Ask any sales professional today about the worst part of their job and they will likely tell you it is the cold calling. Cold calling can be one of the most difficult, and least effective, ways to create sales, but fortunately there are many ways smart sales professionals can do less cold calling while enjoying more success and stronger sales.

Often the most powerful sales leads are hiding in plain sight, and one of the best places to uncover those leads is in your existing customer base. Harnessing the power of the existing customer base to gain more customers is a tried and true marketing method, and this type of networking can pay big dividends.

The potential power of this type of network can grow exponentially when you consider that every person in your network has other people in his or her network, and so on and so on. That means that a single contact may be able to provide dozens or even hundreds of sales leads, resulting in more quality prospects and less need for cold calling.

Trade shows and seminars can also be rich sources of potential sales leads, and it is important for sales professionals in all industries to take advantage of these important opportunities. Many major cities host large numbers of trade shows throughout the year, and these trade shows tend to bring out professionals from all across a particular industry. Gathering business cards and trading contact information is yet another great way to reduce the stress of cold calling while making more sales and closing more deals.

If you, like many others reading this blog are in the process of searching for a new sales job, you may also find that this same network of customers may provide a great source of opportunity for your new job search as well. Harnessing the power of your past customer base can be truly powerful when it comes to increasing your opportunities in today’s job market.