Have you ever seen a guy trying to get a date with a cheesy pickup line? You watch the whole scene unfold. He walks up to the girl with nervous confidence, and taps her on the shoulder. She turns with both interest and curiosity. Then the words come out of his mouth, "There's something wrong with my cell phone ... It doesn't have your number in it." And that brief moment of curiosity changes to disinterest and a cold shoulder.

Cheesy pickup tactics don't work in the dating world, and they don't work in sales either. So why do recognized sales trainers like Jeffery Gitomer, author of The Sales Bible, teach sales people lame cold calling techniques? Gitomer claims you will get 100% of your calls returned if, "You call them up on the phone. Leave half a message, pretend like you have been cut off and hang up." He goes on to give the call script, "Hello this is Jeffery. 704-333-eleven-twelve. I was speaking with a couple of your biggest competitors yesterday. They were talking about you, and they said ... and you hang up." Supposedly the prospect will be so curious to hear the rest of your message that he will call back.

Gitomer even recognizes that his approach is not professional and claims exuberantly "But it's fun!" It may be fun, but do you really want to deal with the prospect who calls back? As soon as they figure out you've tricked them, they are never going to do business with you. The relationship is dead before it even gets off the ground. This has got to be one of the worst cold calling techniques I have ever heard. You might as well call up the prospect with a corny pickup line – it will have the same result.

For short term gain, you may be tempted to use one of these cheesy prospecting strategies to gain access to a buyer. You can manipulate your way past the gate keepers, and even get yourself in front of the decision maker. But now what? If you are selling anything that requires more than one call, you have just started off the relationship on the wrong foot. Now you have to spend every subsequent call trying to rebuild trust with a defensive buyer.

I don't expect to make a sale on the first call. I have two goals in a prospecting call. The first is to let the prospect know I am out there and the services we provide. The second is to set an expectation of what it is like to work with our firm. It takes time to initiate the relationship, develop rapport and build a value proposition.

Sales is a demonstration. The prospective buyer notices every behavior and interaction, and uses it as a litmus test for your company's culture, values, quality of service and competitive advantage. When a sales person uses a manipulative cold calling technique the prospect feels, "If this is how they train the sales people, imagine how bad their service is! I have to get away from this person."

I use a straight up prospecting approach. When I make a call, I tell the prospect right away why I am calling. For example, "Hi, my name is Jeremy Miller and I am calling from LEAPJob. I am calling today to introduce our services, do you have a moment?" It is direct and allows me to manage the customer relationship properly.

If I get voice mail, I leave a message with the same starting point and send a follow up email that mentions the voice message. The prospect knows exactly why I am calling, and the email helps provide a second point of access. People are more likely to respond with a short email than pick up the phone for a five-minute conversation. This approach is also successful, because I respect the people I am calling. Nine times out of ten, the prospect is friendly and tells me where they stand. They will request more information, direct me to someone else, ask me to follow up in three months or say they are not interested. If I get no response, I simply make a "To Do" to call again.

Prospecting does not need to be scientific. It should be simple, direct and honest. If you truly care about helping your clients, then each call you make has a purpose. It isn't simply about asking them to put their money in your pocket. You are demonstrating how you can help your clients and what it is like to work with your firm. When you prospect well, you get rewarded with faster sales cycles, smoother negotiations and plenty of referrals. Starting the sale off right makes all the difference in the world.

End Note: It may seem odd that I have directed so much attention on Jeffrey Gitomer. Much of his sales techniques and strategies are sound. Gitomer's cold calling techniques caught my attention, because he has a short clip on YouTube that is receiving a lot of attention.