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Do you get a lot of "not interested" when doing cold calling, etc?

by wb_man
23 replies
when you're doing cold calling, direct mail, emailing, etc, how many of them are interested in what you have to offer them?

do you have to contact a lot just to get a few interested?

even if you've done some research on their business and you think you can help them, do most of them still say no thanks?
#calling #cold #lot #not interested
  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    That's a loaded question. General cold calling with no research at all, no pre-call intelligence, yeah you talk to a lot to get a few interested. Same with cold emailing, but it doesn't mean you can't generate a lot of sales doing it.

    I will say if you call with a specific reason and offer value very quickly, they're more inclined to listen and your prospect to lead ratio will be much better.
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  • Profile picture of the author Luis Michael Orts
    WB_man, I would suggest looking into what Iam is saying by reading one of claude whitacres books... They have helped me a TON!

    You can find them with a simple amazon search.
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  • Profile picture of the author thet
    Yes. I hear more no's, then I hear yes.

    I do my research (know their background, know their company). Must say, I don't alternate my pitch for every call I make. The volume would get hurt to much if I changed my pitch for every call.

    Sometimes "not interested" is just their default answer to cold calls. I just ask: "What do you mean?"
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    • Profile picture of the author wb_man
      How do you offer value?

      I feel like most of them are not interested no matter what you say to them

      so I guess all you can do is contact as many as possible and hope for the best.
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      • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
        Originally Posted by wb_man View Post

        How do you offer value?

        I feel like most of them are not interested no matter what you say to them

        so I guess all you can do is contact as many as possible and hope for the best.
        Sometimes that is exactly right. Many won't be interested, no matter what.

        Sometimes the low hanging fruit method is good for certain people. I've been using Mobile Renegade to generate a call list, usually if I'm spending a day calling I'll look to see if they have a website, how it looks, and if it's garbage or they don't have one it's more of a churn and burn type deal. If they have a website and it looks polished, I'll check the on page optimization, check the SERPs and see if there's things that can be done to improve conversions easily, give them that information.

        The problem though, is you don't want to be spending too much time researching just to get hung up on.

        One could argue either side... churn and burn or pre call intelligence... I think I actually prefer the churn and burn method, no emotional attachment compared to investing additional time in research in order to offer value to someone that wants to get off the phone lol.
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      • Profile picture of the author thet
        Originally Posted by wb_man View Post

        How do you offer value?

        I feel like most of them are not interested no matter what you say to them

        so I guess all you can do is contact as many as possible and hope for the best.
        I always believe in hybrid. There is no black and white.

        You need to make a lot of calls, but you also need to show how you can help.
        If you can't help, don't waste to much time, and go to the next call.
        But make sure you really cant offer any help.
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        • Profile picture of the author Vanquish
          You need to make sure you tell them what's in it for them and how it's going to help them. Most cold calls open up in the following way...

          "Hi this is Bob from xyz company and I'm wondering if your interested in a website for your business?"

          There's no value proposition here and nothing that would entice him to want a website unless he desperately needs one.
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          Nothing to sell, only value to give and new knowledge to learn.
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    When I used to do telemarketing, I used to make comments such as this:
    "How do you know when I haven't said anything interesting yet?"
    Or this one... "So you're not interested in making $1,000,000?"

    I sometimes got them to stop and listen.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    Interesting that you ask this particular question at this time as I just finished up a survey about sales with my subscribers list and this was one of the questions.

    80% said they get this response most of the time.

    I think it's a symptom of an underlying problem with their
    sales process "IF" they're getting this response after or at
    some point in the presentation.

    One will always get the initial "I'm/We're not interested
    which to me is just a automatic response.
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  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    Originally Posted by wb_man View Post

    when you're doing cold calling, direct mail, emailing, etc, how many of them are interested in what you have to offer them?

    do you have to contact a lot just to get a few interested?

    even if you've done some research on their business and you think you can help them, do most of them still say no thanks?
    The fact that you have done research is completely immaterial to them.
    I get calls from radio stations "Hi, Claude. We created a 30 second radio spot for the Sweeper Store. Let me play it for....hello? hello?" All I think is "What an idiot for wasting his time, before he called me"

    If you get it after the first few seconds....it's just a way to get off the phone. If you get it after you say what you offer, it's your proposition...or asking the wrong questions. Or you are habitually saying something that "I'm not interested" fits.

