No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 16, 2025

The role of trust in relationship-based selling As the world shifts to virtual, the challenge is building client trust. I almost fell out of my chair when I heard a Sales VP say this. Building client trust has always been challenging; its not a new hurdle to overcome. It can seem harder when we cant meet in person, but prospects dont trust you simply because you meet face-to-face, shake hands, or share a meal.

Referrals 317

Referrals Face-to-face Call-back Decision Maker 317

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 24, 2024

You have a more important goal than closing business for Q4. No, you don’t need your glasses to read that again. If your focus is on winning as much business as possible before year-end, you’ll be starting 2025 in a losing position—with a lackluster pipeline and few new sales opportunities for the New Year. Take your eyes off the Q4 prize for a moment.

Opportunity 177

Opportunity Referrals How To Pipeline 177

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

Here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling this quarter. If you miss your flight and end up at the airport hotel for the night, are you more likely to belly up to the lobby bar to meet new people and make some new connections, or will you head straight to your room and order room service? Have you ever been asked that question? I hadn’t.

Referrals 156

Referrals Meeting Scale Prospecting 156

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 22, 2024

Referrals solve the key problems that modern sales leaders face. CROs face constant pressure to drive growth. But that growth stalls when your sales team isn’t booking enough meetings, generating qualified leads, or building a reliable pipeline. Leadership can’t count on accurate forecasts when pipelines are unqualified. Big problem! A disciplined referral program—with ongoing coaching, metrics, and accountability for results—is the solution to the key business development challenges that CROs

Referrals 177

Referrals Sales Qualified Lead Hiring Face-to-face 177

No More Cold Calling

JULY 25, 2024

Rusty sales skills won’t win the gold. Gold medals aren’t just handed to Olympic athletes. Commitment to a daily routine and practice separates them from every other athlete out there. It’s the same for your sales team. If you want this to be a game-changing year, it’s up to the CRO to make skills-building and practice a requirement, an integral part of your culture, and a major component of your sales strategy.

Referrals 334

Referrals Cold Calling Coaching Incentives 334

No More Cold Calling

JULY 12, 2024

They’d better. Otherwise, it’s a waste of your time and money. Sales leaders complain that reps don’t get enough qualified leads, their pipelines are fluff, and it takes them way too long to reach their prospects. Leadership can’t count on accurate forecasts when pipelines are unqualified. Big problem! A disciplined referral system can help your company scale by increasing deal size, converting prospects to clients, and penetrating prime accounts.

Scale 317

Scale Referrals Penetration Sales Qualified Lead 317

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 27, 2024

Here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling so far this year. I founded No More Cold Calling in 2006, with a mission to show salespeople how powerful (and scalable) referrals can be, and to ensure no one ever had to cold call again. This month, in celebration of 28 years of referral selling, both my books are on Kindle for $1.99 each until July 4, 2024.

Referrals 156

Referrals Cold Calling Social Media Sales Qualified Lead 156

No More Cold Calling

MAY 9, 2024

Test your integrity quotient to meet your quota…or not. If you regularly read my blog, you know about the PITA client —”pain in the ass” prospects who drain your team’s time, resources, and morale. I’ve made the case many times that salespeople should walk away from a PITA sales opportunity as fast as you can. However, there are other reasons to walk away that I never considered.

Opportunity 194

Opportunity Cold Calling Quota Lead Rank 194

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 11, 2024

It’s OK to double your price for PITA clients Every buyer isn’t your client. If buyers continue to make unreasonable demands and keep changing requests and deadlines—even after you’ve given them exactly what they need—then you’re dealing with PITA clients. These PITA clients drain your energy, demotivate your team, waste your time, and expect you to do more at the same price.

Referrals 156

Referrals Cold Calling Exact Energy 156

No More Cold Calling

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Get offline to get your referral. Social media lead generation can work. But clicking buttons to forge new relationships is a waste of time, and digital referrals are a myth. Why is asking for referrals on social media a bad idea? And why does taking these conversations offline give your sales team a competitive advantage? 4 Reasons Not to Ask for Referrals on Social Media 1.

Social Media 194

Social Media Referrals Media Lead Generation 194

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 11, 2024

Relationships drive sales—always have, always will. Most sales teams miss quota year after year. Yet, quotas continue to increase. Doesn’t make much sense, does it? Sales leaders bemoan that they don’t have enough qualified leads in the pipe, that their people aren’t getting meetings with decision-makers, that they can’t seem to differentiate themselves from competitors.

Sales Qualified Lead 177

Sales Qualified Lead Guarantee Lead Rank Lead Scoring 177

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling this quarter. It’s an exciting time: The time of year to construct your business future. What will you do differently in 2024? You’d better have some innovative strategies, because the same-old doesn’t cut it. Even If you’ve had a stellar year, you’ll be outsold if you stay with what you’ve always done.

Referrals 156

Referrals Social Media Cold Calling Sales Qualified Lead 156

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 7, 2023

How asking for referrals will drive your revenue in 2024 How many people should you ask for referrals to get five new clients? No more than 20. In my experience, at least half the people you ask for referrals will introduce you to your ideal prospect. Referred prospects convert to clients a minimum 50 percent of the time (most salespeople tell me it’s closer to 70 percent).

