Cold Calling Problem.Help!

Here is a thread that will help, http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ml#post5922258

The search button here will lead you to your answers. Good Luck today !!!

This may not be the solution, but at least its a begining. ~ C.J.Craig

3 Techniques to avoid the GATEKEEPER:

#1: Try calling after hours; Some companies main phone numbers transfer all calls to a voicemail afterhours, but... a company with multiple lines willl likely have the fist available number in a "rollover sequence". For example the main number of a company is 555-5500 try 555-5501. Once your through calling about 10-15 min after close it is more likely the "GateKeeper" has gone home and the person to answer the phone doesn't think twice to patch you over to the decision maker or the a minimum give you information on who and where to contact them. People after hours aren't trained to handle gatekeeper duties and are likely not to screen the call.

#2:When calling a company with a receptionist ask to be conected to accounts recievalbe. These employees are more likely to have a long run with the company and being friendly and upfront with them will likely get you pointed into the right path to the decision maker. Don't bother with the account payable people for they are not in the best of moods.

#3. In this modern age of Information Technology; Voicemails have become the ultimate gatekeeper. With voicemails or "The Grand Gatekeepers" Leave messages that provide humor and value. For example my name is Fernando Fernandez, my last name is my first names evil twin brother. Not halariousely funny but memorable for your contact also give away a free E-book on a capture page or your own website. Giving them a valuable product on "How a Modern Website can Grow Revenue" will promote yourself as an author not a salesman and an opportunity to gain autority as well as a sell.

Not everyone enjoys Cold Calling, In fact never met someone who has. But its done because its affective and profitable. Have some fun with cold calling. I always see it as a spy mission. Learning as much as I can about my suspect before makeing them into a prospect. And when I get Rejected I use the Jerry Hocutt strategy and say like the Fonze from happy days...."H-E-Y-Y!"

Hope this Helps.

Fernando Fernandez

Use the technique in this post:

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ml#post5922488

Be careful with canned training "tips" from "experts".

Almost all business owners won't just lay down like he explains. (this is a oversimplification)

These guys always want to "know who is this?" business owners are busy and don't have time for games. You should respect that.

Also, this "tip" did nothing to help getting past the gate keeper.

To get past a gatekeeper you are going to need to befriend them and set yourself apart from the rest of the people calling using "this tip" trying to be anonymous. Or all the other "tips" online saying all of the canned answers most salespeople use.

Honesty works best.

Be a real person, and take pride in what you do. Also most people respond in kind.

So if you sound nice, happy and pleasant, they usually (not always) respond with a similar attitude.

One thing to know is the gate keeper probably knows so much about the business herself/himself, s/he could help answer some/most of the questions for you to find out if it's good to speak with the big guy.

And if s/he likes you, not only can s/he get you to him. Their reference could give you some credibility in the sales call.

Bottom line: Talk with the gate keeper. Be nice and respect them ask her/him questions and do fact finding.

Cold calling is hard. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Just know that each "no" gets you one step closer to a yes.

You will also need to do a lot of chasing and follow up calling.

"Tricks" don't work, hard work works.

A good short and cheap book I would suggest is

Here By Steve Schiffman.


http://www.steveschiffman.com/about-me.php This is his personal site too.

Good luck and don't give up.

A good way to go into the conversation would be:

Them - ABC how can I help you?

You - Yeah this is x, with XYZ I was wondering who handles the advertising over there.

Them - that would be X but they're busy right now, do you want to leave a message?

(Side note - I always leave a MSG some people don't but I do after fact finding)

You - Sure I'll leave a message but before I do I have a quick question...

(Get some information:

is a message the best thing to leave or would email be better,

what they are already doing for advertising -,

who is the receptionist is,

the bigs guys name if you don't know

etc...

Then use this is the information the message/email and follow up calls.)

Then you could leave a message like-

Hey Dave,

This is Thomas with XYZ. I just spoke with Amber, she said you guys are using ABC for advertising and that's great! I would love the opportunity to show you how our service compliments theirs and how we helped ZZZ dental increase their business 14% last month.

Call me @ 555.555.5555.

I was in no way attempting to discredit you.

I clicked on the link and it brought me to a youtube video with you talking about the business owner answering the call.

He asked about the gatekeeper.

CAll 1 = was that the right guy? It seemed like you didn't even know.

Call 2 = You only got an email address, why didn't you set the appointment -who were you suppose to set it with? that person?

Call 3 = You got an email for the planner was he the right guy?

Call 4 = You got to the VM is that the best way to contact him or would email be better and was that the right guy?

Call 5 = He said send me something and he'll get it to the right guy - who is the right guy?

Asking the gatekeeper for help is cold calling 101, nothing new.

Also, just getting past the gatekeeper isn't that effective if you don't get to the decision maker.

I mean, I could call any company and say let me talk to sales and I'll get past the gatekeeper 99% of the time but it does me no good unless I can get them to transfer me to the DM. (that's a whole different strategy though.)

But whatever, I'm not trying to argue. I was trying to help the OP.

I have only been doing cold calling for the past 2 days so this again is my experince on it. Anytime I mention the word "sales", "marketing", "internet" "advertising". I recieved a huge backlash. I think those are like buzz words. I had a guy start yelling at me for no reason because I asked him about a plr report that I sent him. It's crazy. I guess it's just where I live. (southern part of the US) But nobody is wanting to hear it. Like I litterally have to challenge myself to make these calls because I know the bs that I get is going to be crazy. I only limit myself to calling 4 hours out of the day because by then I feel like I'm so beat up that I can't take anymore.

