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Telemarketing Moments That Make You Feel Like A Freakin Rock Star! -What Are Yours?

by John Durham
14 replies
My Greatest Telemarketing Streak Ever...I had designed a lead generation system for a call center whereby we hired nationwide agents to represent our web products.

Agents would apply and we would call and interview them, charging them $300 over the phone to become an agents if there was a match, They received a marketing package with a web page, business cards... the whole deal. These agents would then go out and sell for us.

Prior to my coming and designing this system, this little call center had a handful of telemarketers and were doing about 18k per month closing their own clients instead of hiring nationwide agents.

Now, 6 months after I took over, they were doing about 160k per month and there was this big telemarketing floor with close to 40 telemarketers I think.

Here is where my big moment comes...

Another telemarketing supervisor was giving a speech to the telemarketers as I was walking by and challenged me to pick up a phone in front of everyone and show them how its done.

Of course I turned it down, then they became insistent and they owner of the call center got wind and said "Yeah John, show us how its done...".

So...

I took a big deep breath, and I looked through the pile a little and cherry picked an app that I liked...

Got on the phone in front of a quiet room, put this guy on speaker phone, saying my hands were full... and closed him in front of the whole room, got the credit card and all in ONE call!

BAMM!!!

It was the greatest telemarketing moment of my life and I was a hero...

Until a couple of days later when the room needed motivation and the boss asked me to do it again...

So I cherry picked a good app and believe or not I DID IT AGAIN...

Then whenever we would get a new training group he would want me to go do it for them... or when an individual was down, he would want me to take them in my office and close one on speaker phone in front of them... It became a drag, epecially knowing it couldnt last and I would eventually blow my record.

Here is the unbelievable part... I closed 21 of those sales in a row on speaker phone and did not miss a beat... on a couple I came close to missing it, so I posted dated their billing or made payments plans for them... but I CLOSED 21 IN A ROW!

That was my greatest streak ever... If anyone ever asks you "Hey what has that guy ever done on a phone thats soo cool..." Now you know

I remember choking on call 22... I got too cocky...when I lost it I got a complex and couldn't close a sale for almost a month after that.

Whats your greatest cold calling victory ever?
#feat #greatest #telemarketing
  • Profile picture of the author David Miller
    Okay John, that explains where you've been for the last couple of days. That's an awesome performance and I believe that anything that I could say would pale in comparison.

    Of course the real benefit of being in your position is that after 21 closes, no one is going to say to you, "that's great John, but what have you done for me lately?"

    It's going to be fun to see the usual naysayers about telemarketing chime in with their hypothesis about this.

    Thanks for the inspiration....as always!
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by David Miller View Post

      Okay John, that explains where you've been for the last couple of days. That's an awesome performance and I believe that anything that I could say would pale in comparison.

      Of course the real benefit of being in your position is that after 21 closes, no one is going to say to you, "that's great John, but what have you done for me lately?"

      It's going to be fun to see the usual naysayers about telemarketing chime in with their hypothesis about this.

      Thanks for the inspiration....as always!
      Well its really in the cherry picking. I learned what kind of things I was looking for on an app. Every prospect responds to a certain kind of tone, and I learned to recognize on paper who would best respond to mine.

      I had other amazing feats but that was the coolest. I was one of those guys who really applied myself to the mastery of telemarketing, it wasnt just a job. You could get that digging ditches. Telemarketing was a chance to master something...

      The naysayers might not also believe I could quote all nine scrolls by og mandino when I was 21 either, but I could.

      These things arent unusual for someone who really applies themselves.
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  • Profile picture of the author beeswarn
    Sounds kind of salesy. I would've tried to present myself as a trusted marketing consultant, more like a friend, to gain their trust. Maybe take those sales agents out to Chuck E Cheese first and show them I care about them. Also you could probably find a local pottery studio who would be willing to barter some sales training for a pottery throwing class for all your sales agents. This will give you a chance to touch their hands (you now, when you're molding the clay) and build more trust by making seemingly incidental physical contact.

    Also, don't forget when you're making the next 21 calls to start by saying "I'm a local business owner/person too" to signal to them that you're just like they are.
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    • Profile picture of the author agonce
      Originally Posted by beeswarn View Post

      Sounds kind of salesy. I would've tried to present myself as a trusted marketing consultant, more like a friend, to gain their trust. Maybe take those sales agents out to Chuck E Cheese first and show them I care about them. Also you could probably find a local pottery studio who would be willing to barter some sales training for a pottery throwing class for all your sales agents. This will give you a chance to touch their hands (you now, when you're molding the clay) and build more trust by making seemingly incidental physical contact.

      Also, don't forget when you're making the next 21 calls to start by saying "I'm a local business owner/person too" to signal to them that you're just like they are.
      LOL Can you tell me if I need to change my cold calling script because my granny thinks it will not get me past the gatekeeper hahah
      I'll post it after I try it, which is two years from now lol
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  • Profile picture of the author sandalwood
    I guess my greatest tm feat was to get 20 investors to pony up 10K each in a company we started in the South in the late 70's. Since I didn't have 10K but knew a lot of people, I got shares of stock for my efforts.

    When we sold the company, I had a big smile on my face.

    200K doesn't sound like much of an investment today but do the inflation adjustment and see how much that is in today's dollars.

    Tom

    P.S. That venture taught me the value of having a good reputation.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by sandalwood View Post

      I guess my greatest tm feat was to get 20 investors to pony up 10K each in a company we started in the South in the late 70's. Since I didn't have 10K but knew a lot of people, I got shares of stock for my efforts.

