70% of people hate being called. Why aren’t more people in the sales industry talking about this new reality?
I was recently watching a video by Gary Vaynerchuk (watch out for the F-bombs and keep the volume a little low on this if you’re at work) that confirmed a whole lot of insights that we’ve heard anecdotally and that major research houses are now finding as well. This is the inconvenient truth that our industry is sweeping under the rug right now.
Very simply, it’s that people hate to be called. It doesn’t mean they don’t like to talk – it’ll be a sad day in hell before that happens, my friends. However, it means that people like you, me and everyday folk, especially those that are social and connected by mobile, don’t prefer the phone as the first medium of contact.
Watch Vaynerchuck ask the audience about how many people don’t like to be called. 70% of people raised their hands! That is is INSANE. How come people aren’t talking about this in our industry? By the way, is it fair to assume that our BUYERS are amongst that 70%?
Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m a rabid anti-phone psycho, or that I like to deny people their daily bread if their livelihood is made through cold calling, it just means that the phone today is not what it used to be. People want to consume information at their pace without it having shoved down their throat.
The Disjointed Disconnect
I think there’s a brewing disconnect in the world of sales right now and unfortunately it seems to be one that none of us are fully prepared for. Buyers hate to be cold called and sales reps hate cold calling. That’s a huge disconnect.
In addition, buyers today have the ability to consume information on their own time. Before they had no choice and sales people were a central component of information gathering. There was no internet or social media for them to learn and consume information on their own.
The Reality
You might not believe this, but it’s the truth. We’ve got so many sales reps calling us to complain that sales leadership isn’t seeing the problem.
As newer sales reps enter the workforce, they’re like the example that Gary Vaynerchuk is describing. The new sales reps are not entirely on board with using the phone as the very first medium for communication.
On a recent Twitter chat we hosted (#S4LSocial every Wednesday @ 12:00 PM EDT), my colleague Jamie said it best I think.
The Bottom Line
I agree that the phone today is the medium that extends the relationship, it doesn’t start it. If 70% of people are now pissed off at the notion of getting a phone call, this doesn’t mean that salespeople have to stop talking to buyers on the phone entirely. It just means we’ve got to adjust and pivot accordingly. It’s up to us to find a new way to communicate.
Social selling is one way for sure. As buyers head online, why not meet them on their own turf?
Anyway, that’s enough ranting for one day.
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