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DO NOT Cold Call - complete waste of time!

by ebizman
70 replies
I've fired my 3rd telemarketer now! It seems like cold calling is a complete waste of time and money! They only got me a few decent leads, AND THAT'S IT!

Whoever says cold calling works...they are lying to you! No one likes getting bs sales calls!

Spend your money in other forms of marketing your services...not cold calling!
#call #cold #complete #time #waste
  • Profile picture of the author somacorellc
    Maybe you're not giving your telemarketers good material to call with? Have you tested it yourself?

    If these people you're calling are thinking "oh another BS sales call!" then you could probably look into improving your process.
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  • Profile picture of the author thumos
    I jumped into the offline niche last week and on only my second cold call had set up an appointment with a client who was very interested. I go to meet with that client today.

    Guess cold-calling really is useless. Wish someone had warned me about that before I started booking all of these appointments...
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    Spoken like 500 telemarketers Ive watched walk out the door, while others succeeded with the same tools, resources and concepts... The success is made in the mind of the man achieving it.

    Spoken like the manager I replaced at NPS who couldnt get his people to sell... and I came in and broke twenty year records with the same crew.

    Your telemarketing operation is failing because YOU are... If you walk away from a gold vein 3 feet from striking gold... Thats a personal choice that leads to failure, and you have to take personal responsibility, its not your telemarketers fault if you are tweaking your system while they work and havent come up with a winning concept for them... Thats not always the case but is alot of the time. Was your system working before you asked them to try it?

    Could "You" succeed with what you gave them?

    I walked away from a slot machine one time after putting $50.00 worth of quarters in it, just KNEW it was gonna hit... and I finally got up and some lady sat down and stuck one quarter in and won $1400.

    Food for thought. Yeah if you quit, its over, it failed.

    Did you have so much success before you tried telemarketing... that those few leads are insignificant? Have you closed any and fed your business finances from your sales, to nurture it and keep the energy high?

    Perhaps your TSRs would be more encouraged if you closed one of their leads...

    It goes both ways.

    Sounds like alot of Blame energy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Cram
    I am a complete newbie at this stuff, but cold calling put $500 in my pocket within a week... I just used a proven script that John Durham wrote and abracadabra!!!

    I am a true believer in cold calling now.
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  • Profile picture of the author JJOrana
    ...it's not waste of time but there's way better things to do it.

    The truth is...

    Consultants doesn't want to cold call.
    Customers doesn't want to receive a cold call.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by jodib View Post

      Why don't consultants want to cold call? Because they won't do it or just refuse to even try it? Perhaps fear of rejection or failure, but hey ho, that's life and there is always a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow.

      That the reason why some of us make it and others break themselves before they even give it a go...
      You can be a triathlete, just like you can be a cold caller... But you have to want it enough to make it through the grind... but hey, if what you did previously worked better then more power to you right?

      I just havent seen the results of all these other things comparing.
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    • Profile picture of the author newbim
      Originally Posted by JJOrana View Post

      ...it's not waste of time but there's way better things to do it.

      The truth is...

      Consultants doesn't want to cold call.
      Customers doesn't want to receive a cold call.
      I used to work in a call centre.

      Imho, if you hire people that don't want to cold call, then you're just as well setting fire to a wad of cash. There are people out there (believe it or not) that do like cold calling.

      I would suggest that only give the consultants material that YOU wouldn't mind repeating time after time. I admit that it can be laborious, but I definately disagree that it doesn't work. I have seen it work time and time again.

      If you're not seeing results, there are a ton of things that you can do, starting off simply:

      Consider: if this product / service is as good as I know it is, how can I wow people with it within 6-10 ish seconds?

      Everywhere I have worked on the phones has taught me: It's not what you say, it's how you say it, which leads me to my original point, that it's a fine balance - only hire the people that genuinely show interest in working on the phones. One good question to ask them (ideally at interview stage) is something like: "Cold calling can be extremely challenging - and you may get people drop the call on you. How would you ensure that your energy and enthusiasm could sustain this?"

      Hope this helps in some way.

      Cheers,

      Newbim.
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    • Profile picture of the author AdwordsMogul
      Originally Posted by jodib View Post

      Why don't consultants want to cold call? Because they won't do it or just refuse to even try it? Perhaps fear of rejection or failure, but hey ho, that's life and there is always a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow.

      That the reason why some of us make it and others break themselves before they even give it a go...
      Because it's very unpleasant. It gives frustrated people a chance to disrespect you.

      Even with a thick skin, all that negativity is not healthy. No matter how much money it brings in.

      It also weakens your positioning.

      In hard times it may be the best way. Personally, I really don't like it and would never use it as a long term strategy.

      Don't get me wrong, I have gotten business with "cold" approaches, including simply walking into offices, door-to-door, even on the street.

      So I know this stuff can work.

      But, but, but... once you have the resources there are healthier ways to do things.
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      • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
        Originally Posted by AdwordsMogul View Post

        Because it's very unpleasant. It gives frustrated people a chance to disrespect you.

        Even with a thick skin, all that negativity is not healthy. No matter how much money it brings in.

        It also weakens your positioning.

        In hard times it may be the best way. Personally, I really don't like it and would never use it as a long term strategy.

        Don't get me wrong, I have gotten business with "cold" approaches, including simply walking into offices, door-to-door, even on the street.

        So I know this stuff can work.

        But, but, but... once you have the resources there are healthier ways to do things.
        I don't think it weakens your positioning at all... you're calling, if they need a service they will use you. It increases recognition, and sparks interest even when there is no interest. Spend 2 weeks making 100 calls a day, you will close deals, and you will be receiving calls for a while after.
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        • Profile picture of the author High Horsepower
          Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

          I don't think it weakens your positioning at all... you're calling, if they need a service they will use you. It increases recognition, and sparks interest even when there is no interest. Spend 2 weeks making 100 calls a day, you will close deals, and you will be receiving calls for a while after.