    But...."I'm not interested" is pretty much the default response to a cold caller, isn't it?
    You're lucky. I don't say anything to cold callers...I just hang up.


    But e-mailing and direct mail? I'm happy if one in 500 respond. And I price my offers accordingly.
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

      You're lucky. I don't say anything to cold callers...I just hang up.
      I remember one time that happened to me. I called right back saying that our call must have dropped, continued talking and we ended up having a conversation. He ended up being one of my best clients. Later in the call he admitted to hanging up but usually nobody calls back right away so he decided to listen. I think it kind of came down to luck.
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

        I remember one time that happened to me. I called right back saying that our call must have dropped, continued talking and we ended up having a conversation. He ended up being one of my best clients. Later in the call he admitted to hanging up but usually nobody calls back right away so he decided to listen. I think it kind of came down to luck.
        I've had a couple people call me right back. One man called back 4 or 5 times....right away.

        The truth is, if he had been more polite (he was yelling by the third call)....I may have stopped and listened, just because of the nerve he showed calling right back.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Stewart
      Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

      But e-mailing and direct mail? I'm happy if one in 500 respond. And I price my offers accordingly.
      This is similar to my experience as well. I'm actually familiar with using benefit laden headlines in emails and have some basic copywriting skills, so I'm not sending crap messages. It's simply that these people are getting bombarded with offers.

      The best way to cut through that is to present ourselves as real people that can help them solve specific problems.

      People buy from people they know, like and trust.
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  • Profile picture of the author Amanda Murdoch
    Hi,
    I would sack the calling immediately - and re think what you are doing ...

    People want to get rid of a salesman asap - they won't even be listening to you - they've already decided to get rid of you quick ...

    Re-position yourself as a consultant - Build a simple funnel - Put the right lead generating strategies in place, and let people come to you -

    This way you are not wasting any of your time, and you can then focus all your activity in only client getting and income producing activity

    Hope this helps
    Good luck
    Amanda
    PS - I've been invited to do a training on offline marketing very soon - It might be useful to you??
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by Moneymakingmum View Post

      Hi,
      I would sack the calling immediately - and re think what you are doing ...

      People want to get rid of a salesman asap - they won't even be listening to you - they've already decided to get rid of you quick ...

      Re-position yourself as a consultant - Build a simple funnel - Put the right lead generating strategies in place, and let people come to you -

      This way you are not wasting any of your time, and you can then focus all your activity in only client getting and income producing activity

      Hope this helps
      Good luck
      Amanda
      PS - I've been invited to do a training on offline marketing very soon - It might be useful to you??
      I think the perception of a marketing consultant for a small business owner is actually looked down upon versus approaching them as another business owner, or company.

      If nobody wants to talk to sales people then I guess trillions of dollars made by sales people in a company are chump change.
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      • Profile picture of the author shadow92
        You need to remember that the guys on here that sound like elite god-tier salesmen still get hung up on, they still get turned down all the time, they hear the same responses you do. Everyone is in the same boat when it comes to cold calling. You're going to hear the SAME RESPONSES, the question is....how will you handle the response?

        I know by sitting here for a day reading through all the sales talk you get the notion that some of these guys are so far above you. Like they just pick up the phone and start getting shitloads of leads. It doesn't work like that, I assure you.

        Calling has never really been my cup of tea, I still do it because it's important but it's never really something I took much interest in. However, my cousin is Compliance & Operations Executive at a chain of brokerage firms in NY, but before that he was a trader....a stock broker. He started in the shit as a Jr. trader and worked his way to a seat that was paying a rough 5M+/yr. Not too shabby for 25 year old.

        Anyway, I always pick his brain at phone sales and one night when we were sitting down eating dinner we were talking and he brought up the fact that as he progressed through the company, the selling got easier. They passed leads along in a hierarchy style so by the time he was getting the leads, they dam near had their credit cards in their hand already.

        So to keep his skills sharp, on every wednesday of the week he would pick up a list of fresh leads right from the press. He would sit in a booth right beside the new hires and start calling.

        So here's an elite salesmen that makes millions of dollars every single year. And he said that he would STILL get treated like shit on some calls, he would STILL get hung up on. He would have a response to EVERY rebuttal and he would STILL get stonewalled.

