Are you Sure You Want To Be Your Own Boss? - Why Telemarketing Isnt Working For You.

People ask me all the time why am I not succeeding like the telemarketers you talk about...?

Or they say "I don't know what you are talkin about but it sure didn't work that way for me"!

(after a whole 50 dials of trying...and 10 contacts).

The funniest ones are the ones who book time on the dialer, and then come back and say they didn't succeed because "...the list sucked, or the dialer was slow... and no one was interested, and I was on for two hours...", and of course their negative attitude makes this seem very real to them, in their perspective it feels true.

So they ask me why it isnt working... Then I check into their dialer records to see that, yes they were logged in for almost two hours , and only 20 minutes of it was dial time, the rest was pause, and they only dispositioned 36 calls... which means they were pausing for a loooong time between calls... maybe psyching up or taking notes, who knows... they weren't moving and taking calls back to back... that is the case more often than not.

Its obvious from the outside, but from the inside all the mirages that detour people to failure appear to be real.

Now if you were a telemarketer in a boiler room and your boss saw on his monitor that your machine was on pause what would happen?

He'd yell out where the whole room could hear "Get off pause Durham"!

What are you gonna say?

You might say "Gimme minute to get my nerve back up. I just got done talking to someone and already you think Im ready to get back in the ring...? What? Do you expect me to take a call every fifteen seconds between breaks for two hour stretches at a time without getting a chance to re collect myself in between calls"?

You might want to say that, but you wouldn't say that because he'd just say "yep, that's the job description".

So you might say "Man Im only on pause because Im stressed... a customer just hit my nerve the wrong way...".

But then he would say to the rest of the crew "I think durham needs a blanky, somebody hurt his wittle feewings"!

Then all the other hardcore guys could chuckle.

No, you don't wanna say that.

You could say "I was just taking a minute to plan out my script"

But then he'd say "I gave you a perfectly good script when I hired you... I don't make money when you PLAN, I make money when you dial...".

So why do his 8 dollar, high school drop out, half of whom don't even speak proper English telemarketers... make more sales than you?

Is the picture becoming a little more clear?

You see he knows something; it isn't the dialer that's not working no matter what that telemarketer says... Its not the pitch, or the leads, or the weather, or the circumstances, or the offer, or the geography it isn't those things that aren't working.

He knows if its not working its because his telemarketer is not doing what is prescribed in the prescribed manner. So he gives you a dialer, and he gives you a proven pitch... according to his 10 years of day in/day out statistics, if you will sit there and say it in the prescribed manner ... then you are going to get a certain amount of sales. Let's say 10 per week.

He knows that 10 per week is the base minimum you should get if you do what is asked... you may get even more.

So no matter what you say, no matter how you cry, no matter how many times you tell that manager he's wrong and he really doesn't understand... he IGNORES YOU and says just get back on the phone and take calls that's all I can tell you... and if you say "But..." he'll say "Durham, this is the job can you do it or not... it doesn't get any fancier, if you want to work here this is the job to take calls... now go do it or clock out...".

Im tellin you guys I have gotten so mad at my managers for not understanding my excuses for failure.... But you know what? They were almost always right.

So now do you see why an 8.00 telemarketer performs better than YOU do and makes more sales?

How does a manager get a telemarketer to the point of performing consistently?

The same way you train yourself to run long distance; by ignoring all the bodies little cry's for understanding, and walking through it. Your body will give you a million reasons to say "I've had enough today", but the more you learn to ignore all those little pleas for mercy, the more they go away and the stronger you are...

At first the body screams like a baby... and you train it to get past that.... Or what? Or you don't get in shape. That simple period. Money can buy a lot of things but if you want muscle there's only one way to get it. You cant have it if you cant learn to ignore the bodies whining.

"But its not whining, I really am sore today".

"Okay, go ahead. I understand you arent working out because your body is sore... but YOU have to understand you arent gonna be Mr. Olympia anytime soon at this pace".

Slack off all you want, the worse that can happen is that you keep getting broker everyday. Doesnt hurt any of us... its YOUR income....we are all getting our own... you are MAKING your choice... we've already MADE ours.

Another thing:

What if I , work out one day then skip a day, then work out for two days, then skip 3 days, then work out for a week straight, and then only work out one day the next, then skip the entire next week and then workout 3 days the next... am I gonna get consistent results?