I don't know if their is perfect script that someone is holding on to or something but I know a few tips that work for me. That's including knowing the business owners name and sticking to one niche(for the day).If you don't know the business owners name use the "i'm not sure" thing. That really works. I know that sounds really elementry but I feel like it's those simple things that really get people knowing who you are as a person.

Getting past the gatekeeper is hard and i'm trying to learn how to do it "without white lying". I don't want to go into speifics because I don't want others to do it nor do I want people to get ideas from it but the method I use gets me past the gatekeeper about 60% of the time which isnt bad I'm sure it can be better. What I get caught up on is when the gatekeeper says "who is this?" and they also try to take the real DM out of the equation. Is the word "Maketer" and "advertising" and "Online" and "Internet" always going to be scary terms for the gatekeepers? I really don't know. Like honestly I really would love to try an experment where I get 2 side by side scripts and see which one works better. I think I'm actually going to try that.

what i am doing is targeting dentists, accountants- professional people and offering web design services.

I have just hired one telemarketer yesterday and i give him the leads to cold call now which i am finding more effective for me. Having said that i like to learn so am cold calling some of the leads myself just for fun.the goal is to set appointments with local business owners and visit them and close the deal.

what i have found is never mention your in sales, marketing and don't mention your company right away as this creates a negative trigger words in their mind.

If you are calling from a database and the DM is not present ask for the person's name, and write that down.

When you call again ask for the person casually, as if you were a customer or an associate and the gatekeeper will have no reason to suspect you are a salesperson.

If the gatekeeper wants your name, business or wants to leave a message say you are just stepping out and you're just touching base. Maintain control of the conversation.

Once you are on the phone with the DM ask if they are interested in handling more business.

Say you have a great idea and that it will only take ten minutes of their time, you can drop by on the way back to the office and that if they don't like what they see you'll get out of their way.

Don't try to sell the solution or the product on the first call, sell the appointment.

e-mail market has blasts at this time so it can be a very good option to use them .i think you are talking with receptionist now should say to receptionist to talk with accounts department and man which has authority to ordering and purchasing.

Getting past the gatekeeper can really be tricky. Agree with Claude Whitacre, tried calling small businesses first, they do not have gatekeepers. Once you get the hang of it, go up to medium companies.

As for gatekeepers, try to be honest as much as you can. Don't be rude to them, remember she will still answer your call no matter how many times you call back. Try to be friend them instead, then slowly build a relationship.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

My approach would be different, and also as someone experienced (but I didn't start out that way).

Call every type of business. You will learn quickly how to deal with each one. Just by dialing whatever number comes next (on your targeted list), you will get past some gatekeepers, you will get some big companies, some small, some medium, you will get some owners, some yes' and some no's. ALL those responses and different calls will have you in front of a variety of people and net you a variety of outcomes.

What I'm saying is I wouldn't just focus on the small ones, because when you're done with those, you have no choice but to move up and you may still not be ready because you're scared. Go big or go home and start calling everyone you can on your list.

If you don't want to sell on the phone avoid sounding like a sales person, don't give them a speech, just really talk to them like you're calling a friend. You're choosing to call them for a reason so obviously both of you have common interests: use that to get to their hearts not wallets.

The thing to watch out for is people reporting you for cold calling them on your offer. I recommend speaking to businesses that are more receptive and you may be more likely to talk to the owner.

I very rarely have problems with gatekeepers and I'll explain why. Gatekeepers are usually bored underpaid employees. Have fun with them. Make them smile...do a little bit of phone flirting if you need to. Here is a script that works great for me.

"Hey, yes I was hoping you can help me out who would be the right person to speak with about marketing? I really appreciate your help."

Does that sound like a magical phrase to you? No? Well it is and let me explain why.

"Hey I was hoping you can help me out" the human species is psychologically programmed to help each other out. It's true we actually like helping each other out if we can.

The next part of this phrase that works is "I really appreciate your help" people love to feel appreciated and before they can say anything I am assuming their help. If they don't help me they won't feel appreciated....

Do you see how powerful that is?

If they say something like you can leave a message and the owner will reach back to you if their interested this is what I say.

"Great, I would really appreciate that. What is the email address of the owner so I can shoot a quick email? You will almost always get the email address. Then once you get the email address I will ask "who do I make the email out to? Now I've got the owners name.

Then I will say. Is <Rick> available right now to speak? You would be surprised how many times they will say yes and just transfer the phone. If they don't let you past then simply write down the owners name and next time you call ask for the owner directly.

Nothing works 100% of the time but with a little bit of persistence and charm getting by the gatekeeper can be a negligible annoyance.

-The Cold Call Commando

You choose good option for marketing, Telemarketing is effective strategy in marketing, to get success choose targeted marketing list.

It's first and foremost building rapport when telemarketing.
•Put a smile on your voice- smiles are not only seen but are also felt. A smiling voice is more responsive and sincere.
•Speak from the heart- this will make rough conversations easier to be dealt with.
•Call them by their names- it gives the conversation a more personal and lighter tone.
•Avoid speaking too fast- this will only cause more annoyance to the person on the other line.
•Do not rebut against a raging prospect- this will only worsen out things and create more damages on both parties.
•Be friendly- it is always a must and should be done genuinely. Show interest on your caller's conversation as well as share laughters when the opportunity to do so arises.

you have made some interesting points

thanks jason

Mark