The Winner's Sales Strategy Blog

Why You Can't Have Any More Sales

"STOP! You can't have any more!"

Parents say that to their children all the time.

It's also what Joe said to Bill. (Bill and Joe are two very real salespeople I used to work with, but I've changed their names for privacy reasons.)

You see, Bill was a cold calling addict. I've talked about the phenomenon of cold calling addiction in previous newsletters - how people get so caught up in the belief that doing huge amounts of cold calling activity will ultimately pay off in huge amounts of sales, and how they go home each day with this feeling of accomplishment and feeling so productive.

The problem is that those huge sales numbers never come in.

I used to be a cold calling addict myself. I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true! At one point my co-workers even called me the "cold calling monster."

I'd spend day after day cold calling. When I got tired of making phone calls, or if it happened to be really nice out, I'd go from building to building, hitting every single door and making my pitch. I'd frequently go at it well past 6 pm, and go home exhausted, with a big stack of business cards to follow up on, and the feeling that I'd really done something productive that day.

Bill did the same thing. Day after day he ran himself ragged making well over 100 cold calls, and yet he drove around in the intense summer heat with no air conditioning in his car, because he didn't earn enough in commissions to get it repaired.

Meanwhile, Joe made zero cold calls. In fact he did almost no prospecting activity whatsoever. After spending enough time generating leads intelligently, he built up such a large customer base that all of his sales came by referral - and we all know that referrals are practically pre-sold by the time you meet with them.

They're the easiest sale in the world.

The problem is that you have to have either a large networking base, or a large customer base before you can expect to get any.

And if you're spending day after day cold calling, that's not going to happen. I'm sorry, but it just isn't. That's the hard truth. That's also why I titled this email, "STOP! You can't have any more!" Because breaking someone of their cold calling addiction usually takes just as much firm resolve as telling a stubborn child "no"!!!

That's why you can't be like Bill if you want to succeed. And it's why you need to...

STOP!

There's no sense in continuing to cold call when it generates the lowest percentage of sales call success - even a university study dismissed it as useless in today's economy.

If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the creator of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Influential People. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

The Sales Secret of The Rich

I just finished a GREAT book by the late Felix Dennis, of Dennis Publishing fame (Maxim magazine, Computer Shopper, MacWorld, and many others.)

HIs book is a brutal take on what it takes to become hugely successful in business. It runs the gamut from people skills to sales & negotiating skills, to hiring the right talent, to knowing when to stay in and when to get out, to the getting of capital.

It's the getting of capital I'm writing to you about today, because if you read that chapter with an open mind and not just a mind toward getting capital, there is a very powerful lesson all salespeople need to learn.

The Hidden Lesson

In the chapter, he talks about elephants and fleas. Elephants are the providers of capital. Potential providers, that is. They're the bankers, the venture capitalists, and others with money to invest and who are always on the lookout for great places to invest it.

The flea is, you guessed it, the budding entrepreneur, trying to find funding for his start-up company. The trouble is that the flea has little or no power when dealing with elephants. He pretty much has to take what he can get.

To make matters worse, he really cannot approach elephants and ask for capital. This puts him in a position of weakness, and since the elephants know this, it reduces him to groveling for money.

But there's a loophole....

As intimidating and powerful as the elephant may be, he must still face his master, the mahout. The mahout is the institutional investor - the people who invest their money in banks and venture capital firms. The trouble for the elephant starts if there's a successful start-up out there, making waves and garnering attention, but the elephant misses it.

If the mahout hears about the successful start-up before the elephant does, and learns that the firm is not invested there, the elephant is in big trouble. And this creates an opportunity for the flea to attract money to him.

By positioning himself in such a way that he becomes visible to the elephants, the elephants begins to fear that the mahout will find the start-up first, and before you know it, the budding entrepreneur is receiving offers for the capital he needs.

He doesn't lose power by approaching any elephants, but actually gains power because he knows that every elephant who approaches him is in need of a good place to invest his boss's capital.

How Does This Apply to Sales?

The answer to that is simple: You are a flea, and your potential prospects are elephants. And the same situation appiles - if you want to have any chance of success, you must get the elephants to come to you, rather than going to them groveling for sales.

The trouble is that most salespeople do just that: They approach elephants directly, and then wonder why they don't sell as much as they could.