          Of course it weakens your positioning, stop being so naive. Does cold calling work, yes. Is it frustrating, yes. Is it an ideal way for someone to invest their time, NO.

          Outsource it!
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          Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School
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          • Profile picture of the author Deidra Renee
            Originally Posted by High Horsepower View Post

            Of course it weakens your positioning, stop being so naive. Does cold calling work, yes. Is it frustrating, yes. Is it an ideal way for someone to invest their time, NO.

            Outsource it!
            That's not being naive at all. Some people actually LIKE being a sales person (telemarketing included) believe it or not..That's like saying playing basketball for a living is a waste of time and if you don't think so you're being naive, but go and tell that to LeBron James and see what he has to say about it It all depends on what you like and are comfortable doing. Sales people are some of the highest paid people right now (even during the recession) so clearly it works, but yeah..I outsource it, but if you like doing it or can't afford to outsource, it does work...period!
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            • Profile picture of the author High Horsepower
              Originally Posted by Deidra Renee View Post

              That's not being naive at all. Some people actually LIKE being a sales person (telemarketing included) believe it or not..That's like saying playing basketball for a living is a waste of time and if you don't think so you're being naive, but go and tell that to LeBron James and see what he has to say about it It all depends on what you like and are comfortable doing. Sales people are some of the highest paid people right now (even during the recession) so clearly it works, but yeah..I outsource it, but if you like doing it or can't afford to outsource, it does work...period!
              I never said cold-calling doesn't work. I said "it weakens your positioning" which it does. I've done plenty of cold-calling myself, I made money doing it. I don't do it anymore because I have other methods that yield better results.
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              Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School
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              • Profile picture of the author dsprank
                Doesn't really matter if it weakens your position or not. Positioning is subjective, and is going to change with each customer. Of course those potential customers will not know who you are anyway because you won't tell them about your business.

                The thing that gets me about this thread is that it started with a negative attacking statement that could have turned off some new people to never trying to call on the phones. That one idiotic statement could have possibly keep one or more people from changing their life around. All because the op was making excuses why he could not succeed.

                Originally Posted by High Horsepower View Post

                I never said cold-calling doesn't work. I said "it weakens your positioning" which it does. I've done plenty of cold-calling myself, I made money doing it. I don't do it anymore because I have other methods that yield better results.
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                • Profile picture of the author High Horsepower
                  Originally Posted by dsprank View Post

                  Doesn't really matter if it weakens your position or not. Positioning is subjective, and is going to change with each customer. Of course those potential customers will not know who you are anyway because you won't tell them about your business.

                  The thing that gets me about this thread is that it started with a negative attacking statement that could have turned off some new people to never trying to call on the phones. That one idiotic statement could have possibly keep one or more people from changing their life around. All because the op was making excuses why he could not succeed.
                  No, that's where you're wrong. Positioning properly will always give you more credibility, more leverage, more money, etc...

                  Donald Trump has more positioning in real estate than some local Re/Max agent.

                  Bill Gates has better positioning that some college kid working at Best Buy.

                  Like I stated before, cold-calling works, but don't tell me positioning isn't important. Ya ain't gonna win this debate.
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                  Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School
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                  • Profile picture of the author Greg guitar
                    Originally Posted by High Horsepower View Post

                    No, that's where you're wrong. Positioning properly will always give you more credibility, more leverage, more money, etc...

                    Donald Trump has more positioning in real estate than some local Re/Max agent.

                    Bill Gates has better positioning that some college kid working at Best Buy.

                    Like I stated before, cold-calling works, but don't tell me positioning isn't important. Ya ain't gonna win this debate.
                    It doesn't really matter who "wins" the debate; what matters is what's best for each person and their business given it's present condition, market conditions, the person's skill set, personal preferences, and resources which is kind of tricky to determine for someone else. Generalizations don't work here-some businesses thrive from cold calling, and others thrive without ever doing it. We don't put prestige in the bank (yes I understand that you can charge more if you have it, but that assumes you have another good way of attracting as many clients).

                    If you can only get 1/2 the price, due to positioning from cold calling, but you close 3x the sales, and have an inexpensive outsourcing system in place, you come out nearly 50% ahead, except maybe your ego takes a small hit. Your business is more stable, as the more clients you have, the more you can afford to lose without losing your shirt.

                    I agree that positioning is important, and cold calling might lose you a few points with some clients, but whether it does or not is largely a matter of how you handle yourself, and what you say. This is coming from someone who is poor at cold calling, and hates it-though I have made several sales for about $300 which was nice.

                    People who are really good at cold calling can end up impressing the heck out of the prospects and closing expensive deals-in their case cold calls may actually enhance their positioning, as they might make a fantastic first impression, and make the prospect wonder how they got along without this impressive expert that called them.

                    One fact that should cause you to relax a bit about positioning is that you are never going to run out of prospects or ways to contact them, so your prospecting is literally never done, even if you've been calling all day every day for 20 years. If cold calling gets you in front of 100 clients a day that would not have heard of you otherwise, thereby increasing your profits, then it seems wise to do it. If positioning becomes the excuse for avoiding direct contact with potential customers that aren't likely to be reached any other way, being high and mighty is not going to make you more money, and I think most of us are in this for the money-not the prestige.

