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Face2Face vs Cold Calling for Selling Websites?

by Munyez
7 replies
Hey warriors,

I am posting this thread to look for general feedback of people who tried either one or both of these methods.
I know one needs to try both , I have tried cold calling so far and now looking to do local restaurants face-to-face.

Anyone experienced and willing to share stats/rates/tips?

Cheers
#calling #cold #face2face #selling #websites
  • Profile picture of the author qu4rk
    I don't have stats, but I can tell you that F2F will trump telemarketing any day. Both are "cold calls", one is impersonal (telephone) & one is in person.

    I've done a lot of both & have been brought into the back office many times from a cold F2F. Cold telemarketing is like nails on a chalkboard in comparison.

    Also, if you are cold calling trying to close a sale, that gets even less accepted. Cold calling just to set an appointment is easier.

    I would say get out of the stats world & get into action. Just fill up the gas tank, go to a heavily commercial area that you can walk and do it.

    If you tell us what you offer & your plan, we can offer you something more solid.
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by qu4rk View Post

      I don't have stats, but I can tell you that F2F will trump telemarketing any day. Both are "cold calls", one is impersonal (telephone) & one is in person.
      Well on the outside looking in, it is certainly easy to say face to face will have higher conversion rates but does it really matter?

      Lets break this down a little bit.

      Lets say you spend monday-wednesday to generate appointments for thursday and friday, you have 10 appointments scheduled each day and lets say you close 1 on thursday and 1 on friday. That's a 10% conversion rate, and will beat telemarketing if you just look at the statistics.

      What Qu4rk is not accounting for is scalability, time efficiency, and overall revenue generated.

      If you're knocking out 200 calls a day, 1,000 cold calls a week, you could probably close maybe 4 or 5 sales, and that's being fairly conservative. That's not even a 1% conversion rate, it's more like .5%

      Statistically, we know 10% is better than .5% but the .5% generates 2X the revenue as the 10%.

      Which one makes more sense to you?

      Deciding which tactic to use, you need to figure out your pricing model. So you want volume? Do you want just a few high quality clients? Do you want a mix of both? If you want to scale up, then you can't ignore the effectiveness of telemarketing. If you don't care about volume, scaling, market share, then door to door is probably more likely to be your thing.
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      • Profile picture of the author John Durham
        Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post


        If you're knocking out 200 calls a day, 1,000 cold calls a week, you could probably close maybe 4 or 5 sales, and that's being fairly conservative. That's not even a 1% conversion rate, it's more like .5%

        Statistically, we know 10% is better than .5% but the .5% generates 2X the revenue as the 10%.

        Which one makes more sense to you?
        .

        Was hoping someone would point this out. It would take 3 days or a week of prospecting face to face and cover as much ground as one could in two hours of dialing. I will take high sales volume over high conversion any day.
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  • Profile picture of the author Munyez
    Thanks for the input guys.
    Here is my situation:

    I can either cold call to US, Straya and other English speaking countries
    or
    I can go F2F here, in Prague (Czech Rep.)

    I am not sure at this point which one would be better.
    I feel like cold calling for websites in US has been done for so long that nobody wants it anymore.
    What do you guys think?
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      I am in a position right now I am cold calling 100%. If you were to close 5 out of 1000 calls we are talking a half of .05% or .005%. I will tell you I am closing at a higher rate, but I am spending a good amount of time identifying and pre-qualifying the people I call before hand.

      In a previous life ( almost 5 months ago ) I was the exact opposite and doing 100% F2F. Personally I prefer F2F - I am better at reading body language than I am reading tonality.

      That being said. I have found that over a period of time it really is not all that hard to close in the 60%+ range with F2F ( again this is over time - not the first visit ) At the end of my 6th year in business in this geographic location I was approaching and tipping the 80% mark.

      Over the last many years I have dedicated 2 to 3 hours a day 6 days a week to F2F time, OR currently I use that time to call and or prepare for calling. SO my immediate considerations between the 2 in regards to time would be equal.

      The issue if it really is one in, what I did and what I do now would be the service itself and the time requirement in doing it. I had web design pretty much down to a 10 hour process. in and out. Currently with CRO there is a day in and day out process that last 3 months. In terms of volume I currently can handle fewer "new" clients in a month, but there is greater revenue.

      I would say that over time F2F is scalable to a point. Markets are only so big, and there comes a point of capping out. Cold calling there simply is no cap. I got tired of calling local ( as in United States based clients - I cant call local as in 100 miles of my office local ) and got flippant one day and started calling abroad - Europe, Central America, Australia, etc. The WORLD at large, as long as they speak English is a potential client at this point.