I may get a little result here and there but without that daily consistent workout momentum, Im sure not gonna be ready for a triathalon anytime soon or have an Olympic body right?

Same goes for sales. Successful sales people ignore the whining till it eventually goes away and they have consistent work habits... they do it every day, every hour of the work day, every minute of every hour of every workday... YES, if you are wondering phone sales wise, a telemarketer is Mr. Olympia compared to most salespeople. He works it every mionute of every seven hour day month in month out. He is in shape. If you even do one tenth of the sales he does, you could make 10 times the money he does.

So yes, "consistency" is another point.

If you give yourself a two week break from cold calling everytime you get a sale... unless you are making 50k sales you are nevder gonna get up the kind of momentum that leads to excess, which takes you out of the energy field of desperation and lack and helps you create more.

Moving on...

So Im gonna give you the punch line here and end this post.

What happens eventually, is that all a telemarketers little hang ups end up "breaking". The manager, and the obligation to perform breaks them. The room and the responsibility to hang with the rest of the team break their will. Very much like a horse.

Your mind says you cant do something... but you dont have any will in the matter with this manager... and you get pushed to do it anyway, at which point you START to understand the magic of learning to work around all the traps of the mind that simply are not what your success depends on.

Its so easy for us to fall for our own inward dialogue... but a BOSS doesn't fall for it!

The question is 'can you be your own boss"?

A boss can get more out of you than you can get out of yourself, because left to our own devices most of us will fall for all of our own excuses and even BELIEVE them.

The boss don't believe em, he just believes you are soft and don't want to work.

So here's what happens:

Soon the telemarketer trainees learn that when they cry, and when the leads suck, and when the dialer is running slow, and when the barometric pressure is making everyone grumpy, and when their girlfriend just broke up with them, and when they just wrecked their car yesterday, and when their kids are giving the baby sitter problems, and when their wives or husbands are jealous, and when ther market is saturated, and when nobody wants it and everyone is saying no, and when our competitors are calling the same territory offering a lower price, and when there has been a national disaster, and when it's a day after the holiday... you know all those excuses?

The telemarketer eventually breaks and realizes that none of that matters because his boss is just gonna tell him to get back on the phone... his personal will gets broken, and he starts doing the bosses will... his feelings about the situation he soon realizes will never matter...

You know what he soon also realizes? That even though his mind wants to feed him all those excuses, and even though the dialer is slow and the leads suck and the market is grumpy today... you know what doesn't change?

His quota.

Despite all those excuses he only has two choices: "perform, or get fired for low production".

So then what happens?

He quits giving into all those thoughts that are very real... and very warranted... and he says "somehow I have to succeed despite this stuff... like all the other guys here..."

And they start realizing the truth, that they got served the same leads as everyone else... nothing is different, except for "somehow these are guys are succeeding despite all these things Im struggling with"... and they see that "All these excuses that are such a big deal to me, others deal with too... but they just ignore it and keep moving...".

So they learn to work within the seemingly imperfect circumstances, and learn to get sales despite all those things, and they start to see themselves as hard core... then on days when all the elements and circumstances are great they REALLY excell and break their own record, and thus get even MORE confident... and they look back at all the walls they've broken along the way and see themselves as even MORE hardcore... and they ARE!

The telemarketer at this stage sees that the excuses were mirages, even though he cant blame himself, they look valid enough... but now he knows the secret "The excuses and obstacles never go away, its just that successful people have learned to work through and around them...while others are looking for a clear path of circumstances...". The telemarketer adjusts to the idea that he has to do it, and that its never gonna be easy...

He gives in to success!

Literally gives himself up and turns himself into it and says "Okay O give up you win.... I'll call through the obstacles". He decides that wether its hard or not he has to do it anyway, but there's no sense in waiting for it to get easy... YOU just have to get hard headed instead.

...and his will breaks.

He starts ignoring the whims... he works through the moans and groans and he conditions his mind to ignore every adverse circumstance... and he starts to think of hitting his quota (the prize) instead of the inconveniences along the way...

And he succeeds.

So why do telemarketers make more sales than you do?

Its about "will". You have one, but he doesn't. You have a will to tell you what to do. He has a "boss". That's the major difference.

So why arent you succeeding?

let others tell you anything you want. Im tellin you theres a 99% chance its your "will".

