Experience Cold Calling (Will Update)

24 replies
Hello Warriors. I've recently decided that I'm not getting enough clients just using Craigslist & Linked in, so I decided to prospect or offer my services through the phone. I hate calling it cold calling because it has such a negative connotation.

I'm currently very anxious when dialing a number and talking to a stranger over the phone. My current script is really horrible, but it's helping me get over my anxiety when I call. My current script is this: "Hello, my name is Kasparov, do you have a minute to talk? Okay good, I looked at your reviews on Google and noticed you've gotten some great reviews. Would you be interested in a new website?"

I know that the script is very cringe-worthy, but right now I'm just trying to get used to getting rejected. I cold called before around 6 times and got rejected all 6 times, but I'm beginning again today.

So far I've made 2 calls, but I'm going to continue until I get over the anxiety. I will continue cold calling until I get an appointment.

Now I have a couple of questions for you guys. How long did it take you to get over "cold calling" or "prospecting" anxiety? Are there any webdesign guys out there who are successfully getting a lot of clients prospecting over the phone?
#calling #cold #experience #update
  • Profile picture of the author jamesfreddyc
    Don't get used to being rejected. Find out what is causing that rejection then adjust your approach accordingly.

    Search for anything posted or related to Jason Kanigan!
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  • Profile picture of the author abbot
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Kasparov View Post

    Hello Warriors. I've recently decided that I'm not getting enough clients just using Craigslist & Linked in, so I decided to prospect or offer my services through the phone. I hate calling it cold calling because it has such a negative connotation.

    I'm currently very anxious when dialing a number and talking to a stranger over the phone. My current script is really horrible, but it's helping me get over my anxiety when I call. My current script is this: "Hello, my name is Kasparov, do you have a minute to talk? Okay good, I looked at your reviews on Google and noticed you've gotten some great reviews. Would you be interested in a new website?"

    I know that the script is very cringe-worthy, but right now I'm just trying to get used to getting rejected. I cold called before around 6 times and got rejected all 6 times, but I'm beginning again today.

    So far I've made 2 calls, but I'm going to continue until I get over the anxiety. I will continue cold calling until I get an appointment.

    Now I have a couple of questions for you guys. How long did it take you to get over "cold calling" or "prospecting" anxiety? Are there any webdesign guys out there who are successfully getting a lot of clients prospecting over the phone?
    This topic has been beaten dead here.

    Simple answer: Just keep calling

    Don't worry about all the technical BS. Forget about seeking 'expert advice' right now. Just call, don't think about it, just call.

    If you take my advice and actually call as many numbers as you can every day, you'll look back at this thread 6 months from now and laugh at yourself.

    Just call man.
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  • Profile picture of the author DavidAllenNeron
    Originally Posted by Kasparov View Post

    Hello Warriors. I've recently decided that I'm not getting enough clients just using Craigslist & Linked in, so I decided to prospect or offer my services through the phone. I hate calling it cold calling because it has such a negative connotation.

    I'm currently very anxious when dialing a number and talking to a stranger over the phone. My current script is really horrible, but it's helping me get over my anxiety when I call. My current script is this: "Hello, my name is Kasparov, do you have a minute to talk? Okay good, I looked at your reviews on Google and noticed you've gotten some great reviews. Would you be interested in a new website?"

    I know that the script is very cringe-worthy, but right now I'm just trying to get used to getting rejected. I cold called before around 6 times and got rejected all 6 times, but I'm beginning again today.

    If you don't mind getting rejected and are actually trying to get used to it, IMO this opens you up for experimenting with some really powerful techniques.

    Check out the link in my signature and watch those videos [no optin or anything at all, the material isn't even mine] and if it piques your interest send me a PM and if I have some time I can help you work on a script that sounds natural.

    I have some extra materials that also might help you ...

    Because you're not worried about getting rejected it really opens up a world of possibilities to use techniques that can help you convert virtually anyone.

    Originally Posted by Kasparov View Post

    So far I've made 2 calls, but I'm going to continue until I get over the anxiety. I will continue cold calling until I get an appointment.