      Over my years I have and do have success using both models. it really comes right down to personal preference. I don't think a solid argument can be made that one is better than the next. I personally can argue that I am better at F2F, but I have this ridiculous stupid success rate with Cold Calling right now.. even that might be a hard argument! lol
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      Success is an ACT not an idea
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      • Profile picture of the author Munyez
        Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

        I am in a position right now I am cold calling 100%. If you were to close 5 out of 1000 calls we are talking a half of .05% or .005%. I will tell you I am closing at a higher rate, but I am spending a good amount of time identifying and pre-qualifying the people I call before hand.

        In a previous life ( almost 5 months ago ) I was the exact opposite and doing 100% F2F. Personally I prefer F2F - I am better at reading body language than I am reading tonality.

        That being said. I have found that over a period of time it really is not all that hard to close in the 60%+ range with F2F ( again this is over time - not the first visit ) At the end of my 6th year in business in this geographic location I was approaching and tipping the 80% mark.

        Over the last many years I have dedicated 2 to 3 hours a day 6 days a week to F2F time, OR currently I use that time to call and or prepare for calling. SO my immediate considerations between the 2 in regards to time would be equal.

        The issue if it really is one in, what I did and what I do now would be the service itself and the time requirement in doing it. I had web design pretty much down to a 10 hour process. in and out. Currently with CRO there is a day in and day out process that last 3 months. In terms of volume I currently can handle fewer "new" clients in a month, but there is greater revenue.

        I would say that over time F2F is scalable to a point. Markets are only so big, and there comes a point of capping out. Cold calling there simply is no cap. I got tired of calling local ( as in United States based clients - I cant call local as in 100 miles of my office local ) and got flippant one day and started calling abroad - Europe, Central America, Australia, etc. The WORLD at large, as long as they speak English is a potential client at this point.

        Over my years I have and do have success using both models. it really comes right down to personal preference. I don't think a solid argument can be made that one is better than the next. I personally can argue that I am better at F2F, but I have this ridiculous stupid success rate with Cold Calling right now.. even that might be a hard argument! lol
        Great feedback mate, appreciate it.
        Would love to hear more about calling to Europe, Asia, Straya and etc.
        For some reason I have got a feeling that people in US have been hammered with Coldcallers over years so much that they have built a very solid defense system.

        I am living in Prague, Czech republic but don't know the local language, so I can't cold call. I was thinking of countries like NZ, Australia and etc but not sure...
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        • Profile picture of the author savidge4
          Originally Posted by Munyez View Post

          Great feedback mate, appreciate it.
          Would love to hear more about calling to Europe, Asia, Straya and etc.
          For some reason I have got a feeling that people in US have been hammered with Coldcallers over years so much that they have built a very solid defense system.

          I am living in Prague, Czech republic but don't know the local language, so I can't cold call. I was thinking of countries like NZ, Australia and etc but not sure...
          Oh this is a tough one. I sell CRO. for this to work at its "Best" there has to be a level of traffic that is what I would consider above average. ( 30,000+ visitors a month is what I look for ) Part of my initial qualification for a lead to be a prospect is meeting this criteria.

          I had developed what I considered some tell tale signs of this above and beyond looking at alexa and using spyfu. I was finding that US based companies where hmmm... more apt to put the cart before the horse and enter into Marketing concepts they simply could not afford. - over seas counter parts have a tendency to build first and goto big boy marketing when they can afford to. ( sounds crazy... but I have seen it in the last few months over and over )

          Have to keep in mind here my pre-qualification process and my needs from the potential client set a pretty ridiculous bar to be met. I simply want to do business where I can do it quickly and efficiently that is cost efficient for myself and my clients.

          If you are selling web design. I don't think it matters who you call. your bar is the willingness and the need, tied in with the ability to pay. the bar is way way lower.

          I would refer you to this thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...t-results.html. Everything said there is dead on truth. I think many of us here say it. I have said it here. day in day out 6 days a week I spend 2 to 3 hours each day calling / F2Fing or in my case now collecting data to making calls.

          CONSISTANCY produces results. Look at Bob Ross's video in your thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...cold-call.html you can TELL it is not his first rodeo. you can literally see how he walks that potential client right into the details he needs to set up a program and pricing.

          As simple as simple gets - get on the phone 4 hours a day 3 days a week you WILL get sales by sheer volume of calls the percentages are in your favor, regardless of where you call. If they speak English, they are potential clients.
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