by Tim Hughes | @Timothy_Hughes | LinkedIn
I’ve just read an article about Social Selling written by a cold calling guru and it’s hilarious. He has no idea what he is talking about. Yes I get that he has 25 years experience in sales and will have a view and an opinion but you cannot write about something and call it fact when you don’t know what you are talking about.
Social Selling means you don’t want to prospect! Rubbish, at all the companies we have worked with, we have replaced, broken legacy prospecting methods, with social selling prospecting.
Social selling means you don’t pick up the phone. Really? Again, rubbish.
Nobody wants relationships, again rubbish. If you are spending $100K plus, of course you want a relationship.
I could go on, the scary thing is that you could describe it as #fakenews,
Here comes the metaphor!
I’ve just been on LinkedIn and there was a surfing video. Now I’ve watched a few surfing videos, I’ve watched people surf in Australia but I’ve never tried it. Now I went on a novice windsurfing holiday, so I (20 years ago) understand what it’s like to stand on a board. But to sit and write about it and express opinion about surfing I wouldn’t do that.
I also wouldn’t write about how crap it is when it’s clear there are people who obviously enjoy it and get great enjoyment. Clearly it works for people. But I have no right to write and say surfing is rubbish and you shouldn’t do it.
For any surfers out there, don’t worry this is a metaphor!
Let’s go back to talk about prospecting.
One of the things I’ve just read by this cold calling guru, that’s also utter, utter rubbish. Cold calling was described as. “When you have something to offer, a prospecting call will never be an interruption in someone’s day.” Any interruption has the capability of becoming an intervention when you can offer help. You owe it to them and to yourself to make the call. Now this guru may think this, but nobody else does. I get he thinks this as it puts food on his table, but to hold sales people and companies back with this drivel is miss leading.
I’ve never had a cold call where somebody offers help. Cold calls are callous and manipulative, they have scripts where the only answer is yes. Today I had a call from Virgin Media my current internet supplier who called me saying he had deals on mobile phones. I told him a decision on mobile shouldn’t be made on price it was also about quality of network. He hung up on me. I’ve of course blocked that number on my mobile, complained to Virgin Media on Social Media and copied in Vodafone my current mobile carrier so they can have a laugh at the brand damage they are doing.
Does Virgin Media really think that trashing their way across the country is good for business?
If cold calling help you, people wouldn’t block them, people wouldn’t pay for people to be gate keepers, Apple wouldn’t give you functionality to block them.
The ironic thing is that this was posted on social media, the cold calling guru could have and should have phoned all 600 million people on LinkedIn but he didn’t. Why? Because we all choose the most efficient and effective method for your message and he choose social. I rest my case.
People who read this article also read these:
https://dlaignite.com/back-slapping-content-you-know-in-your-heart-of-hearts-it-doesnt-work/
https://dlaignite.com/why-sales-play-books-dont-work/
https://dlaignite.com/social-selling-is-anti-phone-really/