If they were able to attract the attention of elephants, they'd be closing sales and picking up checks all day long. And guess what? The salespeople in the world who know how to attract the elephants to them do just that!

If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the creator of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Influential People. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

How Sales Came So Quickly

"Sales came so quickly, in such great abundance..."

I borrowed that line from Think and Grow Rich. The original one says:

"When riches come, they come so quickly and in such great abundance that one wonders where they have been hiding during all those lean years."

There's a reason I adapted it to sales, because it's part of a true story...

For years I would have endless sales cycles of up and down, up and down. Good month, bad month.

What was most frustrating was that after those good months, and especially the huge sales months, I'd get so frustrated at not being able to continue the trend. Why couldn't I just sell that much every month?

This went on. And on. And on.

As it turns out, the key to beating this problem was to stop listening to sales managers (BIG surprise!).

BUT - I figured this out completely by accident. Here's how:

I had gotten to be good friends with Joe in my office, and we started working together on selling, even going to each other's appointments in order to help each other close more sales. While this was more time consuming for each of us individually, what happened was that we both began closing more than double, so the return on that time investment was more than worth it.

After a while we had gotten into a rhythm with this. Our sales numbers both increased and we were both earning more, and were both happier. (Autocorrect just tried to change that to "eating more" which would be true too - more commissions means much better lunches every day!)

It took a while though for us to notice something even more astounding: The ups-and-down of sales cycles were gone. We were not only selling WAY more, but were doing it a lot more consistently!

Why?

Very simply, it's because we got into such a groove doing our own thing that we began to ignore our sales manager and even started blowing off meetings now and then. Nothing was said about this because we were doing so well, and everyone knows that top-performing salespeople can get away with practically anything.

The difference was that we stopped cramming the last week of every month trying to make quota. We also stopped slacking off the first week of each month like most salespeople do, since the pressure to immediately sell isn't there.

Instead of being aware of what week of the month it was, or how many sales days were left in the month (something the manager would open every meeting with), here's what happened:

We woke up every day, and did the SAME THING every day.

That's it. There was nothing else to solving the issue of sales ups-and-downs.

This naturally irritated our co-workers who were convinced that we must have been getting leads handed to us by someone in the company, which was not the case at all.

The story doesn't end here, though. There's more:

By working together, Joe and I killed two birds with one stone:

First, we eliminated the problem of ups-and-downs, ruts-and-rolls, by abandoning the issue of selling by the month and taking each day as it comes.

Second, we added an element not of "quality over quantity" but "quality AND quantity."

In becoming consistent with our sales numbers, we turned those numbers into HUGE numbers by ONLY dealing with the very highest-quality leads. It's not enough to merely be consistent. It's about being consistent with the RIGHT people.

We did this by recognizing that by exponentially raising our closing rates, we freed up a lot of time that could be spent prospecting. But instead of blindly going out cold calling, we decided to make the very best use of that time. This meant only dealing with prospects who are ready to buy right now.

Lucky for Joe (and for me too) I had already been spending lots of time - meaning a couple of years - working out via trial and error a very solid lead-generation plan.

I figured out what works, what doesn't, and stuck with the most powerful methods. I assembled them into a system, and began using that system. And it WORKS.

The result: "Sales came so quickly, in such great abundance, that one wonders where they were hiding during all those lean years!"

And nowadays, the number of effective lead-generation methods have increased exponentially with the advent of sites like the very one you're on now.

-Frank J. Rumbauskas

If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the creator of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Influential People. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

And Then She Said "This Is NOT A Sales Pitch!"

For my birthday a few years ago - my 40th - my wife bought me the NASCAR Experience package - the opportunity to drive a real race car on a real track, Texas Motor Speedway!

I'm not a huge NASCAR fan and couldn't even name most of the drivers, but even still, just knowing that I was driving Jeff Gordon's #24 car on a real superspeedway where he himself has raced that car was surreal. 

And the experience was exhilarating

But something else happened that day...

An Unexpected Lesson in Sales

The way the Experience works is that you can buy one, two, or three 8-minute racing sessions.

We scheduled mine on a Friday to avoid the weekend crowds, and sure enough, it wasn't busy at all.

In the mandatory one-hour driver's class that takes place before going out on the track, the facilitator said that because it's a slow day, anyone who wants to could upgrade to a second or third 8-minute session for half price.

Then he followed with this line:

"This is NOT a sales pitch!"

