea now, we’re told. Nobody reads email anymore, they say. Waste of time. All of this, of course, after email was touted for quite some time as the Holy Grail of selling. Wait a minute…evidently email is back as well…opinions seem to change every few months.
To be fair, proponents of cold-calling, social selling, and email will tout any number of statistics to prove their points. Or, to be more accurate, many offer up their own anecdotal experience.
Like this:
“I closed a $2 million-dollar deal calling someone on the phone every 30 minutes for a whole week.”
“I have used LinkedIn to sell over $5 million in new business this month.”
“I recently closed a multi-million deal by emailing a CEO until he begged for mercy.”
Which to all of those I say, “Outstanding!!”
Great work. Well done! But what does it prove?
The truth is that it proves nothing except that, at that time, someone sold something using a specific tool. It doesn’t mean all the other sales tools are ineffective or obsolete or dead. It doesn’t mean that tool is suddenly the only one to use now. It just means someone found a way to be successful with that tool.
Oh, I mentioned statistics. You’ve seen them. Very prominent data. Used over and over mostly by supporters of social selling. Completely misleading statistics, which my friend Dave Brock has filled full of holes in this blog post and this one as well, so I won’t bother. You have to love social selling companies that offer reams of statistics that prove social selling portends the demise of B2B salespeople – no self-serving motives there, huh?
So, what is the point? Why all the debate? That’s a very good question, and I’ll tackle it last. But, at the risk of being added to the list of the arrogant know-it-alls, let me first suggest that the real answer to this debate is VERY, VERY SIMPLE:
ALL THREE TOOLS ARE EFFECTIVE. AND INEFFECTIVE.
Whether one is effective or not depends on circumstances. The industry. The buyer. The salesperson using them. The expertise with that tool. And much more.
Get the picture? There are a dozen or more variables that are impossible to account for in a single anecdote or a selection of self-serving statistics. Here is just a partial list of those variables:
Add to all those variables the fact that cold-calling, typically referred to as its own methodology, appears to be far more common in social selling these days than it ever was in the Old-School days before social media. In fact, the one thing that most “experts” agree on is that bad social sellers consistently abuse LinkedIn and other channels with unsolicited “cold” calls, but claim that cold-calling is dead and social is the NEW way to success.
Right.
Keep this in mind: All three sets of tools are designed to uncover or create opportunities, yet conversion of those opportunities still rests upon the skills of the salesperson, not the tool. Since only a fraction of salespeople are highly successful, it is unlikely that the tool is the governing factor in the success of any given salesperson.
Furthermore, in order for col-calling to be a success, a reliable telephone network is essential. For phone solutions that can help your business get ahead of the competition go to eatelbusiness.com.
Good sales tools in the hands of poor salespeople doesn’t mean the tools are bad. Nor does the success of a marginal tool in the hand of a skilled salesperson suddenly make that tool the answer to everything.
So, if your eyes have glazed over at the conflicting opinions regarding social selling vs. email vs. cold-calling, you should know that every tool can potentially work for you or your team; it depends on the variables you must consider. And NO tool is absolutely right for every single sales scenario. Also, if ever you are stuck on what decision to take, you can always reach out to experts like the ones at Capsifi for the strategic Capsifi approach and take decisions based on their recommendations and what you have learnt from them. By doing so, you could be simplifying the decision-making process for your team.
The reality is that you likely need to use ALL THREE to capture the most business possible. Social selling tools are critical. Ignore them at your own peril. Phone calls are still a great choice in certain industries and situations, and can be very effective. All you might need is some good convincing skills. Once the lead is convinced, getting payment would be easy as most people tend to prefer online payments these days. Even more since the inception of the pandemic, Paybyphonecasino.uk revealed. Even if the lead is not convinced, you can switch to another lead because of the simultaneity cold-calling provides.
And email? What’s not to like about email? When prospects double opt-in, they are giving you permission to speak to them. Used well, email still provides the perfect means to create those initial sales conversations.
Note that all three tools can easily overlap in a traditional Venn diagram of sales success.
This brings me to the question of motivation. What exactly is driving the debate surrounding cold-calling?
My sense is it’s one of two things – ego or strategy. Probably both.
I think many experts are “smart like a fox.” Note that experts who advocate telephone prospecting and email as the best way to produce sales opportunities are using social channels to drive the conversation. Is that a coincidence?
Or is it brand-building? Creating social proof? Developing more devoted followers? Creating a coalition of believers? Yes, of course it is. And to what end? To create more sales opportunities? How clever! This is the “have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too” business strategy.
Brilliant, huh?
Clearly, that must be the ultimate objective, because it is absolutely impossible to claim any specific tool as the ultimate, be-all, end-all, sales-tool-for-the-ages.
In some rare cases, I suspect the idea is pure promotion: “Look at me. I have an opinion.” And a forceful one, at that. Psychology tells us that we tend to attach the mantle of “expert” to people who forcefully proclaim to know the answer, regardless of any evidence to the contrary.
But, that’s just self-promotion, which is hardly new. Self-promotion has been around far longer than social media or the Internet or email.
But social media sure seems to be the tool of choice for it.
P.S. Uhhh…make sure you share this post, OK? Any way you want.
Kelly Riggs is a business performance coach and founder of the Business LockerRoom. A former national Salesperson of the Year and serial entrepreneur, Kelly is a recognized thought leader in the areas of sales, management leadership, and strategic planning. He serves clients ranging from small, privately held companies to Fortune 500 firms. Kelly has written two books: “1-on-1 Management™: What Every Great Manager Knows That You Don’t” and “Quit Whining and Start SELLING! A Step-by-Step Guide to a Hall of Fame Career in Sales.”