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“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
In my days at Cbeyond, cold calling small businesses door to door was an integral part of the daily grind. Below are three lessons I picked up along the way that continue to deliver results in my sales career today:
- Understand your numbers then commit to go above and beyond them
- Just because you have a steady stream of referrals doesn’t mean you should stop cold calling
- Those who ask more for it (the close), get more of it (the sale)
1. Understand your numbers then commit to go above and beyond them. At Cbeyond, we were all assigned metrics – the number of doors to hit, phone calls to make, qualified leads to get, and appointments to set – that if met, gave us the best opportunity to succeed. Since selling in its simplest form is a numbers game, what separated the top sales associates from the average sales associates was their ability to crush their metrics. For instance, if the requirement is to knock on 50 doors a day to get five qualified leads and set two appointments, those who knock on five additional doors per day at the end of the week would have 2-3 more qualified leads and one extra appointment set. When I spoke to Brent Maropis, former VP at Cbeyond and current CEO of Rev.io, he mentioned that top salespeople have a bias towards taking massive action. The good news is that it doesn’t matter if you’re in sales to benefit from this concept. Whatever your profession, define your metrics then commit to go above and beyond them. If you do this consistently, success will be inevitable. #NumbersDontLie
2. Just because you have a steady stream of referrals doesn’t mean you should stop cold calling. Referrals were an excellent source of leads. Whether you are a sales hunter or farmer, there is immense value in incorporating customer referrals into your customer acquisition strategy. At Cbeyond, our customers and IT vendors made great referral partners. However, betting your quota for the month based strictly on referral leads was risky, and many sales associates fell into this trap (myself included). When the deals pushed, it put me under unnecessary pressure which led to desperation (not a good look!). The top sales associates excelled at getting qualified leads through various forms of cold calling (in person, phone, email) and working closely with partners and referrals. Someone that excelled at this was Sean Haq, who broke several sales records at Cbeyond and has continued to deliver amazing results in his sales career. #DiversifyYourHustle
3. Those who ask more for it (the close), get more of it (the sale). Asking for the sale was one of my biggest challenges when I started my sales career, and I’ve come to realize that this is one of the most important skills needed to be successful in sales. One of my most memorable moments at Cbeyond came when my bold ask resulted in my first Cold Call Close. A Cold Call Close is when you walk into an office unannounced, conduct your presentation with the final decision maker, and get a deal signed after your presentation. Here’s my story. It was 5:37 pm one hot summer day in San Jose and I really wanted to get back in my car and blast the A/C. I decided to knock on one more door. I approached the door, secretly hoping it would be locked so I could satisfy my conscience. To my surprise (and fear), the door was unlocked, so I walked in. I noticed the receptionist had left for the day so I continued walking down the hallway. A man who appeared to be the owner was seated at his desk in the corner office. At that moment, my nervousness made me clear my throat, and he looked up; this meant I had less than 20 seconds to pique his interest. There was a football (soccer, for Americans) game on – Real Madrid vs. Sevilla FC. I introduced myself and started to articulate my value proposition. But before I could finish, I interrupted myself and mentioned I was a huge football fan and asked if he didn’t mind me finishing the game with him since there was just 15 minutes left. He agreed (the first close). During those 15 minutes, we talked about the beauty of football and of course screamed at the TV when someone didn’t make a play we expected him to make. This rapport building session allowed me to be my authentic self and loosen up, so it built my confidence. When the game was over, he discussed some of the business challenges he was experiencing and explored how we could assist. An hour later, after overcoming his objections, I asked boldly for his signature, and he signed on to become a client. It’s uncomfortable at times asking for the sale, but that’s one skill you need to get comfortable nurturing to be successful in sales and business! #AlwaysBeClosing
Happy Selling!