On today's episode of The Sales Evangelist, we talk to Matt Hernandez about the changes in the marketplace, and how the ability to find local partners has helped him drive more revenue for the businesses he serves. In his work with small-to-medium businesses, Matt has worked to figure out new ways to deal with leads because people have become more resistant to cold calling. He believes that, although cold-calling can work, it must exist in the right circumstances. The key is better lead intelligence. Hire the right people Matt doesn't struggle with recruiting or interviewing salespeople. The key, he says, is to be very upfront about the challenges of the role and hire the right type of people. Hire open-minded people who aren't super particular about their activities and who often aren't as needy. [7:15] They'll be more coachable. Also be very honest about the type of role you're hiring for, the challenges it will present, but also the benefits of the role as well. Moving away from cold leads In the past, sellers would have a name and a phone number and they could attack each cold lead with different opens or different hooks. Now, he says, people are numb to that approach. Instead, his company looked to generate inbound leads and lukewarm leads. Matt's company uses a program called "Local Partners" that pays contractors to feed them warm or hot leads from local areas. He pointed out that using pure commission models doesn't change your cost structure. [9:14] He does acknowledge that you must make sure the payment is in line with the revenue goals. You must make sure your customer acquisition costs aren't too high. Big revenue increases Matt's company has seen strong results from the move away from cold calling. He estimates that the effort now accounts for 5 to 15 percent of their deals. He predicts that this kind of effort would likely work in a variety of industries. Companies just have to be creative to figure out how to scale in a cost-effective way. Buying leads can be very expensive, but a pay-for-results model can work if the infrastructure is set up properly. [11:10] Partnerships model Begin by listing as on Craigslist in the cities you're interested in. State what you're offering and decide ahead of time how much you can afford to pay. Decide how much you'd be willing to pay someone if they were to generate meetings or contracts. For longer sales cycles, you might have to pay per demo. [12:09] In shorter sales cycles, you pay based upon generating contracts. In your ad, provide a range of income that interested parties could generate per month. Then you could interview over the phone or in person or over video. The effort is super cheap, super easy and really scrappy. Be willing to pivot Be creative. Sales requires consistency and training and the right effort for the right amount of time. Without it, you'll never see meaningful results or data you can measure. [14:54] Seek objective advice and make sure you're giving your new ideas time to work. If things aren't going the way you want despite your effort, don't be afraid to pivot and try new approaches. Be willing to try something different. The marketplace changes rapidly, and technology does, too. You have to be willing to adapt. Fivestars Local businesses are the best candidates to benefit from Fivestars because they are traditionally underserved in their marketing efforts. They often face huge competition from groups of businesses that pool their resources. [15:59] Think of a small coffee shop competing against Starbucks, who has millions of dollars to spend on advertising. Fivestars has...

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