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Cold calling is over. The only people who don’t realize it are the people still making them. Or worse – their bosses.

I am in a LinkedIn group called Sales Gravy. I’m following a thread about the ROI of cold calling (http://tiny.cc/ajaXv). It’s interesting to see how salespeople view cold calling.

As you read my posts, you will gain insight to my philosophy and get a few sales tips on how to AVOID cold calling FOREVER.

There were more than 100 other posts – here are mine:

• My definition of cold calling since 1992 has been “waste of time.” I have upgraded it since the onset of the Internet to “total waste of time.” Oh, some people make sales cold calling – but not nearly as many as with referrals, by a margin of 50-1. Whatever your thoughts are about cold calling, one fact is undeniable: of all the options, the cold call is BY FAR the lowest percentage sales call.

• Focus on delivering real value to your best customers, and relationships will blossom. Real revenue comes from long-term relationships, not one-shot deals. Anyone trying to tell me, “Cold calls work,” or “I made a lot of money cold calling” will get my agreement. I did it and have made a lot of money cold calling. BUT I have made millions by writing, positioning, delivering value first, and creating a reputation of excellence. And I recommend you do the same.

• As I said in my other posts, some people have success cold calling. I have had success cold calling — at the C-Suite (with referred inside information) – but reputation, relationships and referrals blow away all statistics on cold calling, and reduce the sales cycle time from connection to sale.

• If you’re in sales, you should spend the majority of your time in front of people who can say “yes” to you. If you’re making cold calls, the majority of your time is wasted on people saying “no.”

• No wonder everyone fails at cold calling – no one gets what the real objective is: GET TO THE DECISION MAKER, AND CREATE THE ATMOSPHERE WHERE HE OR SHE WANTS TO BUY (not to sell them). Until that takes place, the ROI on cold calling is under zero. REALITY: The cost of lost opportunity for not investing your time in other sales generating activities – like earning referrals – relegates you to having to cold call.

• I’ve been reading with amusement all the comments that have been posted about “how to” cold call – the one above is a classic example (here is an exact quote from the post: “And here is a by-product of cold-calling: when you call in, you learn where the receptionist sends salespeople. That is, NOW you know where your competition is being sent and you can make sure to protect that entry point in the future.”) It’s sharp thinking, and a great sales thought – it’s just starting at the bottom, and a rehash of 1980s thinking, and it takes five calls to get anywhere. If you used the business power of LinkedIn, or the social media power of Twitter and Facebook, this kind of sales stealth would not be necessary.

Interesting that most of the people posting here have few if any LinkedIn connections, almost no recommendations, no Facebook fan page, and fewer than 250 Twitter followers. In other words, they are doing things the way I did things in 1975 (like taking freight elevators in New York City to get to the floor of the buyer and walking in with no appointment). It was fun and got results, but there was no Internet, and the world was receptive to salespeople.

Not the case these days. Not ONE of these contributors talked about e-zine, blog, earning referrals, writing an article in an industry publication, or giving a speech at a trade show – all ways of 2010 cold calling – resulting in people wanting to connect with YOU.

Jeffrey Gitomer can be reached by phone at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com. © 2010 Jeffrey H. Gitomer