Despite the growing disdain for walk-in-the-door cold calling, there are plenty of high activity sales companies (even industries) that conduct sales blitzes to generate a wave of fresh leads for their new business developers.

Read on for some great best practices to make them successful.

Teams. I've always had good luck bringing approximately 8-10 people in for a sales blitz focused on one individual's sales territory. The 8-10 are paired up into teams (usually a senior sales professional with a newer one), and at the kick-off meeting early in the morning we announce the teams and they give themselves a fun name. Each team gets a binder with the next two helpful aids.

Maps & Lists. Each team receives a map of their sales blitz area. Sure, they may know the area, but you want to avoid overlap as much as possible. The teams also receive hard copy lists of existing customers, so no calls are made on them. And each of the other teams' pairing and cell phone numbers are included.

Goals & Tracking. Each team also commits to a minimum number of calls, good leads, and hot leads. Since the meeting ends at 7:45 am and the recap meeting is held at 4:30 pm, a good number of calls for my industries has always been around 50. Some kill that number, some miss it by a bit. Depending on your industry, your numbers may be well off this mark. As for tracking, each team fills out a lead sheet for every company they call on, even the poor leads, so a history can be generated in the host rep's database.

Check-in Phone Calls. The fun comes when teams check in to find out how the other teams are doing in terms of number of calls and, most importantly, one-call closes. As the day progresses, they start calling each other directly. This is where the competitive side of your salespeople starts making things interesting.

Recap Meeting. You've got to have a recap meeting. Each time has to be held accountable for their efforts for the day. They should report their number of total calls, hot leads, good leads, and a couple highlights of the day. We have also given each participant a token of our appreciation for participating, and the winning team (most calls or most sales generated from one-call closes) wins a prize.

Sales blitzes are a fun way to pair sales professionals who generally go it alone while generating leads for their colleagues. Good luck with yours.

For a free tool to assist in tracking the leads generated in sales blitzes, visit here now.

Brandon Hull

Brandon Hull loves selling. He has helped hundreds of street-level, outside sales professionals increase their sales by rededicating themselves to proven tactics, while also incorporating fresh ideas.

He thinks outside sales professionals need to start thinking more like marketers, less like sales representatives. He likes conversations and stories, not hype.

His experience ranges from successfully launching his own one-man training and consulting business, to personal sales and leadership with Fortune 500 companies.

And he talks about himself in the third person.

Listen, I’ve been in your shoes, signing new business, managing accounts, leading teams, leading regions, leading companies. I've sold bandaids, safety equipment, uniforms, software, as well as training and consulting services.

And now I want to take a small, but irritating, burden off your plate. You want bite-sized, practical sales training tools your team can take on-the-go, I can help. You want desktop aids such as desk planners, activity tracking documents and spreadsheets, or sales-rep friendly software, I can help. If you want a fresh, energized face and presentation for your regional meeting or convention, I’m there.