The salesman is feeling it today. Feeling stress. The Friday sales conference call brutalized him. Brutalized the other guys too.
Boss said “Where the hell are the leads? You guys are not working, I see no new leads in the pipeline this week. If we dont get new business in here we will cut back”
Boy what a prince the salesman thought. “Any marketing budget boss?”
“No budget for marketing. How the hell can we market with no new business coming in?” said boss.
Strange, company wants new business but don’t market. The sales manager must have attended business school backwards. The salesman wondered if the boss could spell b u s i n e s s s c h o o l.
Salesman picks up the phone. 7 am ct 8 et trying to catch a VP or Director at his desk back east. He gets voicemail one after another. He notes that receptionists make strategic decisions for major companies by knowing and telling him that the company bought software last year. What kind of software he asks to the dial tone. He dials. This is a 2 hour call block he is working and he is using a scratch pad to note calls and contacts. One pad side, the call side, is a strange forest dense with trees with no limbs, the contact side is a desert, desolate, empty space, not even a lizard to be seen in the heat.
The salesman sees his boss dialing the phone, working the list, leaving or not leaving VM, talking to the visionary receptionist. He then sees a bright light shining on the bosses head, now seeing cold calling as a stupid waste of time and he sees the boss telling himself, “dang, I need to get with it on the lead generation before my boys starve out.”
Only a passing illusions, just a mirage. He knows the boss’s vision is dim. He best become a lead gen guru or call Bob the recruiter. He dials again, dialing for nickels.
There are better ways to create demand in this market. Calling is great, and can be effective, yet should not be used on an island.
