Cold Calling, Burger Joints, and Muhammad Ali - How Great Is That! by Jerry Hocutt

You walk up to the counter at your favorite burger joint, place your order, and get your order. You expect to get a burger. You get a burger.

Salespeople who cold call think cold calling is like placing a burger order. You make a call, you get an appointment. But it doesn’t work that way. That’s like saying a weekend duffer can sign up for the Masters and expect to get the green jacket.

No wonder salespeople feel cold calling is hopeless. No wonder they are reluctant to make the calls. That would be like placing your order for a burger and not getting it after you’ve paid for it. So you go to the competitor across the street, place your order, pay, and don’t get served again. If this happens to you at every joint you go to, you’ll become reluctant to go to the next and the next. You feel paying for burgers you never get is a hopeless venture. Why keep wasting your time and money?

“I AM the Greatest!”

Instead, think of being a cold caller as being like a professional athlete, a chef, or a rock star. Before the athlete moves from amateur to professional status, before the cook becomes a chef, before the singer moves from the lounge to the world stage, they have to be good at what they do. They have to do what it takes and pay the price to be among the best.

Selling and cold calling is as much an art as being a pro athlete, chef, and rock star. You have to do the job it takes and get better.

Muhammad Ali didn’t become the world’s greatest because he wanted to be great. He didn’t become the greatest because he said he was. He became great because he was willing to do what it takes to become great.

Ali said, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”

He paid the price in advance without any assurance he would become an icon. He only had faith that if he paid the price, if he did what great boxers do, he had a shot. And a better shot than any of his competitors who didn’t have the faith and didn’t have the will and didn’t want to pay the price.

Imagine if you will

You can apply this thinking to anything you do, any business you’re in. But let’s apply it to cold calling since this is where we started and this is the most discouraging part of selling.

What if you were the greatest cold caller? How bright would your future be, both in accomplishments and in financial security? How many companies would be recruiting you? How many choices to do anything in business would you have?

Imagine how much business you would find if you had the skills, the will, and the motivation to call on any person, any time. How great is that?

If you want to be great, you have to be willing to do what it takes to be great. Don’t think of cold calling as getting the sale or getting the appointment. Think of cold calling as becoming the person it takes to do what needs to be done to become great. When you’re the greatest, you’ll do great things and get great rewards. To paraphrase Ali: “Make the calls. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”

I’ll leave you with this thought that hangs by my desk so I can see it every day. I’ve had it for over 20 years, and the paper it’s written on has yellowed and turned brittle. Every time I look at it, I learn something new about myself and how I do my job. It’s from the book, Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow, by Marsha Sinetar.

When an archer is shooting for nothing, he has all his skills,

If he shoots for a brass buckle, he is already nervous,..

The prize divides him.

He cares.

He thinks more of winning than of shooting – and the need to win

Drains him of power.

About The Author:

© 2009 Jerry Hocutt. Read more articles by Jerry at his blog http://footinthedoor.squarespace.com/journal and listen to a free preview of his CD/MP3 audio program Cold Calling for Cowards® at http://www.footinthedoor.com/freepreview.html.