An end to cold calling...?

Traditional ëheavy handedí sales tactics are making way for a softer, people-targeted approach according to sales professionals surveyed by specialist recruitment firm Tanner Menzies.

Networking and client referrals are leaving conventional lead generation techniques such as cold calling and exhibition attendance in the pastñ with more than half of those surveyed (54%) confirming that word of mouth and being able to put a face to a name are the most powerful tools when it comes to high end sales.

In contrast, exhibition attendance (3%) was deemed to be the least successful means to establishing robust leads, followed by cold calling (19%).

The results come as no surprise to Tanner Menziesí operations director, Alistair Cleland, who believes the profession has come of age:

ìIndividuals working in the sales profession have been shaking off clichs surrounding out-dated, hard-sell tactics for the past decade and the survey results reconfirm not only a shifting attitude but also a clear cut success rate in a target driven industry.î

While cold calling and marketing (22%) continue to generate leads in some market sectors, Cleland believes clever sales professionals will place even greater importance on networking across the coming 12 month period.

Consumers, being both savvy to the hard-sell and time-poor, have been instrumental to the evolution of sales and, as neither of these influencing factors are likely to disappear, clever selling strategies and personal relationships will become the backbone of the sales environment, without a doubt!î Cleland concludes.

Tanner Menzies is a specialist recruitment business that focuses on permanent and interim positions for sales and marketing roles throughout the UK. Recently expanding into the European market, the brand was first established in Australia in 1988 and has since grown in its success, supplying staff into IT, Telecoms, FMCG, Financial Services, Media and Service sectors.