The Sales Archaeologist

At the 2011 HUGS Conference in Boston last week Brian Halligan the CEO of Hubspot made that statement “cold calling was unethical”. Now to be perfectly fair to Brian that statement was made during a Q and A session at lunch and he might have simply grabbed the wrong word as he spoke spontaneously. On the other hand he may have been trying to polarize a little (not that I mind since I have been known to do that myself) but the statement got me thinking none the less.

First of all a disclaimer – I love Hubspot, I use Hubspot and I see the value that Hubspot brings to any sales organization. I recommend it to all my clients. The leads that are generated the right way are certainly the best ones to follow up on and it has certainly helped Kurlan and Associates to do that as a company.

That said it is a little Ironic that we have been involved with helping many of the Hubspot VARS get better by means of a sales training program Like this one  for the past 14 months or so and interestingly enough, part of what we help them do is cold call (with some success I might add) and this has generated new customers for them and in turn Hubspot. Was that unethical of me to teach those techniques?

It is also true that the reps from Hubspot itself make cold calls – they would say they don’t because they are technically following up on inbound leads but in reality these calls from the client’s perspective are often intrusive and unexpected. Many times they do not recall raising their hand and even if they do it hardly makes a difference. Most were not hoping for a phone call.

Part of the reason why Brian said what he said was because he felt those calls “interrupted” a person’s day. I understand that can be irritating, we all hate to be interrupted, but if we apply that across the board does that mean that all interruptions to our day are unethical?  What about the customer that calls and interrupts us? What about the prospect that wants to buy? What about the reporter that wants to interview us on CNN? I cannot imagine that we find such calls unethical.

I also thought about some of the not for profits that I have helped make calls to local businesses in hopes of finding some financial support. Is it unethical to call and look for help with educating children, funding scholarships or getting support for a walk for cancer – I don’t think so and yet they certainly qualify as a cold call that interrupts your day.

So perhaps what Brian meant to say was that outright cold calling is ineffective or inferior to other newer methods. I agree with that – the scene of marketing has changed. Outbound marketing has been replaced by inbound marketing methods. The nature of sales has changed too – the crafty words of Ziglar and the tricks of Sandler are not welcome by most prospects. Sales people need to be more informed and educated, leverage relationships much better and allow the prospects to feel that they are coming to them for help.

Dharmesh the CTO and Co-Founder of Hubspot later spoke about what they call “Smarketing”. I think there is truth to the fact that sales is becoming more marketing focused and vice versa. The new focus of marketers is leads – Hurrah! It’s been a long time coming and we welcome the change. As sales people though you need to ask yourself if you have adjusted. Are you selling differently than 10 or even 5 years ago or are you stuck in a rut? Are you using the tools available to you to ensure that you are a value add? Are you keeping up with your siblings in the world of marketing? If all you do is regurgitate information that a prospect can find on your site or watch on the web – then you are not just ineffective or at times unethical. You are a dinosaur and on the way out.