You either have to

A: Break it

or

B: Find something that you are more "willing" to do. Thats a great solution that has worked for me at times. (There's a gold nugget for someone).

Here's a check list of what makes telemarketers succeed... people will tell you its all kinds of things... Im telling you its this:

1: Because they show up at their desk 100% ready to work by 8:30 am EVERY SINGLE DAY.

2: Because they don't pause.

3: Because they take 70 calls per hour.

4: Because they do it every single hour.

5: Because they take 6-700 calls per day.

6: Because they do it EVERYSINGLE DAY.

7: Because they cant allow themselves the luxury of entertaining even a single excuse if they want to keep their job.

They become desensitized to the minds whining and excuses to fail. Even if 100 people in a row just said no, they don't even put the phone down to rest, they keep taking calls like a machine until the next break.

Even if their mind says "there's a salesman from another company calling in front of every call I make it seems" and even if that's TRUE.... They ignore it. They have to.

That's the difference.

8: Because the only other option is to go home and not make any money... the boss isn't gonna pay you to go home right... so you better figure out how all these other guys are making it work if you want to make your hourly wage... and QUICKLY before the boss starts thinking he made a bad decision hiring you.

9: Pressure:

For some reason if all of our bills are falling in it still doesn't pressure us to work as much as a boss can. Also, Telemarketers have peer pressure... they see others doing it... the other guys don't cry they just keep their head down and do it...

There's definitely an attitude in a call center (much like the WF) that if you whine you are a sissy... why? Because the truth is self evident. It works. Others in your room succeed everyday. Its not the opportunity that's not working obviously, so eventually all the telemarketers excuses break down anyway... or they get let go of.

10: Because they NEVER give up mid day... they cant. If they don't make sales in the morning, their boss makes them keep going and they get one in the afternoon.

So guys, measure your own level of commitment against this list, and see if you cant figure out why telemarketers make more sales than the average offline business person.

Hope this offers enlightenment!


Others may say it takes a gift for gab, or natural talent or a big personality...

Just give me somebody that knows how to stay working... thats all I want. I'll take that over personality any day.

So the next time excuses start coming... read this post.

Remind yourself that there's 3 choices

1: You can ignore the whims and keep moving forward to the reward.

2: You can quit and fail.

3: You can quit and go find something that its easier to will yourself to do.

No matter where you go, sales people make the most money, and no matter where you take a sales job your journey wont be much different than the one you are on right now and tyou will face the exact same thoughts on every level. Its sales. Its the timeless "way it goes".

Some fail some succeed. Your choice. Did you know you can make it now?

Like in the telemarketing room... you can tell yourself it dont work.... but its still working all around you everyday.

You can tell yourself the excuses are true, and you might even be right, and you can also ignore them and overpower them true or not, just like all the other guys that face the exact same market.

This post will enmpower you in three ways.

It will empower you to know that:

1: You can succeed through whatever your mind throws you, just like the high school drop outs if you can just be your own boss and say "just get back on the phone (only you will make alot more money).You are not alone, even the greatest of successes once met with the same mental battle and very simlilar thoughts. Also that there are indicators of being on the road to success, and these thoughts are letting you know that you are on the off ramp to success. Same landmarks all other successes passed by.

2: It will empower you to know that theres no other choice but to succeed or quit. So either quit whining or succeed. Really no one in a telemarketing room has much compassion for whiners. Because they all make an hourly wage and whines are percieved as ones who think they are considered some kind of "special case". Your co workers will help you through a couple of questions... but if you start whining they'll just tell you "Maybe you'd rather be out in the hot sun diggin a ditch with the lawn care people out there instead of in this air conditioning... quit cryin and just keep dialing itll happen".

3: It will empower you to remember that if this isnt for you, and it isnt what you want to do, there isnt any shame in it.

You are seriously better off finding something you are more "willing" to do, than to sit here and butt headfs with your will for six months and not make money. No shame in choosing another path.

....

So there it is... if you are failing at telemarketing, I promise the reason why is on this page.

Hope this inspires someone to an epiphany. ;D

ps. For anyone who says this post is long. Get over it. Its a gift, you dont have to take it, but dont blow it for the people who appreciate it. Not every message is for everyone, but EVERY message is for SOMEONE.