Preface

A true story...

Thomas and Ruddy were a pair of ambitious ten year olds who

lived on the same block in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pining

for some spending money, they approached their dads with a

scheme: Rent us your lawnmowers so we can start a mowing

business. A deal was struck and off they went. By August of

that hot summer the boys had a dozen accounts apiece—lawns

belonging to almost all of the neighbors they knew, most of the

lawns within four square blocks, and certainly all of the lawns

two ten-year-old boys could handle.

“If we get some other kids,” Thomas observed, “we can do

even more.”

“But we have everyone we know already,” said Ruddy.

“I’ll bet our dads know a lot of people we can ask,” countered

Thomas. “And so will the kids we get to help us.”

Ruddy, comfortable with his dozen customers, opted out.

Thomas recruited two more friends—and their dads’ mowers.

He got their dads, his dad, and Ruddy’s dad to make lists of

names and addresses of neighbors the kids didn’t know. Then

he set off knocking on doors to sign up new mowing clients.

Cold calling. Building a book of business from the ground up.

Today Thomas is a college senior. His lawn service boasts

150 clients, seven employees, and an accountant. Some of his

clients date back to the beginning. When he graduates, Quality

Landscape and Garden Services will be Thomas’ full-time

occupation.

There is a difference between cold calling and prospecting.

“Cold calling” means hitting the streets to knock on the

doors of people you don’t know. It means picking up the

phone to call people you’ve never met. Cold calling is part and

parcel of the activity called “prospecting,” which can begin

when you ask people you do know for the names and numbers

of other people who might, possibly, do business with you. It

continues as you pursue these people—gently, carefully—until

they either become customers or you determine that their

business potential is unlikely or too low.

Knock Your Socks Off Prospecting: How to Cold Call, Get

Qualified Leads, and Make More Money is about making the

most of your cold-calling opportunities. It is about developing

the skill and judgment that lets you know when to pursue a

prospect all the way to customer status, and when to cut your

losses and move on. In fact, we’ve tried to make that even

easier for you. Throughout the book you will find our sales

prospector. When you see this little guy, pay close attention.

He’ll offer nuggets of wisdom that will help you find gold with

all of your prospects. More than that, Knock Your Socks Off

Prospecting: How to Cold Call, Get Qualified Leads, and Make

More Money is about creating a personal program of cold-call

selling, building the skills necessary to work it, and developing

the stamina—the patience—to do so, until one day you,

like young Thomas, become a master of cold-call selling.

Skip Miller

Ron Zemke

A true story...

Thomas and Ruddy were a pair of ambitious ten year olds who

lived on the same block in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pining

for some spending money, they approached their dads with a

scheme: Rent us your lawnmowers so we can start a mowing

business. A deal was struck and off they went. By August of

that hot summer the boys had a dozen accounts apiece—lawns

belonging to almost all of the neighbors they knew, most of the

lawns within four square blocks, and certainly all of the lawns

two ten-year-old boys could handle.

“If we get some other kids,” Thomas observed, “we can do

even more.”

“But we have everyone we know already,” said Ruddy.

“I’ll bet our dads know a lot of people we can ask,” countered

Thomas. “And so will the kids we get to help us.”

Ruddy, comfortable with his dozen customers, opted out.

Thomas recruited two more friends—and their dads’ mowers.

He got their dads, his dad, and Ruddy’s dad to make lists of

names and addresses of neighbors the kids didn’t know. Then

he set off knocking on doors to sign up new mowing clients.

Cold calling. Building a book of business from the ground up.

Today Thomas is a college senior. His lawn service boasts

150 clients, seven employees, and an accountant. Some of his

clients date back to the beginning. When he graduates, Quality

Landscape and Garden Services will be Thomas’ full-time

occupation.

There is a difference between cold calling and prospecting.

“Cold calling” means hitting the streets to knock on the

doors of people you don’t know. It means picking up the

phone to call people you’ve never met. Cold calling is part and

parcel of the activity called “prospecting,” which can begin

when you ask people you do know for the names and numbers

of other people who might, possibly, do business with you. It

continues as you pursue these people—gently, carefully—until

they either become customers or you determine that their

business potential is unlikely or too low.

Knock Your Socks Off Prospecting: How to Cold Call, Get

Qualified Leads, and Make More Money is about making the

most of your cold-calling opportunities. It is about developing

the skill and judgment that lets you know when to pursue a

prospect all the way to customer status, and when to cut your

losses and move on. In fact, we’ve tried to make that even

easier for you. Throughout the book you will find our sales

prospector. When you see this little guy, pay close attention.

He’ll offer nuggets of wisdom that will help you find gold with

all of your prospects. More than that, Knock Your Socks Off

Prospecting: How to Cold Call, Get Qualified Leads, and Make

More Money is about creating a personal program of cold-call

selling, building the skills necessary to work it, and developing

the stamina—the patience—to do so, until one day you,

like young Thomas, become a master of cold-call selling.

Skip Miller

Ron Zemke