Referrals 194

Referrals Scale Decision Maker Sales Qualified Lead 194

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

Here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling this quarter. Mark, a salesman with an enterprise company, invited me to connect on LinkedIn. I accepted his standard invitation, thinking he might be a good connection, and sent him a personal message, inviting him to contact me with any questions about referral selling. His response: “What is referral selling?

Referrals 177

Referrals Cold Calling Lead Rank Lead Scoring 177

No More Cold Calling

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

What do buyers really want? Business book testimonials are all the same. They tell you how a book is a must-read, packed with powerful strategies. They use the same keywords: reliable, an essential resource, practical, revolutionary, actionable, blah, blah, blah, etc. etc. I often wonder if the testimonial writer actually read the book. I’m not going to tell you any of that about Buyer First: Grow Your Business with Collaborative Selling , a new book by Carole Mahoney.

Buyer 177

Buyer Strategy Cold Calling How To 177

No More Cold Calling

JULY 27, 2023

Technology doesn’t close deals. Relationships do. Rachel, a sales VP at a large technology company, was frustrated with her sales team. They weren’t even close to making quota. In fact, they were lagging by 27 percent. She knew they relied almost exclusively on technology for generating sales leads. Their outreach took too long. They spent plenty of time on social media and sent tons of emails, but they rarely reached actual decision-makers.

Decision Maker 156

Decision Maker Referrals Face-to-face Social Media 156

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 29, 2023

Here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling this quarter. I celebrated a milestone this month. It’s been 27 years since I founded No More Cold Calling. For nearly three decades, my sole focus has been helping growing companies leverage referrals to drive revenue. Is it working? I’m still not satisfied with the results. Sales teams continue to face more and more pressure to ramp up.

Referrals 177

Referrals Channels Cold Calling Scale 177

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 8, 2023

Can you solve your sales problems before they happen? It was a weekly meeting of sales team leaders. Our goal was to identify urgent problems and decide how to fix them. We all had different points of view about lead generation , and conversations often got heated. Everyone was concerned with how the proposed solutions would impact themselves and their teams.

Insurance 177

Insurance Insurance Case Study How To 177

No More Cold Calling

MAY 25, 2023

Referrals help you stand out in a sea of B2B sellers. How do B2B buyers tell one internet security company from another? One IT provider from another? One marketing platform or sales enablement app? One insurance broker, attorney, banker, or consultant? Often you can’t tell them apart, because sellers have similar offerings and the same party line about what they do.

B2B 177

B2B Buyer Referrals Sales Qualified Lead 177

No More Cold Calling

MAY 11, 2023

Let’s do the impossible together. I’m so conflicted, often scared. What’s this world coming to? I’m not a pessimist and try to look at the bright side, but there’s so much violence and hate. Wars, nuclear threats, mass shootings, polarized governments. It’s enough to make even optimists wonder if the glass is half empty after all. My husband and I don’t watch the news on TV anymore.

How To 177

How To Government Cold Calling ACT 177

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 13, 2023

Learn more about the science (and art) of referral selling in my new webinar with Finlistics. It’s interesting how you meet people, and when you sell by referral, you meet a lot of interesting people. In the summer of 2015, I got an urgent call from Barry, a colleague who was working with Dr. Stephen Timme and Finlistics on their sales strategy. Barry said: “They were just about to hire someone to cold call.

Referrals 156

Referrals Webinar Metrics Maximizer Networking 156

No More Cold Calling

MARCH 30, 2023

Let’s celebrate our men during Women’s History Month 2023. As we wrap up Women’s History Month 2023, I’d like to give a shout-out to the men in our lives. To the husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, and mentors who celebrate women year-round. We have always needed and respected our male allies—those of you who encourage and support women and set the stage for our success.

Referrals 156

Referrals Cold Calling Social Media Call-back 156

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 6, 2022

These 14 words have lost all meaning to me. It has been said that cursing shows a lack of vocabulary. Maybe so, but I find buzzwords to be even more uncreative and obnoxious. Sales buzzwords are as abundant as bees in summer, and they’re so overused that they’ve lost all their sting. This buzzword definition from Merriam-Webster cracked me up: “An important-sounding usually technical word or phrase often of little meaning used chiefly to impress laymen.”.

Fashion 207

Fashion Cold Calling Pivotal Quota 207

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 27, 2022

The research is clear: Diversity drives sales. It’s true. Diverse sales teams can make more meaningful connections with your increasingly diverse customer base. They bring different experiences to the table, learn from one another, and help you understand how to target harder-than-ever-to-reach buyers. Thus, they win deals more often. Research on the benefits of diversity in the workplace prove it isn’t just a nice-to-have; for modern sales teams, it’s a must-have.

Research 257

Research Benefit Hiring Demographics 257

No More Cold Calling

JANUARY 13, 2022

There are predictions, and then there’s reality. I’ve never liked predictions. I’m not an economist and I’m not a fortune teller. Yet, we’re asked to make predictions all the time. I understand that predictive analysis tools can be accurate at forecasting business trends and sales performance. But what will happen in 2022? That depends on whom you’re talking to and what their biases are.