    Now I have a couple of questions for you guys. How long did it take you to get over "cold calling" or "prospecting" anxiety? Are there any webdesign guys out there who are successfully getting a lot of clients prospecting over the phone?

    Keep up the great work man!
    It's very motivating.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kasparov
      I'd like to thank everyone for giving me some tips. Today I didn't really feel like cold calling, but I decided to pick up the phone. I ended up using a script that I found on here. I called one business and they told me that they wanted to get their alcohol license first, before they get their website going. They told me I could call them in a month (probably stalling, but who knows, I'll try in a month.) I called another business and they just took down my information, because the owner wasn't there. So I'll just follow up on Monday.

      Today I only cold called 3 businesses, I know it's absolutely peanuts compared to the numbers that everyone does here, but I'm getting better at it. I realized that people aren't going to bite my head off over the phone. Instead of being anxious today, I felt adrenaline pumping through my body and I felt excited to offer people all of my services.

      I also want to thank Jason Kanigan! His videos have helped me a lot, as well some of the forum posts I've seen on here. I don't know if cold calling on a weekend is wise, but I'm giving it a try tomorrow and I'll try to increase my numbers to 6 businesses or 10.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
        Originally Posted by Kasparov View Post

        I'd like to thank everyone for giving me some tips. Today I didn't really feel like cold calling, but I decided to pick up the phone. I ended up using a script that I found on here. I called one business and they told me that they wanted to get their alcohol license first, before they get their website going. They told me I could call them in a month (probably stalling, but who knows, I'll try in a month.) I called another business and they just took down my information, because the owner wasn't there. So I'll just follow up on Monday.

        Today I only cold called 3 businesses, I know it's absolutely peanuts compared to the numbers that everyone does here, but I'm getting better at it. I realized that people aren't going to bite my head off over the phone. Instead of being anxious today, I felt adrenaline pumping through my body and I felt excited to offer people all of my services.

        I also want to thank Jason Kanigan! His videos have helped me a lot, as well some of the forum posts I've seen on here. I don't know if cold calling on a weekend is wise, but I'm giving it a try tomorrow and I'll try to increase my numbers to 6 businesses or 10.
        You will never "feel like" making calls. You don't have to like them. You just have to make them. The first one is the toughest.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Martin
    Jason released a program back in 2012 about "Getting Over Your Fear of Cold Calling" - not sure if it's still available but it's GOLD and judging by your post I know you'd benefit from it very much.

    I like that you're at least taking some baby steps here. My advice is to go for 10 calls next time, 15 the following day, etc. Let the rejections FUEL you and just.keep.dialling!

    Best of luck!
    Signature
    "Be the hero of your own movie."
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  • Profile picture of the author trader909
    so you are not a business owner but a phone spammer....well done
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  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    Kasparov, what is going to happen when one shows a genuine interest?
    Do you have the next steps lined up ready to cover them as the call materialises
    Signature

    Mike

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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Also, it's not "rejection". They don't know you and they don't know what you're offering. They just can't talk right now. Don't take it personally--they are not rejecting YOU personally. They're saying No to a phone conversation. That's it. Move on and find people who ARE willing to talk.
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    • Profile picture of the author jamesfreddyc
      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      Also, it's not "rejection". They don't know you and they don't know what you're offering. They just can't talk right now. Don't take it personally--they are not rejecting YOU personally. They're saying No to a phone conversation. That's it. Move on and find people who ARE willing to talk.
      This advice right here has helped me so much. Sorting and having conversations --- my image of robotic message delivery, 1000's of dials to get a sale, blah blah, pretty much all gone and is allowing me to focus on what can work.
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  • Profile picture of the author seonutshell
    Get comfortable with rejection, but don't give up so easy. Objection handle the shit out of them. Get those 3 no's!
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  • Profile picture of the author Booster
    Hello Kasparov,

    Just to let you know that I am in a similar situation except that additionally my french accent does not help since my prospects are english native. However, I still doing it using a similar script and hope could have at least a client by this way shortly.
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    • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
      Originally Posted by Booster View Post