                    Better to admit that the reason you shouldn't do it has nothing to do with slipping in prestige in the eyes of prospects, and everything to do with the fact that you are going to burn yourself out forcing yourself to do things you hate. Part of the joy of business is you are the boss, and can focus on whatever actions meet three conditions: you love it, (or at least don't hate it), are good at it, and it makes you richer.
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                    • Profile picture of the author AdwordsMogul
                      Originally Posted by Greg guitar View Post

                      ...

                      If you can only get 1/2 the price, due to positioning from cold calling, but you close 3x the sales, and have an inexpensive outsourcing system in place, you come out nearly 50% ahead, except maybe your ego takes a small hit. Your business is more stable, as the more clients you have, the more you can afford to lose without losing your shirt.

                      I agree that positioning is important, and cold calling might lose you a few points with some clients, but whether it does or not is largely a matter of how you handle yourself, and what you say. This is coming from someone who is poor at cold calling, and hates it-though I have made several sales for about $300 which was nice.

                      People who are really good at cold calling can end up impressing the heck out of the prospects and closing expensive deals-in their case cold calls may actually enhance their positioning, as they might make a fantastic first impression, and make the prospect wonder how they got along without this impressive expert that called them.

                      ... , and I think most of us are in this for the money-not the prestige.

                      ....
                      About the "impressing" bit... sounds nice in theory, I haven't had the pleasure of such an experience.

                      Positioning is not about prestige.

                      With better positioning you will make more money.

                      It's easier to charge higher fees when people come to you.

                      Having said that, when nothing seems to be working, or there is no resources for other stuff you just have to suck it in for a while.

                      I also think it's slightly better when you have someone else cold calling for you.
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                      • Profile picture of the author Greg guitar
                        Originally Posted by AdwordsMogul View Post

                        About the "impressing" bit... sounds nice in theory, I haven't had the pleasure of such an experience.

                        Positioning is not about prestige.

                        With better positioning you will make more money.

                        It's easier to charge higher fees when people come to you.

                        Having said that, when nothing seems to be working, or there is no resources for other stuff you just have to suck it in for a while.

                        I also think it's slightly better when you have someone else cold calling for you.
                        I guess I don't know what you mean by positioning. But people that cold call are closing deals to build someone a $500-1000 fanpage or a blog for that price, for example-a job that they might do in an hour, or buy one gig on fiverr $5 to have someone else do it.

                        Personally, I don't want to charge more than that; not sure I could even charge that much, so I guess the positioning question would be a moot point for me, if all it did was allow me to charge more than I want to. I would be too paranoid they would eventually find out how easy it is and feel like I gouged them because of their ignorance.

                        I do agree that if you can swing it, having someone else call is good because it looks more like you're a bit bigger than someone who makes their own cold calls.
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    • Profile picture of the author AussieT
      Originally Posted by jodib View Post

      Why don't consultants want to cold call? Because they won't do it or just refuse to even try it? Perhaps fear of rejection or failure, but hey ho, that's life and there is always a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow.

      That the reason why some of us make it and others break themselves before they even give it a go...
      Hmmm.. I suppose you believe in leprachauns also!
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    • Profile picture of the author MelJames
      I agree. In fact, there's always a better way to doing things, whether you're cold calling or implementing other marketing strategies. I'd say, examine your process first, do more research, train your people, before giving up


      Originally Posted by JJOrana View Post

      ...it's not waste of time but there's way better things to do it.

      The truth is...

      Consultants doesn't want to cold call.
      Customers doesn't want to receive a cold call.
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  • Profile picture of the author WAWarrior
    "As a man thinketh, so is he" . If you believe cold calling works, it will - and you are right. If you believe it doesn't , it wouldn't - and you are right as well. The choice you made is the message you are sending to your sub-conscious mind, and will influence your power of believe ( yes I'm a big fan of the Magic of Believing )!
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  • Profile picture of the author Dexx
    Originally Posted by ebizman View Post

    It seems like cold calling is a complete waste of time and money! They only got me a few decent leads, AND THAT'S IT!

    Whoever says cold calling works...they are lying to you! No one likes getting bs sales calls!
    No offense, but posts like this make me chuckle inside.

    "Yellow Pages is a waste of time"
    "Article Marketing is a waste of time"
    "Email Marketing is a waste of time"
    "Cold Calling is a waste of time"

    It's interesting how many things are a "waste of time" for some...yet generating thousands--even MILLIONS--of dollars in sales for others...

    What really needs to be added to such statement is the phrase "How *I* have been doing [marketing strategy] is not working."

    It's the reason I created this video on my blog:
    How to Improve Your Response Rate | The Offline Toolkit - Training Resources and Tools for Marketers

    At the end of the day the METHOD you use is only a SMALL fraction of what determines your success with any marketing strategy.

    Watch the video, I'm sure you'll find your response rate will greatly improve.

    Cheers,

    ~Dexx
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  • Profile picture of the author AbsoluteDominance
    Ebizman,

    Multi billion dollar companies are increasing their inside sales forces to cold call and call on existing clients to increase sales because it works. I know that many large companies sell millions of dollars a month through inside phone sales/ cold calling. When you are doing millions of dollars a month I will consider your opinion. Until then, I will stick with the facts.
    1. Cold Calling works
    2. There will always be people who don't want to talk to you, get over it and move on
    3. Cold Calling works

    Boss
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    Some times you just have to take life by the throat and shake a little more out.

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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    The reason it is not working, is because of your attitude. How can you expect the people you hire to do well, if you can't do it yourself? Give me the call records of every person your guys called, and I guarantee I can close some deals.

    Do you cold call? No? Then don't expect to know how to motivate your team, or have results.

