Another Cold Calling question.

It means you are doing at least one major part...wrong.

Working for a month with no result, doesn't build character, it's nature's way of telling you that you are doing it incorrectly.

No, broke and failing is neither noble or smart.

Not everyone is cut out for sales. The sooner people can
figure that out for themselves ... the better.

Have you done this yourself? Or is this a theoretical question?

If you are doing it, are you following a consistent process? Directions? A script?

Or are you winging it every time?

I want to earn while I learn.

I'm selling for some dude on craigslist who doesn't care if I make sales or not.

He says he won't get rid of me and I can be flexible. Of course we are splitting commissions.

I never did well in sales companies. The managers are so obsessed with their overrides that they will terminate you on a selfish whim. Because you didn't force a sale for them.

To hell with that. I would only work as an independent agent.

You need to learn how to convince people your product is what they need. Before you go into a call yo should already know exactly who your prospects are and the questions you want to ask them. For ex. This is a script I used when I worked for a furniture company (I would pretend to be extremely busy fluffing pillows, cleaning tables and I would walk right pass the customer without acknowledging him/her, then I would ask "Excuse me can I ask you a question?

I posted the last comment without finishing.. So I'll continue from here "Excuse me can I ask you a question?" "I noticed you were wearing the latest design Kenneth Cole shoes, really stylish shoes , where'd you get those?" *Thanks, there's actually a new store that opened....." "You have great taste sir" customer responds and you keep that conversation going 2-5 minutes or more discussing nothing about business(furniture) then you transition "So what brings you here today?" ALL customers say this about 99% and if you've worked any sales job you know the phrase "I'm just looking" and sadly most sales people IMMEDIATELY (well the ones that aren't top sellers) say "Ok I'll be over here if you need me". And what tends to happen is that the customer looks around and leaves the store. And honestly I've said it sometimes but then I'll re approach and try to spark a conversation. In some cases I've had to approach people up 6 times before they open up. Anyway moving forward They'd say "I'm just looking" and I would respond "what are you just looking for?". And most would respond "well I've been wanting a sofa for sometime" (or a new dining room table.. etc) Then I would ask "What kind of sofa are you looking for?" or "Are you looking for leather or fabric?" "I'm looking for a leather sofa actually" Then it goes on you ask them as much questions as you need to get a picture of what they are wanting.. Questions about material, color, type reclining or non reclining, tufting, rolled arms or squared arms. This also helps the customer to get a picture for what they want. Also a really good question is to ask them what they have at home. Some may say they are just plain tired of their old sofa, they currently don't have one, the one at home is worn out or has stains, smells bad.. Sometime you can use that information to inflict pain later. I once convinced a car salesman to pay for delivery by telling him the pain of using his truck.

So the previous post was getting long so I'll continue here. After the questioning I would take him to the most expensive sofa that matched his description and sell it with excitement (not too much) I would talk about the benefits and if the product does or have something that's not beneficial to a customer that a feature . DON'T sell features customers don't care about features, If you state a feature tell them how it benefits them specifically. For example "Mr. Johnson, The Bezinga is one of our most exquisite leather sofas 100% liquid and smell resistant, you don't to worry about Zelda (his daughter btw I know this because I started a conversation with him about shoes and I got sp,e information) spilling food or drinks again leather doesn't absorb" This is beneficial to the customer because I asked him alot of questions and he expressed his need to me. The point of questioning was to prevent as much objections as possible but also overcoming them is necessary. The more benefits I tell him the more value it builds, I want to balance that value, ideally want the value to outweigh price. I want the customer to think the merchandise is $5000, when it's really $3,000. Then during the process of the sale I add on for ex. Living room tables, rug, matching chair, lamps, accessories. And add-ons is all about how you present them you could ask or pitch it to them. The more you attempt to add-on the higher the chance they'll say yes, and the higher you build your ticket. "So when would you like to have this delivered?" (pen and paper in hand) you are assuming the sale and closing it, Assumptive Close. or "Should I write it up?" I started typing how customers think from those two closes but it was seriously A LOT and I've written so much already. The close moves the sale forward the customer will say yes and have no objections if you did a good job with finding out there needs and tending to it. Sometimes they will state their objection and you must be ready to handle it immediately. For ex. "Hmmm... what I'm really concerned about is that these kind of sofas are built on a wooden frame ad those tend to break down". "well actually Mr. Johnson unlike traditional sofas we build ours on a titanium alloy that deflects rust and does break down due to moist, heat, or cold." That would be how I'd overcome that objection. Then you ask for the close differently,"Now that we confirm breakage is something that will not happen due to certain weather conditions, the bezinga would really go fantastic with those tables are you sure you don't want to get the tables today?" "I'm sure I'll get them another time the sofa will be good for now." "Ok I'll go ahead and write up." But some customers tend to have multiple objection when they don't want to buy something. There's a "True Objection and a False Objection" You want to get to the true objection and sometimes it can be uncomfortable. So let's say your handling every objection like a boss.. but then the customer says "Zodiax I just don't know... let me think about it do you have a card?" This is the absolute "sale killer" question "do you have a card?" So... what's next, so just give them the card, stop wasting their time move onto the next one but you should do one last attempt at getting the sale without being desperate. And here is the phrase that works well and will boost closing percentage (conversions) "But before you leave(acknowledging they're wish to leave)I know this is a very big investment for you(empathy). May I ask you a question?" (wait for permission) "Is the price more than what you're willing to spend today or is it just not within your budget?" This question can be confusing and I used to phrase it differently but in this example I tried to phrase closet to how the Friedman training said it. But it does matter how you phrase it the questions objective is to determine if it's a price issue or a budget issue. If they think the price is too high then you haven't determined value, they are not going to spend there hard earned money on something that they think they can get cheaper. Budget problem is just now having money. If it's a budget problem then you introduce a payment plan like a financing or layaway program. If it's too high then you bring out the "1 thing you forgot to mention" and elaborate on how it's beneficial or advantageous. Usually you want to determine if it's budget or price issue before they mention leaving and also you want to determine if they "like or love" the product before asking them questions about money. Customers usually don't buy for 3 reasons, they don't like the product, it's too expensive(they don't see it as being value) or it's not within their budget. For example: It's like a high 6 figure earner who drives a Range Rover but complains about how expensive coffee is (bizarre huh?) and some who makes $8,500 per month but only has $1000 of expendable income so they can't afford $3,000. Or they just don't like so it has no value for them (and this could technically be 2 reasons). So I like I mentioned earlier if it's a budget problem introduce finance, if it's price problem build value. But lets say they still don't see the value it then you take them to something cheaper... and you say "this is similar for "less than half the price" Boom! you just made the sale.

