Cold Calling — What it Means for You w/ Bridget Gleason [Episode 480]

Cold calling is one of the most dreaded yet most valuable activities a sales rep can do.

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
Andy feels better now, but he tells about a recent unexpected severe illness that required hospitalization.
People say cold calling is dead. That gives cover to those who don’t want to cold call. If you are above quota, then, maybe don’t cold call. Bridget wants outbound reps to be thoughtful. Cold call, only if the contact is a likely phone user.
Field salespeople can use cold calling as a tool that works in some situations. People have never wanted to cold call. The ‘death of cold calling’ is confirmation bias at work.
Andy notes that a recent event by sales thought leaders like Jeb Blount, Mike Weinberg, and Anthony Iannarino for proactive outbound, proves there is life in cold calling.
Andy says salespeople reject cold calling without trying it, because they have stopped learning. Bridget says they are just stubborn about it, because it is so uncomfortably hard.
You can learn to do something you don’t like, especially if it will help you. Andy never liked cold calling, but he does it. He fits it into his style. Bridget does not know very many sales managers who have eliminated cold calling from outbound.
Some companies have stopped proactive outbound, but Andy sees them as a minority. The issue is, can you make cold calling work for you? Does your company give you the option to call or not to call? Bridget says reps in Tech must call.
Andy tells of a 100-year-old company, the #1 market leader, with 60 field sales reps, will install their first CRM in 2017. That is the real world outside of tech. The vast majority of sales reps are not in tech, and have no sales tech or stack.
The mission of Accelerate! is to share ideas, advances, tools, and technologies with people who are not in the tech bubble, to help them do a better job. Andy is a sales evangelist! Bridget is now even more enthusiastic!
What is the penetration of CRM into SMBs across the U.S.? Andy suggests that could be the topic of an episode! There are companies that have homegrown CRM Systems integrated with their dialers, at best.
There are companies that have no idea that email tracking is a capability. Tech is pioneering the way sales will be done for the next years, but it’s a thin leading edge. Andy invites Bridget to step out of the tech bubble sometime.

The Sales Enablement Podcast with Andy Paul was formerly Accelerate! with Andy Paul.