    Spend 100 calls a day for 2 weeks, and see if you can even keep up with the work you would get.
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Cram
    I don't think that ebizman is getting the type of responses to this thread that he wanted..... LOL!!!!
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    • Profile picture of the author Deidra Renee
      Originally Posted by Don Cram View Post

      I don't think that ebizman is getting the type of responses to this thread that he wanted..... LOL!!!!
      lol exactly..but I'm sure he knew not everyone would say *yeah you're right it sucks* I don't cold call and don't plan on it, but I KNOW FOR A FACT it works. I have been a telemarketer in the *real* world for a few years and sold everything from discount cards to newspaper (yes, those things ppl can get from their local store lol) so cold calling works, you don't even have to be a good salesman, it's a numbers game. If you make A LOT of calls, you will get sales it's as simple as that. But I do hate it too, but I don't like ppl cussing me out...I don't have thick skin lol
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  • Profile picture of the author fbfans
    highly depends on what you are offering and how good you are on the phone...
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    Yeah. lol Don , I'd hate to be on the recieving end of this thread, but HAVE been a time or two. It happens, if he's tough he'll let it roll off and come back for more. We all grow... But making a statement like that... You have to know you are opening up a can of worms.

    A few months ago I was saying it "CAN" work... and getting the same response ebiz does here... Its cool that people are becoming so much more aware of their businesses potential through proactively hunting for business, and taking it by force.

    Not forcing individual customers... rather, forcing the "process" of bringing good customers forward, by not only exercising the laws of numbers, but through developing phone skills they are "bending those laws" to their good. I hate it for ebiz... but this is a good thread. Damn Good!
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  • Profile picture of the author scottuga44
    I sucked when I first started cold calling. I got some material and learned from it. I even had a sales background and still failed miserably my first week. I knew that it worked bc other ppl were successful. Here is what I did:

    1. Wrote a script
    2. Practiced it until I knew it backwards and forwards
    3. Wrote out a list of possible objections and rebuttles (I would have the doc. open but now am familiar enough with it so that I rarely refer to it.)
    4. Began having more success with my cold calls

    I currently only work with people within an hour radius, so my goal is to just set a face to face appointment. I know that this alone is hard enough so I can only imagine the success rate of selling to people over the phone. I recommend using the phone for just appointment setting if at all possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author Noel 100K
    Originally Posted by ebizman View Post

    I've fired my 3rd telemarketer now! It seems like cold calling is a complete waste of time and money! They only got me a few decent leads, AND THAT'S IT!

    Whoever says cold calling works...they are lying to you! No one likes getting bs sales calls!

    Spend your money in other forms of marketing your services...not cold calling!
    It is better to meet the client in person if you can and get to know them. Phone only to follow up.
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  • Profile picture of the author electronik69
    I only need to say a few words for this post "Hate The Player Not The Game"
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    • Profile picture of the author John Durham
      Originally Posted by electronik69 View Post

      I only need to say a few words for this post "Hate The Player Not The Game"
      Somethin like that...
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  • Profile picture of the author IndigoJack
    Cold calling does work. I wouldn't have a business without it.

    If you have a call list that is not randomly sourced, that is a good start. Trying to sell to the people you've just cold called is also likely to kill your list quickly so the call should be about appointments. That's what works for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author Easy Cash
    Cold calling certainly works.

    - it is a numbers game
    - you need to find your target market
    - you need qualified leads
    - you need to build a long term relationship
    - you need to persist
    - first impressions make a massive difference
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  • Profile picture of the author Russell Hall
    I have to agree with John Durham and the others that are saying that you just need to stick at it and find or create a formula that works for you.

    During the 1980's I sold Life Assurance and Fire Extinguishers (not at the same time (lol)) and all we did was cold call and door knocking (we used to call it "prospecting",.. like as in for "gold"). I've been abused, chased, threatened, laughed at and had doors literally slammed in my face and on a couple of occasions had the police called and security summoned to get us out of the building. At first I hated it,.. but after a while it became fun and one day I realized I'd found my groove and was getting a lot more yes's than No's.
    Later when I went into real estate we used to force ourselves to spend 3 days each week spending 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon making cold phone calls. We kept it to 2 hour shifts so we could stay enthusiastic and used to keep a mirror by the phone so we could monitor our own smiles. We got a lot of no's and "get lost" and "not interested" but we got more listing appointments than any of our competitors that were sat on their hands doing nothing.
    Remember,.. it's only cold calling until you've warmed up a bit. You need operators that are literally on fire for you or you'll waste a ton of effort and leads finding out they we're the wrong people to be working with.
    I once had a great sales trainer when I was selling financial investments and he said we had to adopt the frame of mind that we had "the cure for financial cancer" and that everybody needed what we were offering. We even used that line in our sales spiel and it got most people curious enough to listen to us as they deep down knew that they did in fact have "financial cancer"

    Best wishes for your success.

    Russell Hall
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    Mvlti svnt vocati, pavci vero electi - Many are called [but] few are chosen

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  • Profile picture of the author area51backlinks
    When I receive cold calls, my guard instantly goes up, and all I can think about is the word "no", regardless of what the person is offering. I'm sure most people are the same.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    Greg are you the youtube "gregsguitars" guy?
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    • Profile picture of the author Greg guitar
      Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

      Greg are you the youtube "gregsguitars" guy?

      Something odd happened-a few of the posts I thought I'd made recently didn't apparently "take", as they were missing later.

      So I did attempt to answer you before now John. The answer is no, but thanks for reminding me I need to upload some of my "face melting riffs" soon.

      BTW, did you ever get that amber pick you sent away for? Was it the tone producing wonder it's cracked up to be? Did it have a prehistoric mosquito in it?

      I pmed you a while back about a mistake regarding my status on the cold calling forum-did you get it?
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      • Profile picture of the author John Durham
        Originally Posted by Greg guitar View Post

        Something odd happened-a few of the posts I thought I'd made recently didn't apparently "take", as they were missing later.