Umm, yeah, right... in our business we call it an upsell or a one-time offer!

BUT...

People believe it!

Just by saying, "This is not a sales pitch, it's only because we're not fully booked today," people believed him and bought the upsell.

In other words, he made sales by NOT appearing to be SELLING!

And if you're not a total rockstar at sales, rolling in cash every month when you get your commission check and living large, there's a reason: because you come across as someone who is SELLING!!!

The very best salespeople - the six figure earners - never sell. Instead, they create the circumstances for buying to take place, and sit back and simply let people buy.

How To Succeed in Sales

Of all the varieties of selling, from rookie mistakes all the way to sleazy dishonest tactics and high-pressure "closes," the worst of all is cold calling.

If you look at my definition of "selling", cold calling definitely takes the cake. It makes it practically impossible to let people buy.

If you want to succeed in sales, and become a top-performing salesperson almost immediately, there are two steps you must take to make that happen:

1. Stop selling, and start creating circumstances where people buy.

2. The first step to that is to stop cold calling - it's the worst form of selling.

Take those steps, and watch your sales numbers explode and your stress disappear!

Learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a free 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

 

And Then She Said "This Is NOT A Sales Pitch!"

For my birthday a few years ago - my 40th - my wife bought me the NASCAR Experience package - the opportunity to drive a real race car on a real track, Texas Motor Speedway!

I'm not a huge NASCAR fan and couldn't even name most of the drivers, but even still, just knowing that I was driving Jeff Gordon's #24 car on a real superspeedway where he himself has raced that car was surreal. 

And the experience was exhilarating

But something else happened that day...

An Unexpected Lesson in Sales

The way the Experience works is that you can buy one, two, or three 8-minute racing sessions.

We scheduled mine on a Friday to avoid the weekend crowds, and sure enough, it wasn't busy at all.

In the mandatory one-hour driver's class that takes place before going out on the track, the facilitator said that because it's a slow day, anyone who wants to could upgrade to a second or third 8-minute session for half price.

Then he followed with this line:

"This is NOT a sales pitch!"

Umm, yeah, right... in our business we call it an upsell or a one-time offer!

BUT...

People believe it!

Just by saying, "This is not a sales pitch, it's only because we're not fully booked today," people believed him and bought the upsell.

In other words, he made sales by NOT appearing to be SELLING!

And if you're not a total rockstar at sales, rolling in cash every month when you get your commission check and living large, there's a reason: because you come across as someone who is SELLING!!!

The very best salespeople - the six figure earners - never sell. Instead, they create the circumstances for buying to take place, and sit back and simply let people buy.

How To Succeed in Sales

Of all the varieties of selling, from rookie mistakes all the way to sleazy dishonest tactics and high-pressure "closes," the worst of all is cold calling.

If you look at my definition of "selling", cold calling definitely takes the cake. It makes it practically impossible to let people buy.

If you want to succeed in sales, and become a top-performing salesperson almost immediately, there are two steps you must take to make that happen:

1. Stop selling, and start creating circumstances where people buy.

2. The first step to that is to stop cold calling - it's the worst form of selling.

Take those steps, and watch your sales numbers explode and your stress disappear!

Learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a free 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

 

Why Most Salespeople Hate Selling

It never ceases to amaze me how few salespeople I meet who actually love selling, like I do. Worse yet, it appears that a huge number literally hate it - but keep on only because they need a job!

Ask anyone outside the sales profession why they don't like to sell, and they'll tell you, "I hate selling."

There is one reason, and one reason only, why anyone hates selling:

It's because they are inept at it.

They've failed at it.

They can't do it.

This is true in any profession, or any activity in the world, for that matter. People who tell you they hate playing golf - myself included - hate it because they suck at it. (My grass allergy doesn't help either!)

Want To Be Successful? Love What You Do!

It was Socrates who first said it, and it's been repeated by dozens of authors and success philosophers down the centuries: "The only unsuccessful men are those who have not yet found the work they like best."

It's a plain and simple fact that when one is doing the work one likes best, that person is happy, successful, and prosperous.

Work is no longer work. It becomes a labor of love, a joy, to perform.

When I was asked to give an presentation recently on what the #1 cause of sales turnover is, since sales turnover is EXTREMELY expensive for organizations, I had a research assistant find out, and pages and pages of research and case studies all gave the same answer:

Salespeople quit their jobs when they don't like them.

