The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cold Calling Paperback – August 3, 2004

"Cold Calling"...or "Prospecting," or whatever you'd care to call it...is one of the most loathed and avoided tasks among salespeople. You've heard it said before that the salespeople who are at the top 2% of their game are there because they regularly perform all of the tasks that most salespeople avoid or simply refuse to do. Cold Calling is one of those tasks. It's a push-pull thing...unless customers are pushing down your door to get at what you've got, you MUST pull them in. The process of elimination...turning complete strangers into "suspects," turning "suspects" into "prospects," turning "prospects" into "customers"...that's a salesperson's job, the entire reason behind their receiving a paycheck, whether it's base and commission or straight commission. So if you are a salesperson and you cannot or will not make cold calls, you can start counting the days until your boss invites you to seek employment elsewhere.The fear / avoidance of Cold Calling...referred to as "Call Reluctance" in trade terms...is handled in Rosen's book better than I've seen it handled in most places. He devotes Chapter 2 ("Becoming Fearless") to this subject, but the "25 words or less" version of what he's trying to get you to understand is summed up near the end of the chapter:"Get out of your head. Once you get yourself out of your own way, you are then able to generate extraordinary results."You see, "Cold Calling techniques" are great, and there is no shortage of them in this book, but until you become comfortable with the concept of making those calls repeatedly (and making as many calls as it takes to close as many sales as you ultimately need to close), the techniques will simply teach you something that you do not want to do.So Rosen peels back the layers and helps you ask the questions you need to ask. WHAT are you afraid of? WHY are you afraid of it? WHAT benefits might you receive if you are able to "get out of your head?"Humans, in general, love to over-think and over-analyze most aspects of life. But when you are out there trying to make a living, paralysis by analysis will not serve you. You need to sit down, determine your goals, make a series of actionable steps, and go to work.If you've determined the pathway to your goals is best supported by being a salesperson, Rosen's book can...and WILL...help you.The book is about 1000% better than its title. Why he chose to label such a fine work in this manner is beyond me, but don't dwell on that. Buy it, learn from it, put it into practice, and be successful. YOU CAN! You just hhave to convince yourself first and then you'll have no trouble convincing everyone else.

This is really good. Why? It contains step by step instructions on how to cold-call. Cold calling scares me, but not enough to keep me from doing it. A fellow Grateful Recovering Underearner once told me, "Cold Calling is the Olympics for the Underearner." Cold Calling is a marketing tool that belongs in every small business owner's tool kit. You have to believe in yourself and your product or service to sell it. My friend who recommende3d this book to me said, "The sale is made or lost before you pick up the phone." For me, cold calling is a two-way conversation about Their Needs and how my Products and Services can help meet their needs. I do not bother to cold-call people who have no money for or interest in my services and products. The tips given in that book are very valuable. Read this book if you are a business owner or struggling sales(wo)man. Hint: Desperation does not sell things! Generosity and love of what you do, along with an earthy practicality, do!

In my opinion,Keith's book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cold Calling, is the most comprehensive book out there. Keith breaks it down into the simplest terms for ANYONE to understand. Keith breaks down the mental aspects, so that you can put yourself in a more positive position no matter the outcome. I found, once you change your way of thinking, mental preparation, shifting the focus on the client not yourself, the way you present and talk to the clients, how you question and answer them, is extremely knowledgeable and important.I believe that if you apply everything in Keith's book, there is no doubt in my mind that you (and I) will be a success. From Beginners to Sales Pro, Keith's book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cold Calling is THE book to get. I personally would like to thank Keith Rosen for providing such insight to cold calling because there is much more to it than just picking up the phone or whatever means and talking to a client.The knowledge in his book has allowed me to psychologically and mentally prepare for clients in a completely different manner.

Keith has an amazing ability to partner with the reader to break down the fears he/she can have cold calling. He does this by giving the reader the tools to create a cold-calling process making the calls not-so-cold. By focusing on a quality, well-laid out process and not just the possible end result, he helps the reader reduce (and eventually eliminate) the fear in cold calling. He can help the reader come up with scripts using an individual's natural language, draw up probing questions to evaluate prospects, and establish a routine to enable the reader to continuously keep that prospecting pipeline full--the key to any salesperson's on-going success. Keith is a wonderful teacher, who currently uses the tactics he teaches--high on the credibility chart in my book. I have had success using Keith's process and I encourage anyone else who cold calls to get a copy of this book. A truly wonderful book that is easy to digest and implement--if you are committed to being successful!

I'm a starting salesman selling consulting/auditing services. I found this book to be a very good start to finish book. It has every stage of the selling process covered. That said I don't think its perfect (but to the author's credit, there isn't a perfect selling book out there). I've read several other selling books and I like this one. It discusses getting through to the decision maker, it contains actual scripts you can use to do so and the mindset needed to pick up the phone make the attempts at getting the sale (the biggest problem for most sales people including myself).Like most sales books I think this one is set up for selling consumer goods. But again I found this book definitely useful and I recommend it to anyone selling anything.

Great book, full of practical hints and tips and I have it by my desk all the time.If you want to know how to 'turn cold prospects into warm calls' then read this, I have been in direct selling for 30 years and have bought hundreds of books on prospecting/cold calling/telephone technique never mind the tapes and videosThis book will replace them in my librarySteveUK

good read

A great book for those that fear making the cold call - read it and no more cold calls!

Great place to start

I f***ing hate cold calling.I finally closed my business.I barely read the book...The book does the job and if you buy the book, I assume you are trying the oldschool way of getting business. It's a lot of work and I wish you luck. Hard work pays off.Just go for walks with your flyers and business cards. Knock on everyone's doors, introduce yourself. Give business cards, take email and number, follow up next day, document everything.Numbers game.I didn't get that from the book, didn't read.Horrible review right ?