        So I did attempt to answer you before now John. The answer is no, but thanks for reminding me I need to upload some of my "face melting riffs" soon.

        BTW, did you ever get that amber pick you sent away for? Was it the tone producing wonder it's cracked up to be? Did it have a prehistoric mosquito in it?

        I pmed you a while back about a mistake regarding my status on the cold calling forum-did you get it?
        Yes, Greg and I would lose my Larivee acoustic before I would lose my Amber pic.... Im telling you its the best friend an acoustic could ever have!

        Whats the prob with your status...Will fix asap.
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  • Profile picture of the author cripperz
    haha i always shut the phone off when persistent telemarketeers called me. Totally not interested in cold calls. Its like invading privacy. Emails is more than enough these days isnt it.
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  • Profile picture of the author danielkanuck
    Originally Posted by ebizman View Post

    I've fired my 3rd telemarketer now! It seems like cold calling is a complete waste of time and money! They only got me a few decent leads, AND THAT'S IT!

    Whoever says cold calling works...they are lying to you! No one likes getting bs sales calls!

    Spend your money in other forms of marketing your services...not cold calling!
    Finally, someone who agrees with me. Lol...
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  • Profile picture of the author oldyounggary
    I cold-called for home security systems a few years back. There was a great salesman working there and we were selling systems. First month I ended up making more sales than anyone else (and this was the first time I ever did it.) How? Used the script. Smiled when I dialed. And knew it was a numbers game, so it never got personal. The whole room was profitable. But when that salesman left the room slowly died. It's poison for your good TM's to set appointments and get no sales. So they changed managers, tampered with scripts, etc., but the motivation of bonus money for sales was pretty much gone and the business died and closed up about a year later. And working in that atmosphere is like being on job death-row. It was ugly.

    Anyway, thats my $.02.

    By the way, if you think cold calling businesses is hard, try security systems or newspapers....
    if you think businesses are rude, people you interrupt at dinner time can be obscene and nasty, they'd probably gut you with their table knife if they could get it through the wire.
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  • Profile picture of the author cherry_b
    I firmly believe that a good telemarketer working full-time could make TONS of money in this business. The problem is that it takes time and a level of commitment not just to be a good telemarketer, but a good salesperson in general.

    I learned telemarketing working for a very successful company that was built, and largely sustained, through cold calling. I remember spending days on the phone with no success, going to one of my superiors and asking him to make a few "example" calls I could listen to, and watching him call once, book an appointment and come back with a sale. He made it sound no more difficult than calling his wife - it came naturally to him after years of practice. You could hear the complete confidence in his voice and he knew more than anything how to start, engage in and control a conversation. Something that no script or technique can teach, only experience.

    I hate cold calling and am working hard to put in place better, more long-term inbound marketing systems. But if you have no budget, cold calling is, in my opinion, your best option. Even if I have a larger budget down the road, hiring a professional telemarketer is a strong possibility.
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    • Profile picture of the author want2knowhow
      I believe Tim Sales has products that covers this very subject.
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      • Profile picture of the author Greg guitar
        Originally Posted by want2knowhow View Post

        I believe Tim Sales has products that covers this very subject.
        I believe people like you would turn this forum into a piece of shi* pitch fest if you had your way. That is the reason for the rule you just violated: you can't promote yourself or any affiliate programs in your posts. Now be gone.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimCastleman
    Let me ask you a few questions.

    #1 how many calls did these 3 telemarketers make for you?

    #2 out of those calls how many appointments did they setup?

    #3 out of those appointments how many of them did you close?

    #4 what was your return on investment - did you lose or make money?


    Tim
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  • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
    There is a common denominator in your failed telemarketing efforts...YOU.

    Cold calling works. I do it every day and have for 6 years. I didn't do it by sitting on my ass.

    It's either you:
    - being overinvolved and micro-managing (giving a script that doesn't work, not knowing what you should expect)
    - you not hiring the correct people (inexperienced, cheap, etc.)
    - having a bad product pitch/selling point (I can't sell something that costs too much, and I can't sell something to a random list of 1000 people - GET A NICHE market and call it!)
    - you get what you pay for (don't be cheap - you want cheap, do it yourself)


    If you want to see what a experienced telemarketers can do, message me...I'd love to show you.
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  • Profile picture of the author hotlinkz
    You should re-word your post titel to read...

    Re: DO NOT Cold Call - complete waste of time for me!

    As it stands, it's an unqualified, blanket statement that
    simply is not necessarily true.

    Tell me honestly what you are paying your telemarketers, a
    brief description of you interview process and I bet I can
    pretty much pin-point your problem.
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    • Profile picture of the author davechan
      Clearly cold calling is hard work. But, the process could be broken in many places along the way:

      1) Do you have the right list to call
      2) What about the script
      3) Who's doing the calling - is English their first language for example
      4) What's the call to action
      5) Do you have an escalation process
      6) Do you even have the right product and pricing

      I agree with the previous poster. The blanket statement that it's a waste of time is no true. While at Oracle, our telemarketers at the time were closing $300M in annual sales - no kidding. I was there.
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  • Profile picture of the author zj2431
    l hate cold call,but it is one of the most effective way to do this stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author LasseKohau
    Well, If I just knew - that telemarketing wasnt going to work......

    I guess, that i have fired my three telemarketers a lot sooner, eventhough bringing in 100 K each a year for my business.

    I assume, that I do have to quit my expansion plans of running another leg of offlline consulting and quit that internal competetion with John Durham.


