6/27/2013

Cold calling is the dirty little secret no one wants to admit to: Madlibs w/ @Chris_Snell

Cold calling is the dirty little secret no one wants to admit to: Madlibs w/ @Chris_Snell:
Chris Snell is the epitome of the new uber-practitioner. He is on-site building inside sales teams but is actively conversing and learning on the social internet. The guy is awesome. Personally, I believe that it is guys like Snell who are on-site, practicing what is preached every day whom we can all learn from. Chris is also an avid fan of old-school hip-hop which makes him my favorite of all time
Chris Snell’s mad libs:

  1. The b2b buyer is not concerned at all about what we think they need. Like, at all. They are more concerned about us understanding them and the challenges that they’re facing.
  2. The biggest innovation in sales is the telephone. It’s done amazing things like connecting buyers with sellers!
  3. The coolest thing happening in b2b sales is the ongoing conversations we’re having with each other through social media. Because of Twitter, blogs, and LinkedIn, I can pass on so much sales knowledge to my team.
  4. My favorite Sales 2.0 technology is the auto-dialer.
  5. My favorite sales book is Guerilla Teleselling by Levinson, Smith, and Wilson. Now, it’s not my favorite because of content (it has some good tips, though), it’s my favorite because of sentimental reasons. Guerilla Teleselling was the first book I read when I got my first telesales job.
  6. My favorite social media site is Twitter. I’ve connected with so many great people through Twitter that it can’t not be my favorite social media site.
  7. Social selling is really tough for me to buy into right now in the SMB space – I just don’t think we’re ready to focus time there just yet.
  8. I use Linkedin to see who’s looking at my profile, share some content, and connect with folks. But mostly, I use it to see who’s looking at my profile. I want to know why people are looking at it, but I never ask them. Is that wrong? Is that something I should be doing? Is that kosher to do!?
  9. Cold calling is getting such a bad rap. If I’m looking to launch a new vertical on our site, and we’ve never had any experience with that market in the past, my VP is not okay with a sales strategy that starts with “build some great content and wait for the leads to show up, then sell to those leads.” I’m ALL for great content – I love WRITING content – but at some point you’ve got to pick up the phone and prospect. Hell, do them at the same time if you want, but you’ve got to call and talk with people to sell to them.
  10. In b2b, the idea of a funnel is still there. Not going anywhere…
  11. The first thing every sales person should do is learn how to have conversations and tell stories. Learn how to connect with people over the phone, because that’s where your job is moving to over the next several years.
  12. Voicemail is the fastest way to tell if your message is valuable to prospects or not. Get calls back? Great job! No returned calls? Back to the drawing board!
  13. The biggest mistake sales people make is talking about their products and services first before learning about their potential customers. “We do blah-blah-blah by doing yadda-yadda-yadda…” No one cares, man. It’s like I said in question 1 – buyers don’t care what we think they need.
  14. The biggest myth in sales is that cold calling is dead. It’s not..we all do it. It’s that dirty little secret that no one wants to admit to.
  15. My most forgettable sales experience was falling asleep at a client meeting. I was there learning about their technology as their BDR, and we were in this really warm meeting room. I hadn’t taken my jacket off because I was self-conscious about how I looked (don’t judge me!), so I was getting really cozy. I couldn’t help but start to nod off. The two founders of my company were there with me, so it was really a proud moment in my career.
  16. The hardest part of selling is practicing. Most sales reps don’t think they need to practice. Some think, “I make sales calls all day, why do I need to practice?” Why on earth would you want to use your sales calls as practice?
  17. The next “hot-thing” in sales will be…I don’t know. I’m stumped here. I think we can conclude from this question that it certainly won’t be something from me.
  18. In 2015, sales will be not that different from today. Maybe an increase in social sales, as that seems to be the “it” thing right now. I guess I’d say that – sales reps learning to sell socially better.
  19. My favorite sales saying is “Always Be Closing.” I know, I know…it’s not supposed to be, but I love that mindset. I know Jill Rowley wants me to “always be connecting” but I can’t help but love to hear my ISR’s bells ring when they close a sale.
  20. Over the next couple years in sales, I can’t wait to see where my ISR’s careers launch. I work with a great team, and I can’t wait to watch them soar.
  21. Madlibs with the Funnelholic is not nearly filled with enough questions about old school hip-hop. It is fresh, though.
  22. My favorite sales movie is Boiler Room. Again, probably not one that I’m supposed to like as it’s a bad example of how sales is done…but I can’t help but love it.
  23. My favorite motivational sales song is either Guns N’ Roses Welcome to the Jungle or LL’s Mama Said Knock You Out.
Chris Snell has been building inside sales teams since 2002. Care.comChris is currently the Inside Sales Manager for Care.com, helping businesses connect with families and hire new employees through marketing and recruiting services.  Chris lives in Southeastern Massachusetts with his wife and son.  You can connect with Chris on Twitter here, or here on LinkedIn.

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