      When we sold the company, I had a big smile on my face.

      200K doesn't sound like much of an investment today but do the inflation adjustment and see how much that is in today's dollars.

      Tom

      P.S. That venture taught me the value of having a good reputation.
      Thats KILLER!

      Being on salary at the time, I think I made maybe 6-7k for all 21 of those sales combined!

      KIller story. Hope to hear more like it!

      Bravo!
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      • Profile picture of the author David Miller
        I don't want to make a habit of doing this...but I just shot you a PM John.


        Also...thanks for the laugh Beeswarn!
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    Checked it David, will respond. Im 100% full so cant respond just atm. Im going to go through all 4 of my email boxes later , as well as WSO threads with my daughter and show her what real customer service is...she has it easy just answering one box right now, which requires about 6 emails per day...and asking me for a raise already. lol

    Has no earthly idea... Yet.
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    I dunno what my greatest feat was... but one of my most memorable so far was this..

    I had a website ranking in a major city for limousine services and had it rented out, for $250/mo super cheap but I just wanted it generating income instead of me having to deal with selling the leads. So I had a happy renter for quite some time but he started getting late on payment. Tried talking me down and was being a real PITA.

    So we were on the phone, guy was taking up waaaay too much of my time, and he had the NERVE to say well what's the big deal, it isn't like you can just find someone else to pay you for it, you should be happy you have me. I told him I'll sell it right now, he says, yeah right... so I keep him on the phone while I dial out on my sell phone, first call I got the owner on the phone she was interested and within 3 minutes I asked what type of card she would be paying with, almost forgot he was on speaker phone because I turned the volume all the way down but he could still hear me. So after she said the type of card I just hung up on him. Continued to process payment, which the payment was for $800 set up and $500/mo... more than what he was paying. LOL. I still have her as a client today.

    For the next week he continued to call me, apologizing, then eventually getting irate and making threats. Tried blasting me on consumer review sites, but it was worth it. What I did was kind of dirty but I'll never forget it LOL. Made me feel like a freaking rockstar.

    Nothing compared to your story.. but that is something I won't ever forget.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      Made me feel like a freaking rockstar.
      Its awesome, thats what Im talking about; telemarketing moments that make you feel like a freakin rock star! May retitle this thread after that!
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      so I keep him on the phone while I dial out on my sell phone
      My typing keeps getting worse and worse, I wonder why that is. LOL. However, this is a typo I will allow to go unchanged, sell phone LOL.

      Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

      Its awesome, thats what Im talking about; telemarketing moments that make you feel like a freakin rock star! May retitle this thread after that!
      Hahaha, awesome
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Bucker
      Darn you, You know I don’t do the phone. But I am going to chime in anyway. I’m just going to pick a recent one. As you know I am marketing a workshop/seminar in Memphis right now.

      I set a meeting with a company. The manager at first told me there is no way he could send his guys in May because they had already signed up for another training class that month. One they attend every year.

      I convinced him to let me give him a sample of what I teach anyway. Afterward, he still did not want to commit, but reluctantly set a meeting for me to pitch his staff.

      He told me he didn’t think I would get anyone to sign up because he was already deducting their pay for the other class. It would simply be too much to pay for two training sessions in one month especially considering the price per ticket to my workshop.

      Oh and the one guy who did not sign up the manager let me know that he was about to quit.

      The GM and owner talked about me the next day in a managers meeting and now I have another appointment for their second store on Saturday. Each ticket is $299 and the first store has bought 15 tickets. I expect the same from the second store. Oh and if that second store results are the same as the first I will most likely be getting into his 3rd store. Thank you God for the gifts you have given me and your favor.

      I have several of these stories but this one is one of my favorites to date.

      Ps call me so we can finish our last conversation.
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      • Profile picture of the author umc
        Back in the day, I was a telemarketer for a home improvement company, and I was good enough and responsible enough to lead the team eventually. Our first month under my leadership of grossing over $1,000,000 in sales was an awesome feeling. Of course, that was more of a management deal than simply me as a telemarketer.

        So, for myself, I'd have to say that when my wife and I were newly married and working together cleaning some places as sub-contractors for friends, that gave me the opportunity to do my best telemarketing because they lost the contracts and we were out of a job. So, my wife and I decided that we liked working together and wanted to continue. We chose cleaning apartments as a niche. I called 5 communities, nailed down appointments to meet with 3 of them (the other 2 had cleaning done by employees and didn't use contractors), and landed 2 as clients to start off our own cleaning business. That was a great feeling, to finally have our own business, to rise up out of the ashes of the subbed work gone bad, and to truly own our own destiny. That was 12 years ago, and we're still going strong, though I haven't telemarketed or had reason to for a long time now.

        Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    BTW in order to understand how one could close 21 in a row

    You have to understand that:

    A: I was in Jedi Mode At The Time. That happens from time to time. I would expect about a 10-20% closing ratio for most telemarketers.
    B: I had developed a lead generation system that put all the leverage on the side of the telemarketer. So, the leads were really the best.

    Still it was a great feat.

    Edit:

    This also reminds me of the time I decided to try mind control (You do all kinds of things when you spend thousands of hours in a booth) through LOA... lol

    I told my fundraising supervisor I was going to attract only $35 dollar pledges from people without rebuttaling any of them toward it.

    So, I would offer the optional 3 packages and energetically guide them toward 35.

    I did 76 of those in a row. I still have the two pieces of scrap paper with perfectly aligned 35's all the way down it.

    One day I was listening to Abraham on the way to work and decided to become in harmony with the number 35...go figure. It worked.
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