    Shoot me a pm, and I will offer you a 30 minute free coaching session on skype in TM

    LASSE
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  • Profile picture of the author abigailmarketing
    Success in Cold Calling depends on the person doing it, the script you created and the ability of the telemarketer to convince people to get sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anthony Scorza
    I like to think that Warriors who make these "it doesn't work" posts are only doing it to get a bit of ass kicking motivation to get back in the saddle.

    Because they know they'll get a lot of "oh yes it does" evidence from those who are having success with the very method that "doesn't work"

    For my contribution I'll tell you that i have a brick and mortar cleaning business that makes me a tidy income from a group of around 1500 loyal repeat customers.

    I track these things and i know that more than half of them started out as cold calls.

    In fact I started the whole business with a phone and a phone book, so this business and all the stuff it pays for, for me and my family wouldn't even exist if cold calling didn't work.

    Some may argue that there are more efficient ways of going about things but as to the original post, here's no real debate here, just differing mindsets.
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    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      It depends how many hundreds of people you want to indoctrinate to associate your business with annoyance and irritation in sacrifice to score a sale or two.
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      • Profile picture of the author Greg guitar
        Originally Posted by webcore View Post

        It depends how many hundreds of people you want to indoctrinate to associate your business with annoyance and irritation in sacrifice to score a sale or two.
        I assume you're just venting because you don't like getting telemarketing calls. I understand-I hate most of them too, but the fact is, once in a while the right one came along and I bought.

        I don't even remember most of the telephone calls I've gotten, and I guess most major companies, as well as many smaller companies use telemarketers along with other modalities to market, so I doubt I would stop myself buying from a company because of my "indoctination" by getting a cold call from them. Even if the person I talked to was a jerk, I'd be more likely to hold them responsible than the company who hired them.

        There is one reason they keep using telemarketing year after year, decade after decade. It works like gangbusters. Far from trading "a sale or two", for indoctrinating 100s of people to associate the advertisers with "annoyance and irritation", telemarketing could more accurately be described as a powerful, personal form of advertising that drives millions in sales for companies that use it". Just because it has it's passionate haters, doesn't mean it's an overall marketing negative-quite the opposite, which is why it's use has been so widespread for so long, even in the internet age. It flat out works, regardless how annoyed you feel.
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  • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
    Most of the people that are saying that "Cold calling" works, are saying that, because they don't know any other way to attract business.

    Cold calling is simply annoying for the prospects and incredible draining for the cold caller, all those phrases like:" you are not trying hard enough" or "the problem is your attitude" are like the broken CD that keep repeating the same song over and over without telling you what is wrong.

    The difference between cold calling and prospecting is: REAL MARKETING, if you don;t know how to deliver your message to the people that are already looking for you the only thing you are going to be doing is keep receiving mistreatment from the people you are annoying on the phone.

    If you keep cold calling the only skill you are developing is your resistance to be mistreated, but if you learn direct marketing techniques you will be developing several skills: copywriting skills, marketing skills, prospecting skills etc..... where is the marketing in cold calling? it is like asking to every women on the street to have sex with you... you may find somebody who may want to, but you are not seducing anybody or becoming a better lover.

    When have you seen a doctor cold calling?: NEVER.... this example is important because that is one of the reasons that doctors are so well paid professionals, because they have position themselves as the experts on their field, who finds who in the sales process is extremely important to charge premium prices.

    Cold calling may work, but you decide spend 12 hours and getting paid 5/hr or start learning some direct marketing techniques, and create marketing pieces that will be your marketing assets for years to come and getting paid 200, 300, or 500/hr.

    I insist that most of the people cold call because they dont know other ways to get clients.

    Respectfully
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    • Profile picture of the author Anthony Scorza
      Originally Posted by patadeperro View Post

      I insist that most of the people cold call because they dont know other ways to get clients.
      Not sure why you'd insist on something you can't possibly know.

      Anyhow, the businesses I know of who use cold calling do it as part of their overall marketing mix.

      That's certainly the case for me. Customers i initially gain through cold calls, stay customers because of the other marketing methods i use to retain them for instance.

      I'm sure in the marketing you do, you test and tweak, keep the stuff that works and ditch the stuff that doesn't.

      It's the same for me and cold calling stays in my mix because it works for me.

      Incidentally, it makes me alot more than 5/hr
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    • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
      Originally Posted by patadeperro View Post

      Most of the people that are saying that "Cold calling" works, are saying that, because they don't know any other way to attract business.

      Cold calling is simply annoying for the prospects and incredible draining for the cold caller, all those phrases like:" you are not trying hard enough" or "the problem is your attitude" are like the broken CD that keep repeating the same song over and over without telling you what is wrong.

      The difference between cold calling and prospecting is: REAL MARKETING, if you don;t know how to deliver your message to the people that are already looking for you the only thing you are going to be doing is keep receiving mistreatment from the people you are annoying on the phone.

      If you keep cold calling the only skill you are developing is your resistance to be mistreated, but if you learn direct marketing techniques you will be developing several skills: copywriting skills, marketing skills, prospecting skills etc..... where is the marketing in cold calling? it is like asking to every women on the street to have sex with you... you may find somebody who may want to, but you are not seducing anybody or becoming a better lover.

      When have you seen a doctor cold calling?: NEVER.... this example is important because that is one of the reasons that doctors are so well paid professionals, because they have position themselves as the experts on their field, who finds who in the sales process is extremely important to charge premium prices.

      Cold calling may work, but you decide spend 12 hours and getting paid 5/hr or start learning some direct marketing techniques, and create marketing pieces that will be your marketing assets for years to come and getting paid 200, 300, or 500/hr.

      I insist that most of the people cold call because they dont know other ways to get clients.