        My point is....Just call man. Forget about all the technical shit and just call. Get you a list of a few hundred leads and call every single one of them.

        People get SO caught up with saying the perfect thing at the perfect second, don't...just be yourself. When I started I would seriously call people and just say.

        "Hey I'm a Web Designer looking for some work. Need anything done? If not do you know anyone who does?

        Believe it or not, that script is how my business made its first $100k
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew North
    Originally Posted by wb_man View Post

    when you're doing cold calling, direct mail, emailing, etc, how many of them are interested in what you have to offer them?

    do you have to contact a lot just to get a few interested?

    even if you've done some research on their business and you think you can help them, do most of them still say no thanks?

    The reason why people say it? Who knows.. it could mean they open to discussing it in the future but not right now, it could mean they are never, ever going to buy from you. It could also be just be a reflexive response that they give out to any salesman approaching them.

    You want to frame your response to this in a way that relaxes them by taking the pressure off and let them assume they're in control of things. (even if they reacting to YOU). If there's a gliimmer of opportunity the right people will start talking. The call won't progress further than this if they really aren't interested. The call is a funnel.

    Here's how I handle this:

    'It looks like you're on top of things. I don't think we're a fit at all. And it's certainly not something you'd be looking at in the future, is it?.. Probably ever.'

    If they say no: 'Okay. Didn't think so. If that's the case then I can't think of a reason for why we should keep talking about this at all.. can you?'

    If they say yes: 'What would we need to be discussing in six months time for it to be relevant to you?' 'A website redesign? Tell me more about that. What's the difference between then and now?

    So.. when you hear 'Not interested', treat it like a good doctor attends to an illness. Objections are symptoms. There is always a reason why they are saying that. It's rarely logical, but there is an underlying cause. You need to find what it is quickly to determine what next steps, if any, you should take.
    Is it because they aren't aware of their needs?
    Do they not believe you, or the product you are selling?
    Is their need being sufficiently met somewhere else? (the hardest sale is against the status quo)
    Are they even in the right frame of mind to begin with? Are they busy, nuts, just having a bad day?

    Once you know what is causing the objection you can handle it. Without knowing what's causing their response you will be saying lots of words and little of it will register with the prospect. They will be thinking about one objection and you will be giving a rebutal to another. This is where I see lots of salespeople fall over; addressing the symptom and not the cause.
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  • Profile picture of the author Skystar
    We had a marketing client named George Anderson who said most advertising is worthless and nobody reads it. I told him I could print an entire newspaper page with single space type and he would read every word. He said "Not a chance". I said let me tell you what the headline would say - "This page is all about George Anderson"

    The main thing you gotta do right at the get-go is let them know you have something for them that they will really want.
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    • Profile picture of the author MichaelWinicki
      One alternative to cold calling and offering your services, is cold calling and offering a free report or something of value... at no cost to the potential client.

      Make this into a multi-step process where the prospect does not have to make big commitments at the beginning. Get small commitments and turn that cold lead into a warm lead.

      With this marketing consultant stuff, I've found that many of my clients have come on board only after a lengthy "courtship"... building rapport and showing them that yes, I do provide something of value.
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      • Profile picture of the author Joe Stewart
        Originally Posted by MichaelWinicki View Post

        One alternative to cold calling and offering your services, is cold calling and offering a free report or something of value... at no cost to the potential client.

        Make this into a multi-step process where the prospect does not have to make big commitments at the beginning. Get small commitments and turn that cold lead into a warm lead.

        With this marketing consultant stuff, I've found that many of my clients have come on board only after a lengthy "courtship"... building rapport and showing them that yes, I do provide something of value.
        I've done fax follow-ups and email follow-ups with niche specific product catalogs and most prospects STILL won't even have looked at them when I follow up in 2-4 weeks. These people are busy and stuff gets buried in their inbox. A lot of times I'll get "I never got it. Send it again." Then I'm back to square one and don't know if they're jerking me around.

        In other words, I find it to almost always be a waste of time. I tell them something like "I'll be happy to send you detailed information on all of our products and services. The only thing I ask is a small committment from you first so I know that you're serious. I have three things. For example..."

