Something to think about

A friend of mine who is a very, very talented salesperson and successful entrepreneur is finally working on a sales training program of his own, one that I know will be excellent. I'll let you know when it becomes available. In any case, here's something he mentions that's really interesting if you think about it:

Calls equals appointments equal sales.  NOT ANYMORE! As a sales manager and business owner, I was once guilty of teaching it, believing it, and using it.  "Increase your activity and increase your income" was the mantra.  We did the sales math to find the value of each call to "MOTIVATE" ourselves.  Remember this one:  "If you make $500 commission per sale and it takes 5 appointments to get one sale and 20 calls to get one appointment . . . then it must mean that each appointment is worth $100 . . . and a cold call is worth $5 . . . so every call you make is worth $5 in your pocket" . . .  DID ANYONE EVER REALLY BELIEVE THIS? Hey Boss! Put your money where your mouth is! If that is true, why don't companies pay sales reps by the call?  It is because that equation does not pencil out . . . for anyone!  The simple fact is sales people are only paid for completed sales . . . not attempts.  Making more sales calls is a weak excuse for a sales manager or sales trainer to justify their jobs. Cold calling is an EXPENSIVE WASTE OF YOUR TIME. The reason companies have you cold calling is because it is an expensive waste of YOUR TIME and YOUR MONEY. You only make money when you sell something, yet 90% of your time is spent trying to find someone to sell to . . . and only 10% of your time is spent doing what you get paid for.

Now that explains a LOT! He's right - if companies and managers were telling the honest truth about cold calling, they'd pay us per call instead of on sales!