THE COLD CALL CONUNDRUM

R E S E A R C H D E C K B Y J E N N I F E R J O S T

RESEARCH QUESTIONS1. How does the sales representatives personality

outside of the classroom affects their selling techniques?

2. How do the sales representatives respond to rejections?

3. How does rejection affect sellers future calls?4. What do the students believe the hardest part of

selling is?5. What is the preferred method of selling? Why?

METHODOLOGYI studied this

phenomenon during the office hours of the students in the Advertisement Workshop class. I did my office hours while they are doing their so I can be a participant in the study. To protect their identity, I used a suffix then added a random letter to it. I used this mixture as their name.

PERSONALITY & SALESPersonality Description

Prefers Cold Calling

Prefers Go-Sees

Why?

Sir A Confident, well-liked

X Face to face is more confortable

Mr. B Very nice, determined, persistent

X Can contact more people in a small amount of time

Sir C Confident, well-liked

X Believes can make better impression in

personMr. D Ambitious,

confidentX Can “charm” the

client; “That’s how you do it in the real world”

M. F Non-responsive in class, slightly

unfocused

X Finds people listen more

Lady G Shy, nice, insecure about selling abilities

X She feels she gets tongue tied

on the phoneSir H Confident,

extravert X X Is indifferent

OBSERVATIONS5/6

Students preferred go-sees over cold calling

*1 was indifferent

2/7Students tend to avoid

making calls entirely*Do research majority of office

hours

3/7Students were negatively

affected by rejection from clients

4/7Students don’t feel like they are good at sales

5/6Students preferred go-sees over cold calling

*1 was indifferent

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT

THIS?I believe that this information should be incorporated to

remake the foundation of the Advertising Workshop class. Currently, no formal instruction on how to actually conduct a go-see, how to put together a presentation or how to sell in person is in place. I propose that over two weeks, students

learn go-see selling techniques (among other important lessons) instead of immediately starting to make calls.

4/7Students don’t feel like they are good at sales

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT

THIS?This feeling of not being good at sales stems from this being

most of the students first time making any sort of sales. From my observations, they are just not confident in their

sales techniques. I believe that this can be helped if the two week informational classes are put in place.

3/7Students were negatively

affected by rejection from clients

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT

THIS?Getting rejected from anyone is hard but it is a common situation for a sales person to be in. Again training the

students for these types of situations may better help deal with it. Also, I’ve noticed that the staff, myself included,

rarely encourages the students on their work. Everyone gets really excited when a sale is made but the day to day calls

and small wins go unnoticed.

2/7Students tend to avoid

making calls entirely*Do research majority of office

hours

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT

THIS?Obviously some students are more motivated learners than others but students that don’t make their calls are denying themselves the opportunity to get better. I believe that one

student (Lady G) is reluctant to call because she does not like being rejected. The other student (Monsieur F) extremely

dislikes talking to clients on the phone and prefers to sell on go-sees instead. I believe that both of these problems could be solved with more training. Practice may be their issue. During the two-week training period, student can practice

playing both the role of sales person and client.