Going deeper into the research, the #1 reason why salespeople don't like their jobs is cold calling. In fact a surprisingly large majority said they'd rather have a root canal than make 100 cold calls.

The #1 reason why salespeople don't like their jobs is cold calling

Is it any wonder, then, that so many salespeople are failures, when they literally HATE what they're doing for a living? When they'd rather have a freaking ROOT CANAL than go to work?

On the other side of the coin, the report contained numerous surveys of business owners & senior executives. When asked what they dislike most about their work, the answer was consistently the same: Receiving cold calls.

The Shortcut to Sales Success

It's well-known to everyone that, no matter how cliche it may sound, the first requirement of success is a positive mental attitude. And you can never have that in your work if you hate your work!

Simply having that positive attitude, and the upbeat enthusiasm that goes with it, makes you magnetically attractive to prospects. They can't resist wanting to BUY from you.

And knowing that cold calling, above everything else combined, is the #1 reason that makes salespeople hate their jobs and destroys positive attitude, the shortcut to sales success is very plain and simple: STOP COLD CALLING! NOW! TODAY!

Learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a free 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System.

The Two Most Common Sales Traps and Mistakes

Are You Complacent? Or A Genius?

There are two major traps that salespeople and entrepreneurs alike fall into. I've fallen into both myself, first as a salesperson, and then again as an entrepreneur, in the initial years after I started NeverColdCall.com.

The "Genius" Problem

When I was selling in late 1999/early 2000, my specific territory was an area of town that was very business-dense, so there were a huge quantity of B2B prospects there, but that area was also notorious for the arrogant and so-called "fake" people who both lived and worked there.

During that time, I repeatedly came across the "genius" problem: People who had the attitude that if they didn't already know about something, then it must not exist; therefore it was very difficult to get appointments with these people. (Eventually I realized that I DID NOT WANT appointments with these people - they weren't worth my time.)

Never mind the fact that I was selling a brand-new, cutting-edge technology that they absolutely didn't know about. But in their minds, they already knew everything!

In their minds, they already knew everything!

I did the same thing for a while after initially enjoying financial independence, which unfortunately didn't last all too long because I also fell into "genius" mode. I was doing so well with so little work that I closed my mind to further learning and had fun instead. Then eventually I came to my senses and gave up the "I don't work anymore" routine - as you can tell from these emails, I now work - a lot!

Salespeople do it too. I fell into the trap, which was particularly dangerous at a time when the Internet was just beginning to take over, and it began to make older, albeit proven, lead-generation methods less and less effective.

The "Complacency" Problem

This is the more dangerous of the two. I know I did it, first in sales when the leads and commission checks were pouring in with little effort. When 9/11 hit, the economy crashed - and I was forced to reinvent FAST - I gave up my complacency in a hurry.

I did it again after starting NeverColdCall.com, at the same time I had considered myself a "genius." I was fat and happy, as the saying goes, and let things run on autopilot for a while.

I was fat and happy, as the saying goes.

Of course, it didn't last, because in today's economy, businesses are forced to reinvent themselves an average of every two years - a far cry from the Industrial Age of the 20th Century when a business could chug along for decades with few major changes.

Complacency in Sales

I can always tell when I'm dealing with a complacent salesperson. It's a dead giveaway when they say, "I don't need your stuff because cold calling works for me!"

When I hear that, I immediately know I'm talking with someone who is happy with mediocrity - happy to earn just enough to keep the bills paid, stay employed for another few months, and maybe even put a few away into the savings account.

When I hear that, I immediately know I'm talking with someone who is happy with mediocrity.

However, complacent people never, ever achieve noteworthy success. Never, ever.

That's the reason I stopped being complacent. Now I never stop thinking of and working on new idea, new businesses, and I never stop learning - last night I read chapters from two different books while listening to a third in the car today. Not to mention the fact that I have a short list of books I regularly re-read, to be sure I stay sharp on fundamentals. (Hint: It takes a minimum of three readings of a book before you really "get it.")

The bottom line is that if you want to achieve noteworthy success, and attain your goals and dreams, you must never fall into the complacency trap.

And if there's one huge red flag that a salesperson has become complacent, it's that they're still cold calling in the 21st Century, when cold calling simply doesn't find enough qualified leads anymore to make it worth your time.

So do yourself a big favor: STOP cold calling, and START using effective, intelligent, Information Age methods to start bringing qualified prospects to YOU!

Learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a free 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System.

Ronald Reagan's Powerful Sales Lessons

What Ronald Reagan Can Teach Us About Sales

You hear a lot about Ronald Reagan from politicians these days, on both sides of the aisle. History regards him as one of America's greatest presidents, so he gets name-dropped by a lot of people who attempt to identify with him during campaigns.

But what you don't hear about is what Ronald Reagan can teach us about sales, because he was a master salesman!

His most important goal - and greatest accomplishment - was toppling the Soviet Union. While it's generally believed that he did it simply by out-spending them on military buildup and nuclear missiles, that's not entirely true.

Let me tell you how he really did it:

Reagan's Introduction to the Soviets

Ronald Reagan's eventual domination of the Soviet Union began even before he started going after them in earnest.

It was all about the first impression he made. First impressions count. First impressions last. And Reagan's first impression, to the Soviets, was of a man of power and respect.

When Ronald Reagan arrived for the first time in the Soviet Union, it was winter, and it was downright cold outside - typical Russian winter weather with sub-zero temperatures and gusting winds and snow.

And then it happened....

Ronald Reagan got out of his limo, wearing only a suit with no overcoat. In the below-zero temperatures, he kept his cool (no pun intended), and didn't shiver or do anything else to indicate that he was cold. He looked like a super-human to those watching on television, and made his Soviet counterparts, dressed in heavy overcoats, scarves, and fur hats, look like wimps.

The collective thoughts of the Soviet people were, "Who is this man?"

And then it was all downhill for them from there. As Sun Tzu said in The Art of War, "Every battle is won before it's ever fought." And Reagan had the Soviets psychologically defeated even before the arms race began that eventually brought them down.

What's YOUR First Impression?

If Reagan brought down the world's only other superpower besides the United States, based on the first impression he created on his initial visit, then you KNOW that first impressions count.

Ask yourself this: What is YOUR first impression?

Are you showing up with power and authority as Reagan did, causing people to ask themselves, "Who is this person?"

Or are you supplicating and looking desperate and hungry when you approach sales prospects?

I've got some news for you: If you want to look weak and desperate, then there's no better way in the world to accomplish that than by cold calling.

Cold calling sub-communicates that you have nothing else to do, no customers to service, no prospects wanting to do business with you - in other words, that you're desperate.

It also makes you look greedy, and not in a good way. Cold calling shows that you are out to GET a sale from them, not to GIVE them value and honest service.

So if you want to convey the level of power and authority that Ronald Reagan did in toppling the Soviets, you need to stop cold calling. Immediately. Right now.

Learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a free 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

Does The First Impression You Convey Help or Hurt Sales?

First Impressions Last Forever…

Are YOU dressing for success and making the best first impression with prospects?

I don’t just mean your clothes, either. If your car isn’t clean and detailed or has any door dings or dents, and your prospect sees you parking through the window, that’s a lousy first impression.

Personally, I dress casually for “normal” life - especially in Dallas heat!

When it comes to business, however, I don’t mess around. Here’s a photo of me, the way I dress for any kind of meeting, appointment, or networking event:

And by the way, I just bought these awesome new cuff links - perfect for me - let me know if you think so as well!

Oh, and you don't have to spend a fortune to look like that. The best quality and value suits I've found are the Saks black-label brand at their "Off 5th" outlet stores - at least once a month they have a 2-for-1 deal and you'll walk out with two high-end suits for around $350! And it sure doesn't hurt if you open your suit jacket to get a pen and your prospect gets a glimpse of the Saks 5th Avenue label - the look of prosperity always attracts favorable attention, with no exceptions whatsoever.

The way you act also makes a powerful first impression. Everything from the tone and projection of your voice (it’s been proven that lowering your voice to make it sound deeper closes more sales than not), along with the way you walk (do you walk confidently), how much stuff you’re carrying (it’s been shown that people who carry little or nothing appear more important and close more sales), and your body language is huge.

The numbers vary depending on the person or study stating them - I’ve heard everything from 65% to 93%. Either way, it’s more than 50% of how people see you, so it’s literally true that it’s not what you say, it’s HOW you say it!

Another big first impression variable is how and why you’re there in the first place.

Here’s why:

A sales appointment, in the big picture, is merely a negotiating session. You want to negotiate the prospect to buy, and the prospect is negotiating either the lowest possible price, or for an easy way to say “no” to you.

