Cold calling, whether you believe that it works or not, is still, to this day, the most popular form of sales prospecting. Furthermore, in the world of B2B sales, if you’re not an enterprise or national accounts rep, the chances are that you’ll be cold calling small business owners.

 Small business owners present a unique challenge because they’re generally not as accessible as large business decision makers. In a large corporation, the decision maker may be a middle manager with, quite honestly, not much else to do but to entertain your cold calls and meet with you. In other cases, it may be a busy senior executive, but who has assistants and staff to lighten his workload while he’s busy meeting with you.

 When cold calling small business owners, keep all of these important details in mind:

•  Small business owners are especially busy people. Most are jacks-of-all-trades who, in addition to providing the main service of a business, are also managing payroll, doing their own bookkeeping, filling out monthly payroll tax forms, and more. On top of that, when it comes to sole owners who work alone with no employees, they’re usually doing all of the selling as well.
•  Small business owners are frequently inaccessible. Because they’re so overwhelmed with so much work, cold calling them can be difficult.
• They know how to sell. A surprising number of entrepreneurs worked in sales before going out on their own. That means they’ve been through lots of sales training, have read lots of books, and as a result they know all the tricks, so think twice before trying a “Ben Franklin close” or a “feel felt found” on them. They’ll know what you’re up to, and will call you out on it.
• They especially hate cold calls. In addition to not having enough time to make cold calls themselves, they don’t like to receive them either. Cold calling small business owners can be a losing proposition for the first three reasons alone, but add in this fourth one and you’re in trouble.

 What’s the solution, then? The simple answer is this: Stop cold calling business owners and start looking for ways to connect with them, on an equal level. Social media like LinkedIn is a great place to start, along with local Rotary Clubs, Chambers of Commerce, and other networking groups.

 In addition to the obvious advantage of not having to cold call them, you’ll have a better chance of gaining their interest and making a sale when you’re in an environment where you’re peers, rather than a supplicating salesperson approaching a superior buyer for a sale.

 For more great sales tips like these, visit http://www.nevercoldcall.com