In the niche software industry that came and went and in which I had my great years, I spent some of the time in sales, but it was due to my technical understanding of the product and not my pure sales ability, and it was a good thing. I was only successful because we had great technology that offered a great ROR. If I would have had to feed my family based on my sales ability, we would have gotten REALLY hungry.

Most of the REAL in the trenches selling was done by my distributors. I provided technical expertise and deal cutting for them.

Anyway, I had a very successful distributor sales guy that, for some reason, LOVED cold calling. He never wasted a minute or a mile. When we went to major presentations and such, if he had even 15 minutes along the way to stop somewhere he'd never been before that had the slightest chance of needing our technology, he would stop.

In those days, most facilities still had receptionists and the like, so there was no email or voicemail firewall to get past. He had grown up in Ireland and the receptionists were usually mesmorized by his accent. He was a very pleasant and polite guy and never had a problem getting the receptionist to cooperate and give him all the help and information she could.

What I learned from him was that cold calling had to be approached with absolutely no fear of failure. We all know that very few cold calls turn into business, but in B2B, it usually only takes one to make it worthwhile. When he DID hit, it was usually a pretty big hit. I think that for him, it was the thought that every stop might be the one that turns up something worthwhile and the curiosity about what was behind that door, that drove him to love cold calling.

Along these same lines, several times I watched the "trail of broken glass." When a sales guy would get under pressure, he would say anything or do anything to get an order that was impossible to bring to a good ending. If the heat is on, don't let yourself fall into such a situation. Whether you're self employed or selling for someone else it will lead to disaster for you.

Best of luck and I wish I had more help to offer. Hang tough!

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