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📈 Build the Right Sales Culture
Why It Matters
Times have changed, and you can no longer force salespeople into cold calling.
Not that it ever worked particularly well to do so.
You should build a culture which:
- Motivated salespeople to cold call
- Makes it as fun as possible
Below, you’ll find the pillars of what you need.
Pillars
Expectations
From the interview, the expectations should be crystal clear.
This means their targets and typical inputs to achieve them should be transparent.
If you do not know what the inputs may look like, look at 👐🏻 Understanding KPIs.
Leading by Example
This is very often missed.
A leader needs to lead the cold calling.
Without direction, the chances of success are slim to none.
Whether this is the Founder, the Sales Manager or the SDR Leader.
You will struggle much more if no one is in the trenches with the salespeople.
This is particularly important if the company is new to cold calling.
High-Quality Lists
Nothing is more demotivating than calling the wrong people.
Or constantly 💂🏻 Dealing with the Gatekeeper to get through to prospects.
Ensure you are 🎯 Building the List as well as you possibly can.
If you’re unsure where to get good mobile data, check the 🤖 Tech Stack.
Decent Tech Stack
You don’t need the fanciest sequencer in the planet.
Typically a decent stack won’t be much more than 100 USD pcm.
However, things like a power dialler as well a decent CRM are a much.
You’ll find plenty of recommendations here: 🤖 Tech Stack.
Mandatory Calling Blocks
Probably the simplest way to get results for individuals and teams.
In my previous company, Cold Calling time was 10-12 every day.
We would keep our emails close and get on the phone.
You’d feel awkward if you were doing admin tasks.
This is quite hard to implement at the beginning.
Yet, once you build that consistent habit, magic happens.
Start with one two-hour cold calling block and increase gradually.
Make it FUN
This is typically where I start from in a business.
How would your team change if you make the hardest task in sales fun?
This is easier to do than you’d think; a few ideas:
- Embracing failure
Get the salespeople to discuss their worst prospects daily.
That will normalise it and make it easier to digest.
- Make it visual
Get the team to write up their meetings and conversations on whiteboards.
It will be easier to track, and it adds motion.
- Celebrate small victories
A team-wide hand clap for each meeting, or everyone else does 3 push-ups.
Make it emotional and move things around.
- Have mini competitions
You’ll be surprised how much a 50 GBP cash prize will get the team riled up.
Regular Coaching Follow-Ups
The minimum non-negotiable is a weekly meeting for each salesperson.
In this meeting, ensure an input target is set (around dealing with objections, activity, etc.)
Ensure all little victories are celebrated in the meeting to motivate the seller to get better.
In addition, at least one session per week is needed to listen to calls and provide feedback to the team.
Getting cold calling right is not easy but it’s also insanely profitable, if you don’t invest in it, it won’t work.
Eliminate the Energy Vampires
It doesn’t matter how well you build the culture.
You will always have the negative nancies who scream, “Cold calling is dead”.
They can’t or won’t face rejection and will try to recruit others to appease their egos.
If they worked as hard to improve their skills as they do complaining, they’d be amazing.
Do try to change their limiting beliefs and coach them to get better.
Some will turn and become incredibly good.
However, if they don’t want to change, fire them quickly.
Creating a solid cold calling culture is not easy; it takes time and effort.
However, once you do, it’s relatively easy to maintain, and you will have a recession-proof company.
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