I was watching my 3 year old's favorite TV program Wonder Pets the other day. Seriously compelling television. I wish I could say I had the time these days to watch an educational documentary, or a home improvement show or even ESPN. Nope...I've got the Wonder Pets or any other show on Nick Jr., Disney Channel or PBS Kids...but I digress.
For those of you that don't know the premise of the show, It centers around 3 schoolroom pets- Linny, Tuck and Ming-Ming. Each episode involves them resolving a situation where a fellow baby animal is in some kind of danger. Linny The Guinea Pig, the leader of the crew who is responsible for coordinating their plan of action and providing motivation when necessary- Tuck The Turtle, the sensitive one responsible for hand-holding, hugs and company to help the rescued animal through their ordeal - and Ming Ming The Duckling, the youngest and most confident member of the team, whose confidence can at times put her in a tough spot which Linny and Tuck regularly need to bail her out of. What we discover from each show is that the only way they can accomplish each mission is by working together as a team. Like most children's shows, they sing a catchy song (that you can't get out of your head) as they gear up for each rescue.
The jam goes a little something like this...
Linny
Tuck
& Ming-Ming Too
We're Wonder Pets
And we'll help you!
What's gonna work!
TEAMWORK!
What's going to work TEEAAMWORK!
We're not too big
And we're not too tough
But when we work together
We've got the right stuff
Gooooo Wonder Pets, ya'ay!
(I've abbreviated the tune for sanity's sake)
Once the animal is free from danger, usually the animal's mommy or daddy comes out of nowhere to give grateful thanks to the Wonder Pets for saving their baby.
It could have been lack of sleep but while I was driving to work this morning, trying to get the damn song out of my head, it struck me that there were many similarities between the collective effort required for those little creatures to accomplish their goals and how we run our teleprospecing efforts here at AG.
The structure is essentially the same -You have me as the Director of Clients Operations, a.k.a Linny. I devise a plan of attack as we ramp up each campaign as well as oversee the performance of my team's calling efforts. The Manager of Client Operations, a.k.a Tuck, who is responsible for training of new hires and low performers who may need some additional assistance (plus some occasional hand-holding & hugs along the way). And lastly, the Business Development Rep ,a.k.a Ming-Ming, whose responsibilities include fearlessly making cold calls day after day, while occasionally requiring their DCO's or MCO's assistance to get them through a tough situation.
From what I've seen, to be a successful at cold calling you really can't do it all on your own. The ol' "sink or swim" approach does occasionally work, but what's the point of hiring someone that will fail 70% of the time without assistance? You really can't assume that just hiring someone to cold call for you will net your sales team an un-ending amount of leads. We all want to produce the kind of quality leads which will convert to forecast and eventually into closed business. From AG's perspective, it is more than just picking up the phone. Doing it the right way requires on-going training, messaging assistance and list development, (to highlight just a few), and that can only be attained through a group effort.
Just like the parent of the rescued baby animal in Wonder Pets, we want our boss and/or client to be grateful for the efforts that go into cold calling the "right way". What's gonna work?.... TEAMWORK!
Photo Credit: * monsters are awesomer than you* on Flickr
Craig Ferrara is the Vice President of Client Operations for AG Salesworks. He has extensive experience in the sales and teleprospecting process. Craig joined AG Salesworks in 2003 and has successfully managed several teams of high-performing Business Development Representatives. To read more of his articles, click here.
