For the first 15 years of my sales career I knocked door-to-door generating leads for: vinyl siding, windows, roofing, security systems, vacuums, encyclopedias, sun rooms and frozen meat! I estimate that I talked to somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 people face to face at their homes while they were cutting the grass, getting dressed, fixing the car, eating dinner, barbecueing steak, washing the dog, arguing with their spouse, freaking out on the kids, getting out of the shower, butchering something? (that guy still scares me) and even interrupted people while they were... ummm... well you know.

For the next five years of my sales career I managed telemarketing rooms and heard everything evil that could be said by one person to another. Though idle the threats were, just the fact of having been told that if we keep calling something pointy or sharp is going to get shoved up somewhere that it shouldn't normally be was generally pretty upsetting to the poor single mother that was just trying to get a lead so she can get the $5 spiff and a pat on the head.

So how does that single mother keep going? How does anyone who cold calls keep going when 95% of the time they hear no after no after no? The answer is the same as the question posed: Cold Calling: What not to do. That is to not take things personally. Remember that to be a good salesperson of any kind, you have to realize that the prospect is only saying no to your offer and not to you personally. If you take it personally, the negative effect will stay with you like something rotten and the smell will be easily picked up by the next person you talk to.

Learn more about this author, Dwight Murton.
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