Social Media vs. Cold Calling

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Social Media vs. Cold Calling

Written by Mark Hunter -The Sales Hunter

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"Social Engineering" Your Prospecting Calls

Kevin Mitnick was one of the most notorious computer hackers in the world; and at the time of his arrest in 1995, the most wanted computer criminal in US history. After his release from prison, he wrote the book "The Art of Deception" in which he shares precisely how he pulled off many of his hacking jobs.

One reason that most “cold" calls fail and result in rejection is that sales reps start their pitch the same way to everyone they speak with, sounding like a talking junk mail piece.

A much better approach, one that stimulates interest, attention, and engagement, and the basis for the Smart Calling system, is to use personalized, customized Smart information in your openings and voice mail, coupled with an on-target value statement.

How? First, there is an entire wealth of information online, found through search engines and social media sites. The expert on this is Sam Richter, author of "Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling." I encourage you to go to his site, check out the free resources, and get his book. He'll show you how to get info online that you will not believe. http://www.TakeTheCold.com

The other way is by simply talking to people, other than your decision maker. This is called “social engineering." The term “social engineering" has been most widely used to describe unscrupulous behavior, such as misrepresenting oneself and lying to manipulate someone to provide sensitive information. However, we use it positively and ethically to gather intelligence for our Smart Calls™.

It can be done

As a separate call before your first call to your prospect; and,
Every time you call your prospect.

I find this to be the most underutilized tool available to salespeople-–and the one that has the greatest possible payoff. All it requires is that you take the time to do it, develop a sense of curiosity, and cultivate some conversational questioning techniques. Completing all of these steps may indeed grant you a revelation that many of us have had:

People are willing to give you amazing amounts of quality information if you just ask them.

Kevin Mitnick was one of the most notorious computer hackers in the world; and at the time of his arrest in 1995, the most wanted computer criminal in US history. After his release from prison, he wrote the book "The Art of Deception" in which he shares precisely how he pulled off many of his hacking jobs.

Mitnick claims that he compromised computers solely by using passwords and codes that he gained by social engineering; in other words, simply talking to people. Now a speaker and security consultant to corporations, Mitnick points out that the weakest link in any security system is the person holding the information. You just need to ask for it.

The Social Engineering Process
Of course, we are using social engineering in the positive sense: asking for information from people that will help other people and the organization as a whole. The social engineering process for Smart Calling™ is as follows.

Upon reaching a live voice, you:

1. Identify yourself and your company:

“Hi, I'm Jason Andrews with National Systems." This immediately shows that you are not hiding anything.

2. Ask for help.

“I hope you can help me out" or “I need some assistance." Most people have an innate desire to be helpful to others in some way.

3. Use a Justification Statement. This is the key that will unlock the most useful information. Some examples are:

“I want to be sure that I'm talking to the right person there…"

“I'm going to be speaking with your VP of Sales, and want to be sure that I have accurate information…"

“So that I'm better prepared when I talk to your CIO, I have a few questions you probably could answer…"

4. Ask questions. Of course you want to ask about the basic, factual material for which you might not have information yet. This depends both on what you sell, and the level of person with whom you're speaking. In general, the higher up you go, the better the quality of information.

The theory behind the success of these Justification Statements I suggest is discussed by Dr. Robert Cialdini--widely considered as one of the foremost experts on persuasion and influence — in his classic book (which I believe should be in every serious salesperson's library) entitled “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion."

Cialdini cites an experiment conducted by Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer where students let others cut in line in front of them at the copy machine simply because they provided a reason for their request—“because I'm in rush."

Direct mail copywriters also employ this technique, often referring to it as the “Why" or the “Because."

For example, if a business is running a promotion, they know their response will increase if they give the reason for it. For example, “We need to make room for next year's new models and are clearing out the warehouse, so we are dropping prices to move the current models."

I recommend that you take the time to create your own Justification Statement--your “because" reason — and use it regularly.

Smart Calling™ Exercise
1. Prepare your own script for social engineering using the process above. Be sure you have a justification statement you are comfortable with.

2. Brainstorm for the questions you will ask at all levels of an organization, and write them out. Use social engineering and you will make your prospecting calls much smarter, and successful.

People continue to say how cold-calling is dead and how in today's environment, it no longer can be cost justified. The answer in my book is both "yes" and "no." Let me deal with the "no" first.

Social Media vs. Cold Calling
In the past few months, I've watched numerous salespeople shift all of their prospecting efforts to developing social media with such vehicles as Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook. The problem with this is it becomes a giant time sucker. The payout of social media in terms of developing sales short-term is very poor.

To develop a social media strategy requires time, and I'm a firm believer it must be incremental time. You can't allow it to take away from your current sales development strategy. Now, I'm astute enough to know that this may change, but we're not there yet. Salespeople who spend their time dealing in the social media world at the expense of time spent on normal sales development do so at great expense.

Now let me give you a "yes" response to the use of social media and cold-calling. First, keep in mind that cold-calling is rarely as cold as the term implies. Unless you're still living in the world of selling via a phone bank sweatshop, then you understand that cold-calling is really more about warm-calling. More often than not, you are contacting people who already have some sort of knowledge of you or relationship with you. In this context, social media is a great supplemental vehicle – one that must be handled in the context of a marketing strategy. To spend time tweeting away hour after hour or visiting everyone's Facebook page is not going to get you anywhere but broke.

Sales Development Strategy
The solution exists in having a sound sales development strategy that is focused on your core prospects. As an incremental process (on your own time), develop a social media awareness with Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter.

A key part of your sales development strategy needs to include keeping your web presence tight and focused. Don't be easily swayed into believing that your best approach is to be part of every social media website available. If you can't be a strong presence, don't go there. What I mean by a "strong presence" is that you are an active player who can contribute or monitor the site at least four times per week. For me, this means the only social media sites I use are Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook.

One very strict rule to keep in mind is that social media should occupy no more than 15 minutes per day. Only in rare exceptions should you ever access Facebook or Linkedin during your normal workday. Twitter is an exception, but only to the degree that you can have a timely review and distribution of messages. Fortunately, there are plenty of apps you can use to automatically send out pre-loaded tweets during the workday.

Social media has a role in your sales strategy, but not to the abandonment of time-tested elements such as cold-calling and meeting face-to-face with customers. Begin today to grasp this so that you do not jeopardize your sales success.

Mark Hunter -The Sales Hunter
		About the author:
		Mark Hunter, "The Sales Hunter," helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships." Few people have the breadth of sales experience that Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter” has experienced. His years of experience in senior-level positions and his years as a sales consultant has allowed him to experience every type of sales call imaginable across industries too numerous to mention. .