Jason Kanigan.

This was promoted to be via a youtube video.

What do you think of this process. It's from a sales veteran from close.io(presumbly)

Here are the cold calling stats from my business partner he does real estate. Leads on cold call convert at 1-3% he's told me as much as 5% before. You follow up each week or month and they convert at 80% around the 3rd or 4th contact and this is cold calling in real estate. The commission here is 3%. But if you are cold calling I recommend to sell something high priced because of the frequency at which you'd get a sale vs the work you put in. minimum $2,000 to $30,000 in commission.

(last Post) Ok.. this is the last one I'll make for now because I've written a lot and I have to go on the road. What happened to the WF editing features this forum had btw? There were some things I didn't mention, It's hard to cram the full training process in post. I work for a Furniture Store which paid commission only and we were periodically trained by the Friedman team and sometimes different companies like Tempurpedic Sales Managers. And I've learned from watching colleagues, some of who were pros at cold calling. Selling strategy won't convert all prospects BUT it WILL WORK a lot more than not using selling especially with cold calls. Actually you won't have a transaction or an objective met(sale,appointment, contract) if you aren't selling what you have. The examples I've provided in this tread can be used in cold calls. Except for the opening you don't want to start a conversation about shoes, or the shirt they are wearing or about the weather over the phone. And weather is a bad opener in face to face selling btw (but salespeople do this) people will think you are wasting their time, that you're fake or immediately put up their defense because they know you're going to sell them. They already decided to say 'no' before you even told them your product. If I was to do a cold call script I would make the Opening short and to the point without revealing my product, tell them who are and with(even if your an affiliate) and mention the topic for this call and how it relates to them. For ex. I am calling a homeowner that person I'm talking to is a homeowner then I could open a call like this "Hello Mr. Mendez, My name is Hunter and I'm calling with Greener Lawn Pros LLC and The reason I contacted you because HOA may be fine you a ridiculous fee for the current lawn care product you're using. Will this be a good time for us to talk? (unlike the "non business greeting" which works well in retail stores this is a much better opener for a cold call. It's short to the point and attention getting. Do you think Mr Mendez is more likely to listen to the call now? His possible response could be "What I'm really tired of all these damn fees!" You've got his attention now Now if he says he doesn't have much time, then you respond like this. "I understand you value your time, do you have about 3 - 5 minutes?" Most people will be willing to spare 3-5 minutes unless you call them at an really inappropriate time. "I'm going to ask you a few questions real quick ok?" You ask questions to find how about his situation. Now I'm not really keen on selling Lawn Care Services but sometimes you have to wing it or do the research ahead of time so here are some questions I would ask him that are winging it. "Do you, anyone in your household or a company cares for your lawn?" <== Actually that's a very good question and here's why These could be his possible answers "actually no, I've been meaning to do something about it, I'm just too busy all the time" (sad tone) or "Yeah DirtMud Inc. (lol) cares for my lawn, they do an OK job I guess but they're kinda expensive" But you NEVER EVER EVER want to offer a solution immediately. Instead you continue to ask more questions to get an idea of what you're working with, his situation. Then you ask questions about his statements so for ex "You mentioned earlier that you're really business and don't have time for your lawn, how do you feel about that?" or maybe a better question would be to imply some sort of problem like "because you don't have time to take care of your lawn, then would cause weeds to grow?" Your implying that he has weeds has a problem. Here is one of his possible responses "You don't even know the half of it, I have so much weeds that I'm both disgusted and embarrassed of my own yard" Awesome he just revealed a specific need to you making your services relevant and the pain of disgust, pain or pleasure sells! Still Do NOT offer any solution yet!!! you keep implying a problem. But then if you have that much weeds growing (empathy in your voice) then isn't it possible that you're having a pest problem?" "Ohhh My Goodness!! I've noticed that I've had more mosquitoes lately" "Mosquitoes! (surprised voice) with that new virus going around, are you sure you can afford to have them around you?" My son has been stung multiple times and have come down with fevers I've tried everything to get rid of them, but I didn't know weeds attracts mosquitoes" "Like bears to honey, (lol) My hands are getting tired so I'm going to end it here but after you ask some general information questions then you ask questions that imply there may be some sort of problem, if you've had a girlfriend and she talks about her problem then you show concern by implying other problems from her problems it's just like that. By implying problems the customer will reveal his needs or