      Hello Kasparov,

      Just to let you know that I am in a similar situation except that additionally my french accent does not help since my prospects are english native. However, I still doing it using a similar script and hope could have at least a client by this way shortly.
      I advise you to target more female decision makers, believe me they'll be less likely to cut you short on hearing your French accent
      Signature

      Mike

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      • Profile picture of the author Booster
        Originally Posted by mjbmedia View Post

        I advise you to target more female decision makers, believe me they'll be less likely to cut you short on hearing your French accent
        Great idea. Thanks.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kasparov
          I've learned a lot from this thread and by watching videos on cold calling in general. I decided to cold call today at around 3 PM thinking it would be best to catch businesses during the end of the day, but I just got hit by the voicemail a lot of the times. I left 3 voicemails and I'm looking to follow up on the ones I left voicemails on.

          I called about 6 businesses and I'm slowly improving. Tomorrow I'm going to try to aim for around 1 PM - 2 PM. I'm not sure when the best time to cold call is, but I'm definitely not waiting until 3-4 PM anymore. I'm extremely comfortable with cold calling now and I really love the fact that it feels like I'm controlling my destiny. It's more comfortable than waiting around to see if anyone is interested in my Craigslist ad.
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          • Profile picture of the author HappyComputer
            Keep posting , I'm listening. I need to start cold calling with my business. It's just hard to start everytime with me.


            All they can do is say no and hang up.
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          • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
            Originally Posted by Kasparov View Post

            Tomorrow I'm going to try to aim for around 1 PM - 2 PM. I'm not sure when the best time to cold call is, but I'm definitely not waiting until 3-4 PM anymore.
            Surely this is lunchtime?

            Why don't you do an hour early morning like 09:00 and an hour around 16:00?

            Not saying those are the best times; just examples that I think are closer to best times than your proposal for tomorrow. eg A nightclub would be shut at 09:00 so who you are calling is a factor.

            Dan
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            • Profile picture of the author Kasparov
              I'd like to thank everyone again for their responses! I'm at the point where I can dial businesses without thinking about it twice. I've increased my number to 10-20 businesses a day and I don't get anxious or anything about it. I'm starting to see patterns in the responses and I've yet to close a deal or anything, but I'm NOT giving up!

              The usual responses that I've gotten are "we already have someone working on that." "We're not interested sorry.", "You need to talk to my boss, you should call again tomorrow." At the end of my script I ask them if they're interested in a website, which probably isn't a good idea because it's a yes or no question.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kasparov
    Hello everyone. I'm just giving an update on how I'm doing. I'm now capable of cold calling for two hours straight, without feeling discouraged. I've been cold calling 20-30 businesses everyday consistently.

    Yesterday I managed to arrange a meeting for the first week of December, also a business owner that wants to talk next week, another business owner who is planning a website spring of next year, and another person who wants me to help him create a logo.

    Don't be discouraged from cold calling, it's really not as bad as you think it is! All I really do is tell people what services I provide and if they don't want it then I'll just call the next person. After those first two days, you become more encouraged and resilient towards people not wanting your service. Cold calling is really the most proactive form of advertising you can do.

    I just wanted to give everyone a quick update and I'd like to thank everyone in this thread who have contributed to my success. To all of the people that are struggling to begin, don't get discouraged!
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  • Profile picture of the author stevebent
    With the whole "do not call list" I only call people who have 1st filled out a form to be contacted by permission. Usually I have to remind them of ..that, somewhere in the conversation
    But once you know all the objections beforehand, things go alot smoother.
    That's a great script you have there kasparov, I like the lead in. I was just wondering what you tell them ....when they say "what reviews and where?"
    I suppose it all depends on how the conversation goes
    Signature

    Because it's not always what you say, as to how you're saying it

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  • Profile picture of the author focusedlife
    If I may - My advice is to warm the leads up first and a slight ploy -

    How?

    Email first (if you can) and track open rates with a service like whoreadme.com or spypig....

    Here you can mass send (you can literally send 100's a day if you like) and you'll only need to follow up with those that have opened your email...prioritize by the ones that have looked at it more than once.

