Why you fail at cold calling

15 replies
Cold calling is just one application in your overall strategy. Nobody enjoys it because you will fail... a lot... and most of the time.

There was a recent thread of another warrior who posted his results for July. He dealt with his failure by playing video games inbetween whether he knew it or not. Smart.

So this is your pep talk. If you are already making these calls and are failing most of the time.

WAY TO GO!

We are proud of you because you are already doing it. But let's be honest for a moment. Nobody likes to fail but if you only sold to people you knew were going to buy from you, you would never be successful.

So get out there and fail alot because if you're not willing to fail, you're not willing to succeed.

Success is a phone call away.
#calling #cold #fail
  • Profile picture of the author IMguy123
    Originally Posted by JohnnyBattles View Post

    Cold calling is just one application in your overall strategy. Nobody enjoys it because you will fail... a lot... and most of the time.

    There was a recent thread of another warrior who posted his results for July. He dealt with his failure by playing video games inbetween whether he knew it or not. Smart.

    So this is your pep talk. If you are already making these calls and are failing most of the time.

    WAY TO GO!

    We are proud of you because you are already doing it. But let's be honest for a moment. Nobody likes to fail but if you only sold to people you knew were going to buy from you, you would never be successful.

    So get out there and fail alot because if you're not willing to fail, you're not willing to succeed.

    Success is a phone call away.
    I would not call "getting No's" failing. That is the wrong way to look at it. You don't fail unless you don't start or don't continue to call. Being told no is only a stepping stone...yes, it will be many stepping stones of no's on your way to a yes.

    Maybe it is just me but when you say "fail" I think of that term as quitting. I guess I am remembering the saying "Quitters Never Win. Winners Never Quit."
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6723465].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author JohnnyBattles
    My observation is that folks give up too quick. Either to scared to start or give up too quick. A quick search here in the forum will show folks who have made 200 calls with no results asking how much longer do i need to do this..
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6723549].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Joel Young
    Cold calling used to scare me to death, frustrate me, and make me feel like a big fat zero with every No. That is until I realized that all the No's are the perfect way to hone my skills. Rather than focus on the negative side of No, why not peer into the positive? Step back and identify where you might tweak or improve your presentation. Even if you feel you have the perfect approach, it's only perfect with some people. Others may need to be approached differently.

    By looking at it that way, I never had a problem cold calling again.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6723773].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by Joel Young View Post

      Cold calling used to scare me to death, frustrate me, and make me feel like a big fat zero with every No. That is until I realized that all the No's are the perfect way to hone my skills. Rather than focus on the negative side of No, why not peer into the positive? Step back and identify where you might tweak or improve your presentation. Even if you feel you have the perfect approach, it's only perfect with some people. Others may need to be approached differently.

      By looking at it that way, I never had a problem cold calling again.
      For me it was a chance to practice and prove or disprove 100 times over, any every universal law, Tony Robbins cd, Zig Ziglar theory, every verse of Og Mandino's book that I ever took in... and to put all the principles to the test ...

      100 times per hour, 8 hours per day for 12 months straight at a time...

      Now, can you imagine how much testing that is? Lol


      Even the numbers laws...bent every which way they could be bent...

      So in short; telemarketing is a chance to practice all the laws you learn about self development, at a warp speed of up to 100 calls per hour for as long and as intense a stretch as you want to go...

      You can test more laws THOROUGHLY in a DAY of telemarketing, than most people dabble with in a "month"... plus you will learn to read people from a mere "hello". You will learn up close and personal the 5 basic personality types, and know which one you are talking to immediately....you will just sharpen up all around, and confirm alot of things that the wise ones, who came before us, have taught, not without good reason , for years. Truths that are timeless.

      Thats why I believe in cold calling and cold callers.

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6750532].message }}
      • don't pass this profound statement without realizing it's truth.

        from John D :

        You can test more laws THOROUGHLY in a DAY of telemarketing, than most people dabble with in a "month"... plus you will learn to read people from a mere "hello".
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6750785].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author SydMichael
    I remember many years ago i got a job selling Direct Mail to car dealers. I believed in numbers! I made 150-250 calls a day (depending on how many GM's put me on ice lol)

    I called for over 30+ days and didn't make one sale. So that was 5000-6000 calls. I think i was too dumb to quit and wanted to make it work that bad.

    I think the only thing that kept me going was an older friend of mine listen to me complain and pointing me back in the right direction.

    I love seeing the reinforcement all you guys give THX
    Signature

    `Syd Michael
    "The Real Deal"

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6724003].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author JohnnyBattles
    You've probably heard the old adage doing the same over and over again expecting different results is the definition of insanity. To be successful with cold calling you gotta get your call flow down. Once you do that you change and tweak your sequencing.

    One hot tip would be to redial all of your no's again after you have gotten your pitch smoothed out rather than moving on to the next niche.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6724049].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
    I agree, people on here that want to try CC are forever posting things about calling for one day or making 200 calls and "I didn't get anything" or "how long do I have to keep calling?"

    As an Appointment Setter, that's done it for 8 years...you should call for 8 years and then evaluate. Kidding...I call for 5-10 hours per day, 5-6 days per week, averaging about 30-50 calls per hour. That all depends on what type of contract I'm calling on. Sometimes I have to talk to a DM for 10 minutes and sometimes I'm done with a telemarketing call after 15-20 seconds on the phone. It all changes your calling rate. Either way, one day, 200 calls, is not enough to ask what's wrong. If you're already asking that, the answer is you.
    Signature

    Looking for answers on how to SUCCESSFULLY market your company?
    Cold Calling, Appointment Setting, Training, Consulting - we do it all!
    PM for more information

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6725699].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    If you think in terms of all the people who get "stuff" in the mail and look at it and say "Why do these people keep sending me trash" and throw it away....compared to the number of people who actually respond... cold calling conversion is WAYYY higher, and the number of people you aggravate in the process is way less.

    That being said, even though via things like direct mail, you arent being a nuisance to any less people...at least you dont have to talk to the people you are intruding on, and irritating.

    So if you have money and time to invest, possibly months as you tweak your copy and fail in one campaign after another until your copy produces...and if your market is big enough to send thousands of mailings every month without burning it out.... then I think its a great solution.

    Again you still irritate 5 times as many people (better "positioning" I believe I have heard it called), but at least you dont have to deal with it personally, only the prospects do.

    In my book thats better than dealing with it personally

    HOWEVER,

    If thats not the case and you dont have time or money for that... and you want to tweak your copy (pitch) in "real time" and have it down in a matter of days... and be making sales with virtually zero investment in a short time, then cold calling is for you.

    So when you think in terms of actual conversion and failure rates, the only variable is whether you have to deal with it yourself or not, but in ALL business you must be willing to fail to succeed. Very much agreed.

    There are a couple of guys here who have direct mail NAILED, and some with craiglist too... but conversion rates themselves if you think in those terms are higher with cold calling and failure rates are lower.

    I think what we are talking about here is effort that people dont want. Its all cool, you can fix that easily with "Budget" and a good plan.

    If you dont have those, then cold calling is your best bet to get the most sales in the least time, with the least amount of investment..
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6725816].message }}
  • {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6728785].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author JohnnyBattles
      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      Hey guys, you just go ahead and check this vid out; it will help you a lot:

      Eat That Frog! | Pain Free Profits.com

      No signup.

      Password: frog! (include the exclamation point)
      Hey jason thanks for posting that. I have found a lot if inspiration from that site. One of my favorite is the pink bat movie.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6729304].message }}

Trending Topics