In part one of this article readers were given two of three questions to ask employers who claim their sales jobs provide "warm" leads.

A brief synopsis of the two of the three most important questions to ask: (1) HOW are their leads generated, (2) when were they generated and now for the final important question:

(3) Are the leads generated by the company itself, or do they use a third party company? 

Some companies use leads that were not generated by their company at all but by a lead generation company -  a third party. So technically, the lead may be warm, but if the people weren't looking for your specific product or service, it'll be a tough sale. In essence it's a blind lead. 

Any legitimate company will proudly reveal where their leads came from and even how long ago they were generated. But if you aren't informed enough to ask, most will not volunteer that information. Asking these three questions will save your time and money. If a company gives you the wrong answers, you should continue looking for another job. 

I feel any company that isn't honest enough to tell you that you will be calling on leads that are old or not targeted, is probably not a company that can be trusted, and the product they sell is probably suspect as well. Think about it, if they are dishonest with their employees, it stands to reason they will be dishonest with their customers too. Doesn't it? 

Unscrupulous Companies

Many companies will solicit "closers" knowing full well that they won't stay. Instead of paying a telemarketer $10/hr, they prefer to lure in a top salesperson for commission only, ply them with poor quality "warm" leads and have them "fishing" for prospects who will then be turned over to the veterans - once the closer has caught onto the game and left the company. 

So, the company is saving money because telemarketers aren't experienced enough to know how to ferret out "real" prospects, and the closer is finding potential clients or buyers on their own dime. A top salesperson's time is much too valuable to be spent "fishing" for prospects. Their energy should be saved for closing, not prospecting. 

Get Prospects To Call You

In my experience in working in sales and training salespeople, I encourage everyone to generate their own leads if at all possible. By focusing on generating your own leads, you have much more control because people are calling YOU. And if you generate your own leads, you can usually negotiate a higher commission on the sale, since the company didn't have to spend any money for the lead.

How To Generate Your Own Sales Leads

The same questions that you would ask an employer as to how they generated their "warm" leads are the same methods that you should be using. You want to draw people to you versus chasing them - which is what cold calling is.

Sit down and map out a strategy to get prospects to call you. Consider running ads, sending out postcards and fliers, offering freebies, doing radio interviews, anything to get your name out there so people will contact you. Brainstorm ideas. All it takes is one idea to start. Implementing that one idea starts the momentum.

When you're ready to stop cold calling once and for all, I invite you to visit http://www.getprospectstocallyou.com to get the recently released book, "Secrets To Getting Glengarry Prospects To Call You." 

Brought to you by C. Monroe Alexander, sales and lead generation coach.