      Respectfully
      As a "cold caller" for years I assure you your view of it is tainted. I'm pretty sure you have either never done it, can't do it correctly, or hired people to do it for you that had no idea what they were doing.

      Cold calling works, I've made a living off of it for 6 years now. It is a marketing tool, and not everyone uses the same ones.

      I've NEVER heard " you are not trying hard enough" or "the problem is your attitude"- if YOU have said that to someone, you have no clue how to hire a telemarketer. At no point should you have to utter those words if you did your homework and hired someone that knows what they are doing. If someone said those words to you, it makes complete sense why you feel cold calling doesn't work.

      A blanket statement like you made, is asinine. People prove your "theory" wrong every day and have been doing it for years. Just because you think you have the "new thing" in marketing doesn't mean it is going to work every time or be around forever.

      I also pick up that either you have made calls and don't know what you are doing or you've been called often by bad telemarketers. Words like "annoying" and "mistreated" are indicative of your experience. I have NEVER been mistreated on the phone by someone I call. I'm polite, therefore, they are polite. I listen, I even laugh and joke with them if it's a "bad" call. People aren't out to hate you, which it appears you think they are. Also, I've never "annoyed" anyone by calling them. If they don't want to talk, I thank them and let them go. I never push. There is no reason to hard sell, or use counters to their objections. I hate when people try to give me objection answers. Would it work on you? Would you keep listening after you've said no? NO, so why do you think anyone else wants to?

      Use the golden rule in calling and you won't feel like you annoy or feel mistreated.

      I think you should spend a day on the phones with me, you'd learn a lot.
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      • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
        Originally Posted by Mwind076 View Post

        I'm pretty sure you have either never done it, can't do it correctly, or hired people to do it for you that had no idea what they were doing.
        I can assure you I did it, and when you say "never done it, can't do it correctly" .... that is the classic answer when you are applying tactics that just work under very specific circumstances, I prefer to apply timeless principles to my marketing.

        Originally Posted by Mwind076 View Post

        Cold calling works, I've made a living off of it for 6 years now. It is a marketing tool, and not everyone uses the same ones.
        Yes, you are right, I think it works, but I dont think it is the best or the more effective either and I truly think it sucks... but I respect anybody who is willing to do it.

        Originally Posted by Mwind076 View Post

        Just because you think you have the "new thing" in marketing doesn't mean it is going to work every time or be around forever.
        Not at all, check all my posts, I am not following shining object, again I just apply to my marketing timeless principles, direct marketing principles, not shining objects, I still work on long sales copy, headlines etc... why? because they work.

        Originally Posted by Mwind076 View Post

        I think you should spend a day on the phones with me, you'd learn a lot.
        I should, I am sure I will learn something, nevertheless I have 2 main problems I have never been able to find a solution with cold calling:

        Problem number 1:

        Cold calling is about making certain number of calls by time unit isnt it? I mean like 20 calls per hour or 15 calls per hour? ok? so after certain number of calls you are expecting certain number of appointments, my questions here are... you just have 24 hours per day ever if you are a very successful cold caller, you will always have 24 hours per day so...

        How do you leverage your marketing efforts?

        Specially when you are an employee, what happened when your 8 hours are not enough to reach your quota? (I guess is when you start being pushy with the clients)

        Problem number 2:

        You are hired to sell very technical stuff like nuclear waste management system or some special pieces that makes some regular pieces on airplanes super conductive pieces.

        How do you sell that by cold calling?

        I have helped to sell some high tech solutions and some financial solutions as well so I know that cold calling is not great in those areas.... but who knows maybe they just had the wrong people .

        Respectfully

        patadeperro
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        • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
          Originally Posted by patadeperro View Post


          I should, I am sure I will learn something, nevertheless I have 2 main problems I have never been able to find a solution with cold calling:

          Problem number 1:

          Cold calling is about making certain number of calls by time unit isnt it? I mean like 20 calls per hour or 15 calls per hour? ok? so after certain number of calls you are expecting certain number of appointments, my questions here are... you just have 24 hours per day ever if you are a very successful cold caller, you will always have 24 hours per day so...

          How do you leverage your marketing efforts?

          Specially when you are an employee, what happened when your 8 hours are not enough to reach your quota? (I guess is when you start being pushy with the clients)


          patadeperro
          K, I chose to answer this part since it's the most detailed. Here we go!

          1)I'm going to give you figures just hypothetically. We'll go with 20 hours a week, depending on my spiel, I can call 15-45 numbers per hour. Out of those you will get appointments, warm leads, email leads, later leads etc. What I'm saying is you don't just get "appointments."

          I pull in 25-40 appointments per week on 3 different accounts. They all vary in what the product is. The contracts I work are normally 30-40 hours and permanent. I'm looking to build a relationship that will last. If I don't perform and give the results the client and I have talked about, guess what? They will stop using me. THAT is my motivation. Not a per sale fee.

          Many people don't realize that you will not sell a set amount of appointments per week. If we could all say "I will sell 10 of ____ each week" - well then, none of us would have an issue making a living. It's a numbers game. The more I can call, the more people I talk to, and SOMEONE is going to say yes off that list. There is a better chance of them saying yes if your list is targeted, but off any list...someone is going to bite.

          A call rate of 15 to 45 is very normal. No one wants me to make 45 calls in an hour...why? Because that means I'm NOT REACHING ANYONE. I can't possibly sell or make an appointment for anything making 45 calls an hour. If I'm getting 15 calls an hour that means I'm reaching 15 people for 4 minutes (plenty of time to sell) or I'm reaching say 25 people and talking to maybe 2 or 3 for a good bit of time and getting leads/appointments.

