So scared of cold calling

Thanks for your advice and I know exactly what you mean. Maybe my problem is not as big as your but i've been there before. How long time of practice did you need to to be (a little bit more) confortable of cold calling?

More likely the cause of the fear is from multiple sources:

-Lack of confidence in product/services that they offer
-Not expert in understanding those products/services
-Poor script or nothing even written down about what to say (ie, "wingin it")
-Expectations are WAY out of whack
-Zero effort made in learning some skills in sales

But my all time favorite source of fear (and how to overcome it) is related to a limited pipeline of prospects. So, simply fill that sucker up and make some call-back entries into the calendar, which these could totally be brush-offs from the calls. Doesn't matter. Point is by filling up that calendar with appointments and call-backs then you have simply been making the dials. The byproduct of this is that the rejection and fear is significantly reduced because you then go into each dial/call with the mindset of: "so what, I've got all of these demos and call-backs to handle!".

The reason i want a script is that soooo many people say's i need to have one. But i'm with you when you talk about conversations and i agree!. Why im trying to get me thru is to get rid of my fear and be good at it because it is a very cheap method to get clients (excepts time), and when the fear is away i have millions opportunites to run business and so on I hope u understand

I fail to see how this addresses the OP's request.

Are you suggesting for the op to just not cold call and pay your guy the $49 to deal with the problem?

Thanks for your answer. This will help me as well as any other newbie to the market. I will take your tip's into my mind and work on it. I really appriciate your time!

Thanks!

Yeah i agree on that point and its getting better and better. Yesterday one meeting scheduled and 37 calls made me think i'm a warrior 💪💪💪☺☺☺ now im heading against 50 calls tomorrow!!

Desensitize your self from this fear of rejection. Check this experiment from this guy, it might help you:


http://fearbuster.com/100-days-of-rejection-therapy/

Have you progressed since the start of the thread? Go for failure because its what gets you closer to yeses.

It seems like you're jumping about a mile ahead of where the op needs to be and is likely just going to exacerbate his fear issues.

He needs to first learn an effective and repeatable intro that can be delivered to those that answer the calls. Since you have no idea who is picking up the call that intro needs to handle quite a bit in a very succinct delivery.

I'd start there and just begin delivering that intro over and over, most of which will likely result in getting sent to VM or nail down a name of the decision maker and a specific day/time to call back. Just fill that calendar up with those call back entries. You'll find a level of comfort at some point, as well as building a list of times to make follow up calls!

It'd also be a good idea to script a VM message to verify that it will go to the decision maker (not just a generic office VM) and base it on:

1. Prospect id
2. Specification of situation
3. Hint at your big idea/solution
4. Call to action

I would recommend getting an hourly, entry level job in telemarketing if there is a job opening in your area. I have been working for the same company for 2 and a half months here in Montreal, and I can honestly tell you that the fear I had of cold calling literally reduced by 95%. Why not 100%? Because when I try telemarketing for my own product (entrepreneurship), I still have an attachment to the value of my product and fear of people telling me otherwise; however this is inevitable.

Success in telemarketing if you keep it simple, and dial the numbers in volume.

Write a simple intro script geared to reaching the DM, then another script that you say once you confirmed that you have reached the DM. I end my script with, "Would you prefer me to send the free report by email or fax?", and it works wonders for me. I literally have a 30% conversion rate of DM's who either provide me with a fax or email. For example, if I speak to 10 DM's then I get 10 emails/fax numbers to send the report to.

Remember that in the beginning, fear will always be there. The only way to eliminate the fear is to take action, make the calls because that is when you learn that there was no reason to fear. You are calling other people who have their own lives, and if they are interested that's great, and if they aren't then so be it, it's impossible for everyone to be interested anyways. As long as what you are offering has perceived value to the DM, it is likely that they will accept more information which in turn means another lead and possible a sale.

You will NEVER close the way you want to if you let the customer lead. Sales pros lead, not follow.

cold calling is a bit like a band aid....it really hurts at first but then you feel better for it in the long run.

Funny, I don't know where these people are. I guess they're all in Australia somewhere.

I suppose this is fine if you have an operation that is ticking along and already making you money.

But what about the person who doesn't have orders?

Who doesn't have any opportunities in the pipeline, and doesn't have the cash to hire a magical someone to make dials for them?

What then?

Is "spend[ing] your time running your web agency" the right choice then?

Doing busy work?

Maybe messing a little with that web copy nobody sees?

Cleaning the lunchroom?

No.

A business owner without customers needs sales.

And the way to get sales is by having great conversations with qualified prospects.

Guess what?

The fastest way to get great conversations with qualified prospects is to make targeted prospecting calls.

Is it the ONLY prospecting method people should be using?

Nope.

Is it a prospecting method people, especially those who don't have anything in the pipeline and lack the cash to do something about it, should be using?

Yes.

Too much of this forum is about sitting around at the center of some imaginary web, hoping that something flicks a strand so you can scuttle over there and grab that customer.

That can be a long, long wait if you do it that way.

And the wait can kill ya.

What annoys me about "just sub it out" posts is it teaches impressionable newbies nothing of value. In fact, it hurts them because they get the false idea that responsibility for their sales can be offloaded to somebody else.

It can't.

No one will ever care as much about your business as you.

Let's say you DO find someone who will do the work.

As a know-nothing about prospecting by phone, how will you judge their work?

When they come back and tell you they've burned through your money and your list, and have nothing to show for it, how will you know whether it's the numbers...or their lack of skill?

What have you learned?

Nuthin'.

Yes, business owners should delegate.

Yes, business owners should know something about what they're delegating.

And my biggest issue with the "Can't someone ELSE do it??" </Simpsons> attitude is this:

Your most important job as the business owner is NOT to manage projects.

It is to SELL.

And if you're filling your time with busy work managing projects, you aren't selling.

Sooner or later that is going to bite you.

Sooner or later you are going to have to talk to somebody, whether the conversation is inbound or outbound, and sell them. If you have no experience selling, you're going to fail.

So this is for the impressionable newbies out there.

Finding reliable subcontractors is tough.

You as the owner must know enough about what you're talking about so you can manage it.

No one will ever care as much about your business as you do.

Don't completely delegate the responsibility of the #1 success or failure factor of your business: Sales. It's the biggest part of your job.

You know that's actually a great approach.

Change Your Perspective and the situation changes.

Very good advice.

Ron