Are Cold Calls Really Dead?

 

Here is a great topic to debate: Because of social media, is cold calling dead? This is a question that has divided many salespeople, and there are valid arguments to both sides. “Sales Hunter” Mark Hunter tackles this subject in his most recent blog post. Hunter believes that there is both a “yes” and “no” response to the question of whether social media can replace cold calls. He addresses both sides of the debate, and below, I’ve included part of his reasoning for cold calls’ relevancy:

“To develop a social media strategy requires time, and I’m a firm believer it must be incremental time. You can’t allow it to take away from your current sales development strategy. Now, I’m astute enough to know that this may change, but we’re not there yet. Salespeople who spend their time dealing in the social media world at the expense of time spent on normal sales development do so at great expense.”

He certainly makes the case for keeping cold calls as part of business development, but Hunter also makes the case for social media’s growing role in sales. Click here to read what else he has to say, and let me know what you think. Are you, like Hunter, able to take both sides of the issue?  Do you agree with his sales development strategy?