        If they won't agree to that or at least listen to my three things, I simply move on. I sent around 100 emails after cold calls earlier this year and only ONE person has ever bought anything.

        I'm a phone salesman, that's what I do. Some markets may require more information than my niche, but I'm not doing it. My goal is to call, warm up, pitch and close in one 10-15 minute call. I get their credit card number most of the time, too.

        You have to stand out from your competition. That's why I use the phone. Smile and dial, churn and burn, rinse and repeat.

        Good luck.
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        • Profile picture of the author MichaelWinicki
          Originally Posted by Joe Stewart View Post

          I've done fax follow-ups and email follow-ups with niche specific product catalogs and most prospects STILL won't even have looked at them when I follow up in 2-4 weeks. These people are busy and stuff gets buried in their inbox. A lot of times I'll get "I never got it. Send it again." Then I'm back to square one and don't know if they're jerking me around.

          In other words, I find it to almost always be a waste of time. I tell them something like "I'll be happy to send you detailed information on all of our products and services. The only thing I ask is a small committment from you first so I know that you're serious. I have three things. For example..."

          If they won't agree to that or at least listen to my three things, I simply move on. I sent around 100 emails after cold calls earlier this year and only ONE person has ever bought anything.

          I'm a phone salesman, that's what I do. Some markets may require more information than my niche, but I'm not doing it. My goal is to call, warm up, pitch and close in one 10-15 minute call. I get their credit card number most of the time, too.

          You have to stand out from your competition. That's why I use the phone. Smile and dial, churn and burn, rinse and repeat.

          Good luck.
          You make good points Joe.

          We don't send a catalog.

          It's a well done 12-page report that really agitates their current marketing problem(s), i.e. stagnant sales, competitors taking market share and the business owner/manager not making the money they think they should.

          But no, not all folks are going to read it... many won't.

          And that's why the rest of the package is carefully put together to impress the prospect. A carefully done report folder... pages of information to support my position as both an expert and the person who can solve their problem(s). Shock & awe.

          The point is that even if they don't read the report, I've planted the seed that there is someone out there who can help them. And it's not just some schmo who can't deliver the goods.

          We follow up within 14 days with a phone call. Not an email or fax.

          I'll then follow up with a one-page letter, continuing to agitate their problem.

          Then we'll follow up within another phone call.

          At this point we hopefully have started to forge a business relationship with the prospect.

          Don't get me wrong this system still isn't going to convert most of the folks, but when offering them high-priced "done for you" marketing services, it produces a more than acceptable return on the investment.

          Faxes and emails have their place too as part of our funnel.

          We continue to communicate with these folks until they tell us they're not interested.

          Bottom line though... "Funnels" are going to vary from market to market depending upon prospect response % and the lifetime value of a client.

          Everyone needs to experiment from time to time in order to find more efficient ways of turning a prospect into a client.
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  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    Yeah, calling back and saying that the line was cut was the way I was trained on my first sales job.

    There's someone here that actually said to call back and say something like "How are we going to do business if you keep hanging up on me all the time?".

    The few times I've tested it and it seemed to work pretty well.Prospect seemed shocked someone would do that and became was pretty easy to talk to. Either that or he became annoyed.

    On an autodialer, the calls come in so fast that I opine (haven't checked the stats) it is not worth the bother to call back imo.
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  • Profile picture of the author jtr8178
    Here is what we do at our work. We send out postcards with some type of special "offer", wait a couple days, and then call the customer to see if they are interested in whatever we are promoting. On average, we generate 1 sales lead every 25 calls. We sell commercial trucks to businesses, so we define a "lead" by someone that is looking to purchase a truck in the next 6 months. We have a long sales process in our business. Keep in mind that the every 25 calls includes no answers, couldn't get the decision maker on the phone, etc... A sales for us can be anywhere from $10,000 to $150,000 depending on new/used and type of truck.

    We also do targeted postcard mailers. We have a CRM system, so right now we are targeting customers in the "construction" industry that are in our sales region, since they usually purchase in the spring. We typically target customers that we don't do business with on a regular basis, since those are the ones we want. January/February we are focusing on another type of customer, and switch it up every 60 days.

    As mentioned above, cold calling is much more effective if you have a reason to call ("we just wanted to make sure you got our postcard in the mail") and are focusing efforts on people that may need what you are selling.
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