Trends 356

Trends Margin Cold Calling Inbound 356

No More Cold Calling

DECEMBER 30, 2021

Find out what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling in recent months. The most valuable business relationships that salespeople have are those with our clients—the people who know our value, give us repeat business, and provide us with referrals to other great clients. That’s why it’s important to nurture those relationships year-round, year in and year out.

Referrals 194

Referrals Small Business Small Business Cold Calling 194

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 23, 2021

This is the most common mistake sellers make when video conferencing. I really hate my webcam. (Ok, hate is a strong word.) I have a good camera, but I don’t like the way I look. (Unfortunately, the camera doesn’t lie.) I feel totally uncomfortable staring into my camera. It feels artificial and not at all authentic, but that’s the only way to make eye contact online.

Video 279

Video Cold Calling Exercises Conference 279

No More Cold Calling

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

Your referral network is your net worth in sales. Don’t forget to nurture it. “How do I ask for a referral from customers I haven’t spoken with in two years?” That’s what a client asked me a couple years ago, and I was baffled by his revelation. How can smart, experienced sales reps let their customer relationships wither? Now I know why, because I’ve been guilty of it myself.

Referrals 227

Referrals Customer Revelation Networking 227

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 26, 2021

I didn’t know what you need to know before opening your own business. I knew nothing about starting a small business. Luckily, the economy was great in 1996, and my niche was referral selling (still is), so I at least knew how to build a small business sales pipeline. My company took off quickly—almost too quickly. Why? I didn’t have time to develop a plan.

Small Business 348

Small Business Small Business Cost per Acquisition Hiring 348

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 1, 2021

Plus, here’s what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling this summer. I’m embarrassed by the bad sales behavior that blasts us every day. Obviously, I’ve never been a fan of cold calling, but now the uninvited sales pitches are multichannel. I’m sure you’ve been the recipient of: Endless spam emails offering to send you lists and then writing to ask if you saw their last email.

Referrals 316

Referrals Decision Maker Cold Calling Social Media 316

No More Cold Calling

JULY 29, 2021

This broken link is to blame for sales teams’ biggest closing mistakes. “My salespeople can’t close.” This is the frustrated lament I hear regularly from sales leaders. But not closing sales is never the real problem. It’s just a symptom. The problem is that sales reps neglect important activities during earlier stages of the sales process. Unless you address the broken links in your prospecting system, your sales reps will continue to struggle with closing the deal.

Closing 409

Closing Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Lead Scoring 409

No More Cold Calling

JULY 13, 2021

A referral is the best way to get a meeting with the decision maker. There are two parts to the sales process: Part One: Getting meetings with decision makers. Part Two: Everything that happens after that. Referrals help you ace Part One and set you up for success in Part Two. That’s an over-simplification, I know, but it’s the easiest way for people to understand the power of a referral introduction.

Decision Maker 400

Decision Maker Referrals Sales Qualified Lead Marketing Qualified Lead 400

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 30, 2021

Plus, what you might have missed from No More Cold Calling. I learned a lot more about gratitude after recently celebrating the 25th anniversary of No More Cold Calling. People told me how much I impacted their lives and businesses. Colleagues I’d known for years and years expressed their appreciation for my work. One person even said that referral selling changed the trajectory of his business.

Referrals 248

Referrals Sales Qualified Lead Lead Gen Ideal Customer Profile 248

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 24, 2021

How to ask for referrals and other FAQs. After more than 25 years as an expert on referral sales, I’m still asked exactly the same referral selling questions today. (Maybe even more frequently than before.) I’m going to answer them right now. In no particular order, here are the most common referral selling questions I hear … 1. How do I get over my reluctance to ask for referrals?

Referrals 250

Referrals Outsourcing Services Sales Outsourcing Cold Calling 250

No More Cold Calling

JUNE 10, 2021

Why I made referral selling my life’s work. The year was 1996. I was working for a global consulting and training firm. The economy was booming, and my colleagues encouraged me to go out on my own. I had no name for my company, but I knew my focus. I would work with small companies to develop their sales strategy, sales process, and sales goals, and incorporate these into their business plan.

Referrals 384

Referrals Cold Calling Inbound Webinar Metrics 384

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 26, 2021

Referral sellers have been relationship-building their way through the pandemic. “Video conferencing is a great way to get face to face with clients. But while it may be as close as you can get to in-person, it’s not, and you’re not. If you have a big-deal prospect or client, you’d better jump on a plane, catch a train, or take a road trip as soon as possible.

Sales Meeting 282

Sales Meeting Meeting Referrals Face-to-face 282

No More Cold Calling

APRIL 15, 2021

Not getting the ROI you expected from your lead-gen tactics? Try this instead. Your lead generation tactics aren’t driving bottom line revenue. That’s a fact. Every sales leader says their #1 prospecting challenge is getting leads in the pipe. They complain they don’t have enough leads, or at least not enough qualified leads. Wait, wasn’t lead-gen technology supposed to solve that problem?

Lead Gen 395

Lead Gen Sales Qualified Lead Leads Marketing Qualified Lead 395