Five Sales Tips for Cold Calling Time Management

DALLAS - Sept. 9, 2013 - PRLog -- Cold calling sales guru Frank Rumbauskas, founder of NeverColdCall.com and author of the New York Times best-seller Never Cold Call Again and several other books, says that while time management is one of the most common problems plaguing salespeople, it doesn't have to be that way.

"Most salespeople don't manage their time effectively because they don't know what to do to succeed in the first place," Frank explains.

Rumbauskas continues, "Cold calling is, itself, the biggest problem with managing time in sales. Even for those who are satisfied with the sales numbers they're generating with cold calling, the truth remains that it's an enormous time drain -- and it doesn't need to be that way. Not anymore, in our modern Information Age economy."

According to Frank, cold calling typically consumes the majority of a salesperson's time, yet it has the lowest return on time investment of all sales prospecting activities.

Instead of making more cold calls because your numbers are down, or simply because you have time on your hands with nothing else to do, he suggests that salespeople are better off learning more effective methods of lead generation than cold calling.

"Another sales author and I sat down one day and decided to see how many alternatives to cold calling we could think of in 30 seconds, and between the two of us, we listed over two dozen!"

Rumbauskas gave us these five sales prospecting methods that salespeople who are burned out on the drudgery of cold calling can begin using immediately:

1. Networking. Business networking is the oldest and still one of the best ways to generate leads. According to Ed Keller and Brad Fay, authors of The Face-To-Face Book: Why Real Relationships Rule in a Digital Marketplace (Free Press, 2012), over 90% of business networking still takes place face-to-face, despite all the craze about social media.

However, a word of warning: "So-called 'leads clubs' are ripoffs that make money for the organizers, and even Chambers of Commerce aren't very productive anymore. Meetup.com is where it's at - here in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, there are over 1,100 business networking groups on Meetup! That's where the real action in networking is happening today, and they're free -- don't get taken by the overpriced leads clubs and Chamber memberships."

2. Free Speaking. This is one of the most powerful ways to build a large, and desirable clientele, fast. Rotary clubs, Chambers of Commerce, business school alumni groups, and high-level networking groups that only permit business owners to join typically seek free speakers for their weekly or monthly luncheons and meetings. Most groups will allow a speaker around twenty minutes to present.

"Go to an outsource site like Elance and have a research person assemble compelling facts and case studies that sell your product or service for you, then find a PowerPoint designer to create a dazzling presentation. Don't put your audience to sleep with a typical, run-of-the-mill PowerPoint."

3. LinkedIn. LinkedIn has become THE premiere online business networking site, and in fact Frank's LinkedIn workshops are the most requested of all his offerings in his Dallas sales training company. "One can make the case that social media is the 'new cold call,' and when it comes to business, LinkedIn is it. Don't even waste your time on other social media properties like Facebook. Stick with LinkedIn for results."

4. Blogging. Starting and writing your own blog, with informational posts that are content-rich and helpful to prospective clients, will give you a big boost in online visibility, and will attract new potential clients. Have visible contact information and even an email newsletter signup form on all pages of your blog. Rumbauskas adds, "Convert every blog post to a PDF document and go to a site like Fiverr where you can find someone to post it to dozens of document-sharing sites for five dollars. This will immensely grow your exposure."

5. Trade shows and business expos. Did you know that booths at trade shows and business expos run by Chambers of Commerce and Business Journals cost as little as a few hundred dollars? This is a prime opportunity to meet large numbers of prospective customers while positioning yourself as an authority figure who can afford to do such a thing, and not just another salesperson. "But, you have to have a game plan," Frank warns. The best plan, he says, is to only buy booths at tradeshows held in hotels, rent a suite or a conference room at the hotel, and have scheduled presentations throughout the day to drive prospects to.

Start with these simple tips and you'll find that your free time increases exponentially, your sales will explode through the roof, and you'll achieve all of this without ever cold calling again! For more articles like this from Frank Rumbauskas, please visit his website at www.nevercoldcall.com