Being outgoing, gregarious and friendly used to be the savvysalesperson's ticket to penetrating new accounts.

Today, key decision makers on your target list of prospectsalready have plenty of friends.

And, given the sheer volume of solicitations that come in on adaily basis, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the next cold call that gets lobbed in the customer'sdirection has only a very small chance of success.

Some of the reason sellers are experiencing such low hit-ratesis self-inflicted, by using traditional catch-phrases like, “Iwould love to…”, or, “I just need a brief moment of your time.”Decision makers know you're not just looking for a brief moment oftheir time. They also assume salespeople have quotas to hit andwould really “love” to boost their commissions.

Good intentions

No doubt your intentions are good, as most salespeople areearnestly trying to provide value to their customers. The challengeis separating yourself from the countless other solicitationspotential buyers receive on a daily basis, and then causingdecision makers to “want to” engage with you.

Suppose if it were possible to reverse this trend. What if youcould create an 80 percent or better success rate when reaching outto new prospects, rather than continue enduring the typical 90percent or more failure rate? How is this possible, you mightask?

Acquiring the skills necessary to fill your pipeline faster, andwith more qualified prospects, is actually easier than one mightthink. But, it does require sellers to have an appreciation ofnext-generation selling skills, which is very different than justtrying to 'buddy' your way into potential opportunities.

Important questions to ask yourself

There's no magic, and God knows old-school sales tricks or gimmicks aren'tgoing to work moving forward. Instead, there are a few veryimportant questions individual sellers (and entire sales teams)should be asking themselves, like:

• What are you doing to leverage curiosity to get mindshare fromkey decision makers in target accounts?
• What questions are you asking to convey credibility?
• How does opening with a generic elevator pitch differentiateyou from competitors who are making similar claims?
• What are you doing to secure incremental commitments on the wayto the larger sale?

When you're on the receiving end of cold calls at home, I betyou're not excited about giving information to people you don't yetknow and trust. So, why should we expect the old-school mentalityof trying to “befriend” prospective customers, if that strategy nolonger works on you or me? Hmmm…

Related: 14 ways to sabotage your salescareer