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I'm a sales guy and cold calling is part of the job - definitely not the best part but there is not a lot of options to drum up business. I agree the hard sell is counterproductive, I treat everyone like a gentleman and typically I am treated the same way in return.
Think back, most of your top vendors cold called you at one point. There is just no other way.
Maybe some businessman dont want to be disturbed. If they are interested in your products, they will contact with you asap. But as Promotion Party, if you dont call, how can get people know your business?
Sales calls never stop. I believe when you give someone the courtesy of hearing what they are selling and you tell them that you are currently not interested but if the need arises that you will call them. That should be the end of it, not calling every 2-3 days with the same pitch.
Is the question about dealing with sales people in general or just those that call more often than they should? As someone who does a fair share of cold calling and existing client follow ups I'm always looking for the right balance. That balance is different for each client. I've never had the "you call me again & I won't use you" but in honesty have been given the "I'll call you when...". I try to make adjustments based on each call and most of the time at the end of a call / visit set up an expectation of the next call / visit based on the current conversation. This seems to work well from my end for the most part. I will tell you that on my end if a job is still in my pending jobs list I will keep touching base on it periodically. I called on a job today that I quoted last may to an hvac contractor and the job is still pending (and he appreciated my follow up). I will call on this project about every 2 months. So from a sales perspective I can't just kill pending jobs, I have to do proper follow up to determine the status.
My question is - What are your sales people instructed to do in regards to job follow up as well as finding new clients in regards to how often to visit / make calls, etc.?
Hopefully this is on point in regards to your question. I know it is a long response but it is important for me to learn what my clients expect in sales calls from vendors. I'm really looking forward to other responses here. It will allow me to make necessary adjustments in my approach as needed.
Thanks for the question.
Les
Like you said, in this economy even those who you still do business with are going to be calling, they want to make sure your not out there using someone else.
I think what your doing is the way to approach it, just be polite and move on. I think they understand, if they don't this maybe not the type of business they should be in.
Cold calls that get through to me generally get a "send me some literature" and a polite end to the call but I am am interested in how you deal with sales people from entities that you already do business with. I have had to revert to the "don't call me, I'll call you when I need something" tack to a couple of vendors lately who simply covered me up with calls.
With one particular salesman, who somehow got my private cell number, I told, "If you keep calling me I will not do business with your company again."
I try to be diplomatic and I understand business is tight, but sometimes you shoot yourself in the foot with the hard sell.
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