In 2003, DreamWorks released a comedy entitled Old School. Will Ferrell headlined an ensemble cast. The premise of the movie was grown men reliving their college experience complete with creating their own fraternity among other things. In short, they thought that by doing the things they used to do, they would enjoy similar success. Sadly, things did not work out too well for the guys in Old School. Unfortunately, all too many firms in our industry are finding themselves in the same boat. What used to work out well ‘back in the day’ does not yield the same results today.
I speak at various industry events and conduct workshops with business leaders and reps on a monthly basis. This interaction has led me to the conclusion that many dealers are still struggling to shed the old ways and transition to a more targeted approach. One glaringly obvious area is cold calling. You would be shocked at the number of people who are still knocking on doors. I can promise you this: there are not many successful ‘door knockers’.
Unfortunately, most of the Old Dogs are extremely set in their ways. They will be the first in the group to vehemently extoll the virtues of the ‘T’ Call or the ‘Territory Blitz’ or similar approaches to covering the perceived opportunity in a territory. Much like Will Ferrell’s character shouting, “We’re going streaking!” as he runs alone down the streets; it seems that many are prepared to defend the old ways to their death or more correctly the death of their dealership.
So if there are any Old Dogs who happen to be reading this article, let’s look at some facts. The following is an accurate representation of what you will find calling on your average industrial park:
40% of the units are single placement segment 1 or 2, many of which are customer owned units
5% are Fortune 500 companies looking for a national provider
5% are a branch office that does not maintain decision authority
5% are current customers
5% are named to another rep at your company in the CRM
The result is that the rep has wasted 60% of his or her time randomly cold calling! At the end of the day the rep has probably collected some business cards and been shown the door a lot. They may even think they have an opportunity to upgrade that segment one customer owned unit at the tire shop. Or perhaps they feel as though they can convince that defense contractor to make local decisions. Is this really what you want your rep focused on? Do you want them spending even more time working a deal that will not come to fruition?
Sure there was a time that cold calling was necessary. Even if you were unsuccessful at gaining an appointment, many times you were able to gain intelligence about the account – but at what price? Are you spending your valuable selling time collecting business cards and lease expirations when you could easily find the same (or better) information by doing some simple research on the web?
I realize for many it is unconscionable or at least uncomfortable to not call on every single account in a given geography. When I tell folks they should be focused to 250 accounts, I usually hear, “What about the other 375 accounts in my zip?” The answer is simple: if it were my business, I would want my reps focused on the 40% of the accounts that hold true opportunity for both the rep and the company. I do not want time being wasted calling on the 60% of the accounts that are dead ends.
Of course, Old School worked out with the typical Hollywood ending. The protagonists saw the error in their ways and changed for the better and the bad guys got what was coming to them. The good news is it is not too late for the cold callers out there to get on a more successful track.
By creating a well-defined target list and gathering intelligence prior to making contact, reps can make better use of their prospecting time and ultimately add more real opportunities to the pipeline. So, can you teach an Old Dog new tricks? It all depends on the dog and the teacher.