There’s another factor: The person who holds more power and controls the negotiation wins almost 100% of the time. If your prospect controls the meeting, you’re going to get shot down, or best case, sell at a lower price and receive a lower commission.

When YOU control the meeting, you’re not only going to get the sale, you’re likely to get it at your highest price, and even upsell your new customer to more products & services, for example, a maintenance plan.

So how do you get the power? Easy: The person who makes the approach doesn’t have the power. The one who didn’t make the approach has the power and will win.

Why does this matter?

Because any form of cold prospecting - and I mean any, since there are so many other methods with the internet other than a phone call or walking into a business.

When you make a cold contact, you’re making the initial approach, and you have no power - you automatically give it away to the prospect, leaving you with an uphill battle.

The fast and simple way to get prospects approaching you with a need, and with the virtually unlimited power of the internet and other forms of self-marketing, there’s no excuse not to.

If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the creator of the Never Cold Call Again® System and the LinkedIn® Selling System 2.0 and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Influential People. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com

Silly, Outdated, and Dangerous Sales Legends

    

A new month is upon us in just two days. I love new months. A new month means new opportunities.

I'm doubly excited for a new month to start, because each month has been better than the last. The popularity of the Never Cold Call Again sales philosophy continues to grow through word-of-mouth and that's the best kind of advertising any company can get.

But I digress. Let me tell you the story I'm writing to you about today:

Lots of salespeople make stupid assumptions about when and why people will buy - or won't buy. I'm guilty of this myself, and getting over this stupidity is a big reason why NeverColdCall.com's growth has been especially spectacular in the past two years, despite the sluggish economy.

Here's why: Early on, sales volume would plummet each year immediately following Thanksgiving here in the US, and wouldn't bounce back to normal levels until mid-January.

Assuming that this was just the way it was, I backed off on my marketing and was far less aggresssive for that time period between Thanksgiving and mid-January. I wasn't sending out my daily email Sales Tips like this one, and just accepted the fact that business was supposed to be slow that time of year; after all, everyone is too busy shopping for Christmas and Hanukkah and preparing for holiday celebrations, aren't they?

Then finally, one day I said screw it. I'm going to continue marketing hard all through the holiday season, and what will be will be.

To my surprise - and delight - the last few Decembers have turned into routine sales months, with numbers matching our monthly averages. In fact, during the last two Decembers, the only slow day we had was Christmas Day itself!

And this last January set a record for our largest month ever. After years of my stupid assumption that people didn't want to spend money yet due to holiday shopping maxing out their credit cards.

And with July right around the corner, salespeople will use Independence Day as an excuse to not go out and make sales in the coming week.

Are YOU Making These Stupid Assumptions?

My old sales manager John, the one I mention all the time - the only smart one I ever had - used to get really annoyed that most of us would slack off during the holidays and get distracted ourselves by holiday shopping and preparation.

But it wasn't really any distraction that caused the problem. The problem is that we ASSUMED people wouldn't be in a buying mode, because THEY were all busy with the holidays themselves.

Oh how wrong I was. In fact, the truth is that in B2B sales, companies are trying to spend their budgets before year-end, and get last minute tax deductions on the books.

And even in the B2C world, the same thing goes on. Particularly in industries like real estate and financial services, where people are trying to get their tax advantages in before the December 31st deadline. Or medicine, where people have procedures done at the end of the year because they've fulfilled the deductible, and the work will be free.

So if YOU have been making these kinds of assumptions, STOP IT! Sure, the holidays are six months behind us - for now - but there are all kinds of myths that permeate the sales world: "Prospects are out golfing on Fridays." "They're too busy on Monday to follow up with them." And on and on it goes.

In fact, I'm sure plenty of salespeople are whining right now that it's hard to reach prospects because it's corporate tax season. Whatever. Shut up, stop making excuses, and get to work.

Remember, CONSISTENCY is key! Top sales pros make the same huge numbers month after month, because they are consistent with their sales activities and they don't change them because of silly assumptions about holidays, or Fridays or Mondays, or anything else.

So stop making those assumptions yourself, and watch your sales numbers SOAR!

If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas helps companies make billions by improving sales processes and marketing strategy. He has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s 30 Most Influential People. If you're in sales and want to stop cold calling forever, download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system at NeverColdCall.com