Sales Training Ideas - Seven Sources Of Names And Cold Calling Lists
	Sales Training Ideas - Seven Sources Of Names And Cold Calling Lists By John Chapin Selling can present us with many challenges, one of which can be unique cold calling lists. As a general rule, the easier a list is to get, the more people will be cold calling it. The question is: How do you get unique cold calling lists, or at least lists that everyone else isn't using? This article will give you some ideas. 7 Sources of Cold Calling lists 1) School directories - These include alumni directories from your high school or college. Don't be afraid to use directories from the high schools and colleges of friends and family members. Mention the fact that you are calling the directory to build some rapport. If you are using the directories of friends and family, you can still use that information even though you did not personally attend the school. 2) Associations, clubs, and other group directories - These are a great source of people to call. Do you belong to any groups or associations? How about a car club? What groups could you join? Sometimes you don't even need to have any particular association with the club in order to join. Join the club and then obtain the membership directory. What associations or groups contain the people whom you are trying to target? Do your friends or family members belong to any clubs or groups? 3) Street directories - The Hill Donnelly Directory and the Cole Directory both rank streets from most affluent to least affluent and are your best residential lists. You can usually find these directories at the local library, or you can invest in them yourself or ask your company to purchase them. 4) Houses and neighborhoods - If income levels do matter in the potential purchase of your product or service, you can drive through town in search of the best prospects. Check out the houses in the various neighborhoods. Once you find the streets with the most promising prospects, you can either refer to the street directory we mentioned above or visit the assessor's office at the town or city hall and get a listing of people on those streets. 5) Company directories - Company directories can be great lists for cold calling because very few salespeople can get their hands on them and thus very few salespeople will be calling them. Do you know anyone who works at a particular company? Can he or she get you a directory? 6) List brokers - List brokers can be a decent source of names and numbers to cold call; however, you need to get a good broker. There are several reputable firms. Go on the Internet and do a search under "list brokers." Pick out a few that seem reliable and order a minimal amount of names and numbers to see how your cold calls work out. How many leads do you get and how good are they? Occasionally list brokers will feed you a good "first" list to entice you to buy more. The best way to deal with list brokers is to tell them you want to test them out with a small list. If the cold calling goes well on the first list and you'd like to buy more, buy once again in small numbers. Continue telling them that as long as they continue to provide good lists, you'll be back for more. 7) Business cards - Business cards are another good source of leads. Ask upscale restaurants if you can place a fishbowl for business cards at the check-in area and give away a free dinner. Place a sign on the fishbowl that reads: "Drop in your card to win a free dinner." Then pick up the cards at the end of the month and cold call away. Draw a card and give away a free dinner each time you pick cards up. Bonus Tip - Referrals will be your best selling list; always be asking for them. And now I would like to offer you free access to a monthly newsletter and weekly sales articles. You can get your access at http://www.completeselling.com From John Chapin - Complete Selling, Inc. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Chapin http://EzineArticles.com/?Sales-Training-Ideas---Seven-Sources-Of-Names-And-Cold-Calling-Lists&id=1190301