    With whoreadme you can even see how long they've viewed the email, what browser they used (if they're looking at it on their phone....prime candidate for mobile perhaps?),
    even what the weather is like for goodness sake, lol.

    Now, these people may not jump to the phone to call you, however, they ARE interested.

    I usually call them up and ask "did you receive my message?" which, of course, I know they did...but this is an important step...it allows you to see where they're at mentally without pouncing on them.

    I used to do really obnoxious stuff like saying "I KNOW you read my email at least 4 times..." etc...that just makes them defensive and makes you look like an asshole.

    The soft approach will allow you to draw them in because they'll usually respond 1 of 2 ways....

    1. "Uh...no...uh I'm not sure if I got it" at which point I usually back down and say something like "oh ok...well perhaps it would be ok to follow up with you in a day or two after you've had a chance to look at it?" "So that I make sure I send it to the right email, what is the best email or fax number to send it to?"

    At this point they'll usually stall and try to get more information from you...because in actuality they DID see the letter, they just want more information, which is a step forward and has led to many a deal for me and my students.

    The second type of response and intonation is IDEAL:

    2. "Yes, I saw the message and was meaning to call you. How much is this?...etc."

    Now that's the best type of conversation to engage in and both are actually WARM touches, which is far easier than the proverbial "cold call."

    Hope that helps.

    Regards

    Los
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    • Profile picture of the author abbot
      Banned
      Originally Posted by focusedlife View Post

      If I may - My advice is to warm the leads up first and a slight ploy -

      How?

      Email first (if you can) and track open rates with a service like whoreadme.com or spypig....

      Here you can mass send (you can literally send 100's a day if you like) and you'll only need to follow up with those that have opened your email...prioritize by the ones that have looked at it more than once.

      With whoreadme you can even see how long they've viewed the email, what browser they used (if they're looking at it on their phone....prime candidate for mobile perhaps?),
      even what the weather is like for goodness sake, lol.

      Now, these people may not jump to the phone to call you, however, they ARE interested.

      I usually call them up and ask "did you receive my message?" which, of course, I know they did...but this is an important step...it allows you to see where they're at mentally without pouncing on them.

      I used to do really obnoxious stuff like saying "I KNOW you read my email at least 4 times..." etc...that just makes them defensive and makes you look like an asshole.

      The soft approach will allow you to draw them in because they'll usually respond 1 of 2 ways....

      1. "Uh...no...uh I'm not sure if I got it" at which point I usually back down and say something like "oh ok...well perhaps it would be ok to follow up with you in a day or two after you've had a chance to look at it?" "So that I make sure I send it to the right email, what is the best email or fax number to send it to?"

      At this point they'll usually stall and try to get more information from you...because in actuality they DID see the letter, they just want more information, which is a step forward and has led to many a deal for me and my students.

      The second type of response and intonation is IDEAL:

      2. "Yes, I saw the message and was meaning to call you. How much is this?...etc."

      Now that's the best type of conversation to engage in and both are actually WARM touches, which is far easier than the proverbial "cold call."

      Hope that helps.

      Regards

      Los
      You can actually send "100's" of the same email to people without being blacklisted?
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  • Profile picture of the author prot4
    Always keep a record of your calling script and edit it as you see fit. I would suggest, have 2 or more scripts and see what script works best. Cold calling is not fun and cold calling not supposed to be fun. The more you call the better you get at it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kasparov
    Just another update. Today I didn't have much time to cold call businesses, I opened up a file that I had saved full of niches and businesses and focused on one particular niche. I only had enough time to cold call around 5 people. Out of those 5 people, one of them took my name down and said they would call me back, another asked me to call Thursday, and another one is interested in meeting with me tomorrow, so we can discuss a web design & PPC advertising.

    It's great that I'm finally getting great results. In a way it's really addictive once you really get past the anxiety and everything. My mindstate when calling now is "Okay, the next one is going to be interested in my service." Whenever I get told no, it just encourages me to keep calling.

    Prot4, I'll definitely try to tweak my script a bit. I believe what I have is working, but I can improve on it and make it more natural, thank you for the tip!
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