want however you want to define it and his pain. Then You ask questions which are going to be solution to all his problems like "Would it benefit you and your son to have weeds removed as soon as possible.... or what would it mean to you not have to be embarrassed by your lawn anymore" Not only do these questions give the client hope but as the seller this your opportunity to actually have the customer say yes to your services without the customer even realizing it. So first you asked about his situation then you asked depressing questions that implied problems or even ones the customer did not consider and even reveal needs. Then you ask questions that had some ray of hope. Notice the different kind of questioning. Then after the hope questions, state your solutions to him like bullet points, with each point the solution to a problem "....You see Mr. Kemp (I forgot the name I made up) by the time we're done with your lawn, not only will the amount of mosquitoes around you and your son, (God Bless his soul) would have practically vanished. But your lawn in the entire neighborhood is going to be the Epitome of what lawn care should be" Remember that he expressed that he was disgust and embarrassed. At this point if you told him to give you his credit card number, he will not hesitate but instead of charging him $50 for you and your team to come out and look you could offer him a free quote and schedule an appointment this could instead lead to a $10,000 sale. My friend used to say "we jump over dollars for pennies". A free consultation is valuable to customers, especially ones where you give them useful information.( i said free quote before but consultation sounds way better). "When would like to set up an appointment for us come out?" This is an assumptive close, because I assumed that he's agreed to my services and I moved straight to talking about appointments, I've heard someone say on cold calls it's better not to use closing techniques for an encyclopedia of reasons and on the opposite end of the spectrum you can never have enough closing techniques. But if you question the customer properly and actually get to his or her needs and offer a solution to the need. Then I believe using a closing technique is helpful and remember we got him to say yes earlier when we ask the "hope questions" So perhaps the client responds "Umm sometime next week" "Then you respond should I set you up for Wednesday or Thursday". This is another closing technique an alternative close. Then he responds "give me a minute lets do Tuesday" ...Ok and what time would be best for you? He tells you the time then you say thank we look forward to seeing you (I intentionally didn't say business) Or let's say you couldn't schedule an appointment then you schedule a call in the exact same way I mentioned above

I ended up typing my comments from the "Feed" that's why I didn't use space, In between paragraphs. Is it just me or does anyone else thinks it's a bad idea?

I forgot to mention, you can sometimes tend to get anxious on a cold call so you may rush it. Try to keep the customer on the call as long as you can and I mean minimum 15 minutes.

And going back to the lawn example here. Even if you don't do lawn care say you get an appointment go to a lawn care company and make a contract with them. Businesses outsource to their competitors/colleagues all the time, especially service ones.

I did that when I sold Furniture.I would approach another sales person and tell them I can't close this customer or I am not getting anywhere and I'll "turnover" the sale we'd negotiate a 50% split. The concept here is 50% of nothing is more money than 100% of nothing.

There might be something wrong about your approach with your clients. Or they are just really not interested about your offerings. You should have to asses the way you do things and try to make some improvements if there is a need to.

I recently saw Claude's video.

He said to find those 10 to 100 interested people you should ask a simple question to gauge interest.

"I can save/do xyz for you, are you interested?"

And move as fast as possible.

I think it's time for you to try other option. Try other marketing strategy aside from cold calling. Try social media or video marketing on youtube. That could be really helpful.

Check this video out on cold calling...thought it was relevant. Grant Cardone has a master cold calling program that is dynamite as well.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/EBK64vdljZ0

Post your script

Cold calling is a skill that is learned over time, you just can't pick up the phone bang out 100 dials 5 days a week and expect something (well you should) but there's more to it.

All the factors have to be on your side and the only thing you've told is call volume

You've got the volume of calls factor correct but what about:

Correct list
Correct opening
Correct decision maker
Correct time to call
Correct offer
Correct qualifying
Correct presentations
Correct tie down
Correct close
Correct mental approach
Correct tonality
Correct follow up

I could go on....

If the only thing you've got right is the "volume of calls" then you've got a long way to go my friend. Cold calling is not for everyone, takes time, money, dedication to get good at it. Go buy some books, study all you can about cold calling and then comeback and do 100 dials. I promise you'll be in a better place next time round. Spend the money to learn, its only money which you can get back.