No More Cold Calling(TM): The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust [Paperback]

Joanne S. Black (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2007

Cold calling is one of the most awkward -- and unsuccessful -- ways to obtain clients in business. Now Joanne S. Black shares her proven 5-step Referral Selling system, so no businessperson ever has to make a cold call again. In this unique and practical guide, Black offers a tutorial on how to differentiate your business from your competitors, make favorable impressions on current clients so they'll refer their acquaintances, and set a "hook" that will leave them wanting more. NO MORE COLD CALLING provides selling scripts, presentation techniques, troubleshooting advice, and a host of helpful insights to increase any sales force's productivity.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It's filled with exclamation marks, lots of all-capital words, and breathless enthusiasm. It is far different from many of the existing "how to sell intangible services" systems. Yet, referral selling, as espoused and explained by Black, works. Although her energetic prose occasionally can be off-putting, she's got proven ideas and a great methodology--if it were truly transparent. The issue? That too much other information obscures her killer acronym, or attract (Tell, Remind, Audience, Contacts, Touch), elaborated on in chapter 10. For sure, the other data enhance and feed into her themes; how could anyone argue with topics such as management responsibilities, four essential attitudes, the right kind of customer, etc.? Bottom line: the message is muddied, despite some wonderful advice, personal success stories, and great practical tools and templates. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Effective selling begins with a steady supply of leads. This book gives them practical answers and useful tools." -- —Neil Rackham, researcher, writer and author of SPIN Selling.

"In business, standing out is critical to success, and Joanne Black hits a home run with NO MORE COLD CALLING." -- —Jane Edwards, President, Creed & Creed International

"Joanne Black’s NO MORE COLD CALLING provides a system that will heat up your business—and your career"" -- —Susan RoAne, author of The Secrets of Savvy Networking and How To Work a Room®

"No More Cold Calling is a simple, straightforward, step-by-step guide on how to get all the great prospects you'll need." -- —Michael S. Clouse, Editor-in-Chief, Nexera e-NewsT

"Referrals are the Holy Grails of selling. NO MORE COLD CALLING shows you how to get great referrals every day." --—Jeffrey Fox, bestselling author of Secrets of Great Rainmakers

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Business Plus (April 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446695386
• ISBN-13: 978-0446695381
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With over 30 years of sales training and consulting experience, Joanne's philosophy is that no one should ever have to make a cold call. Some may see this as heretical thinking, but for Joanne Black - and her clients - there is an alternative. It's called referral selling.

Joanne has provided sales strategy consulting since 1996, when she developed the No More Cold Calling concept - that building relationships and getting referrals generates sales faster and more cost-effectively than cold-calling.

Joanne began her career in the sales and management training program at Joseph Magnin, which was one of the leading fashion houses in the San Francisco Bay Area. She learned the nuances of selling, customer expectations, handling problems, and working with a diverse work force.

At Joseph Magnin, Joanne developed the mantra that's become the foundation of her extraordinary leadership ability: Doing something that's never been done before can be the best reason for doing it. "If you follow conventional wisdom, chances are you'll never have breakthrough ideas," says Joanne.

After co-founding and operating a successful retail business while still in her twenties, Joanne moved on to sales leadership positions with Omega Performance, a financial services training and consulting firm, and The Forum Corporation, a global management, consulting and training company that served such clients as Advanced Micro Devices, Hewlett-Packard, Pacific Gas & Electric, Shell Oil, and VISA.

Joanne Black is a leader with integrity, determination, and the clarity to see how conventional sales "wisdom" isn't always so effective. With these core qualities, Joanne guides client companies to where they want to go, steering them away from inefficient and ineffective business practices, and giving them clear directions towards business growth and success.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not really what I expected, July 11, 2006

By 

William Burns (East Hartford, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No More Cold Calling(TM): The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust (Hardcover)

I ordered the book expecting the breakthrough system advertised on the cover. Instead, the book is about going to networking events to meet people to trade referrals with. I guess that's ok if that's your thing but it's not mine, it sure never got me anywhere, heck, the top sales guys I know won't even bother with those events. The first 100 pages are spent just trying to convince you that referral selling is the only way to sell. Ok so cold calling is out but I don't think referral selling is the only option.

I might have given the book a better rating if the cover told the truth and I knew I was buying a book about going out to networking mixers. Referral selling is old news and there are plenty of other books about it. I feel let down by what I got. And you know what? The book isn't half bad if going to networking events is your thing. That's why I gave it better than one star. But why not tell people what they're getting up front? The author needs to study up on relationship selling because you sure don't build good relationships by promising one thing and delivering another. And why are all the 5-star reviews from people in her area in CA?

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to use your sales time more effectively through referral selling, November 2, 2007

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No More Cold Calling(TM): The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust (Paperback)

If you have ever sold for a living, even for a short time, you probably have had to make cold calls. There are lots of books, methods, and programs to help salespeople make cold calling more of a methodical process than the severe emotional challenge many people find it to be. While I never found making the cold calls particularly painful, I did find them a horrible waste of time. However, sometimes it seemed necessary.

The author of this book, Joanne S. Black, calls herself the Queen of Referral Selling. She has a very compelling method that you can use to get a much higher conversion rate from referral selling than you could ever get from cold calling. She even explains how to transition to it in an environment that rigorously enforces cold calling.

I like the way she lists a great many objections and explains how to get past them. In my own selling experience, I always tried to get and use referrals as much as possible. Frankly, I wish I had thought to be as systemic in the approach as the author of this book. Or that I had been able to get this book sent back in time to help me. But it is here now and it can help you. Buy it, read it, use it and you will enjoy the success you get. And I believe that you will move away pretty quickly from cold calling because you will have so many more effective hot leads to follow up with that there just isn't time to call strangers.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Really Disappointed, November 24, 2007

By 

Ivan J. Weiss (Commack, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No More Cold Calling(TM): The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust (Hardcover)

I agree that cold calling is out and referral selling yields higher sales volume. I am already practicing this in my business and record about 1 million in sales annually (2nd in my organization) doing this. I wanted to increase my performance so I bought this book.

I was dumbfounded. I am only 1/2 way through it and all I hear about is why referral selling is great and how the author succeeded in it. Great, but when does the author start sharing????

Normally, I can plow through business books as they really hold my interest. However, this one I cannot read through quickly because the 1st 1/2 is sooooo repitive and to be honest I am tired of hearing the author pat herself on the back.

To be fair, keep in mind I only read 1/2 thus far. But, I am NOT happy with my purchase.....