          Higher call rates in an hour is NOT A GOOD THING. I can make up to 60 calls an hour, but I won't be doing a bit of good for your company. You want me talking to people, not dialing.

          2) As for quotas and "I guess that's when you start being pushy." I don't think you're listening at all. You don't get pushy with anyone, ever, as a TM. It does no good. Would me being pushy with you on the phone change your mind? No, you'd be more determined to shut me up and get me off the phone. My job is to get you to WANT to book an appt, find out more info, buy the product. If you don't want to buy, then I can keep dialing and someone else will, without me having to brow beat them. There is no excuse to be rude to ANYONE you are calling. Ever. I've hung up on people because they were rude to me. No excuse, for either party to act like that. Use the Golden Rule.

          Back to quotas. When we start a contract we always hear people say "I need 20 hours a week, and out of that I want 25 appointments." Or some other unfounded want. Look, if you are coming to me, and "your last TM couldn't get appointments" or "my business needs more interest" - then you have no basis or right to expect me to magically dial numbers and make people be interested. If you could get 25 appts from 20 hours a week, you wouldn't be calling me. You'd be doing it already.

          When we start a contract, we advise that we need AT LEAST one week of calling whatever list you scraped off your shoe (because most of you don't want to pay for a NEW, good list). We get lists with funeral homes and liquor stores all with owners names that aren't American and don't speak English. Then you wonder why I can't sell your Satellite tv service. Duh. Take the time to BUY A GOOD LIST. You get what you pay for. After that week of calling, we'll give you an update of what you can expect. I may be able to book you 25 appointments. I may have booked 3 because your list sucked that bad. I may be able to book 50. If you are calling me it's because you aren't getting what you expect already, so don't expect me to make it happen with your rules.

          I'll let you know that you need a list of "bars, restaurants, hotels etc." to sell your product. I'll advise that I need more hours to be able to talk to everyone that is showing interest. I'll also advise if I think you'd be better off with another type of marketing for your business instead of using me!

          It boils down to you doing what you do best, and me doing what I do best. I don't tell you how much to price your product at, and what you should include with your starter package. You don't tell me how many calls to make per hour and how many appointments you expect out of it.

          Also, to each his own. I've been successfully working from home and doing this for years. I don't have an issue getting jobs, and I know and can prove what I speak of.

          If you are still looking for a telemarketer, my husband and I have over 6 years of experience. I'd love to show you what's up. PM me or send me a message on yahoo at mwindham10.

          ~Melissa and David
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Cho
    If you don't think it'll work, it won't work. And I'm sure you gave the same vibe to your telemarketer and he's thinking "****, i dont think it'll work either."

    The leader should be like moses and lead from the front and turn everyone into a believer and LEAD. SO FCKING SURE IT'S GOING TO WORK, THE WHOLE TEAM BELIEVES IT AND WOULD EVEN FEEL STUPID IF IT DIDN'T WORK. If the same vibe is delivered to the business owners, the business owner will believe in your system as well.

    Usually it's not the diet that doesn't work... it's the people who don't diet properly and believe that it's not going to work from the start.

    btw, try john durham's script. I gave it to my telemarketer and he closed a deal within his first or second day.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
      Originally Posted by Chris Cho View Post


      btw, try john durham's script. I gave it to my telemarketer and he closed a deal within his first or second day.

      It worked because you have someone that knows what they are doing...not because of the script. You can give NO script to someone that knows what they are doing and they will set appointments/make sales etc. It has NOTHING to do with a script. I'm really tired of seeing people that don't call put all this energy into a script. It's a waste of time, experienced callers don't use them. We don't need "salesforce" - dialers (complete waste of money for micromanaging people) - we don't need programs to "check up on us." If you have hired the right person they will produce. If they don't produce, FIRE THEM.
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  • Profile picture of the author make-money-online
    outsorcing to telemarketers would be the way to go
    comission based that is
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    nothing here he he he

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  • Profile picture of the author LastWarrior
    Originally Posted by ebizman View Post

    I've fired my 3rd telemarketer now! It seems like cold calling is a complete waste of time and money! They only got me a few decent leads, AND THAT'S IT!

    Whoever says cold calling works...they are lying to you! No one likes getting bs sales calls!

    Spend your money in other forms of marketing your services...not cold calling!
    LOL! @ ebizman!

    Looks like your bandwagon wreaked too much of BS for people wanting to jump on board.

    LastWarrior
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Someone cold call me & see how that works out for ya!
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  • Profile picture of the author Headfirst
    Originally Posted by ebizman View Post

    I've fired my 3rd telemarketer now! It seems like cold calling is a complete waste of time and money! They only got me a few decent leads, AND THAT'S IT!

    Whoever says cold calling works...they are lying to you! No one likes getting bs sales calls!

    Spend your money in other forms of marketing your services...not cold calling!
    How was it working when you were doing it yourself?

    Let me guess? You never did any cold calling yourself did you?

    You cannot outsource the process until you perfect it yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Data Rich Australia
    Telemarketing is definatley tough business... if you arent an expert in the feild. Many people try to run their own telemarketing businesses without realizing it is a business in itself... its not something you can just set up and leave. It needs to be run day in day out. Prehaps you should consider having a consultant come into your business to train you on running a telemarketing team, or outsource the work. Either of those i can help you with if youre interested my skype username: sherysecurrey
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  • Profile picture of the author BDubC
    My brother did telemarketing for awile, and was actually pretty good at it. He told me that he would, try to relate with the person, he would make sure he laughed with the person and felt that persons bad times. He would also take notes, and call them back again to build his relationship and a lot of times make sales the second time around. It's actually a lot of work you have to put into it, which does not suprise me at all, to be succesful in anything requires a bit of passionate work.
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  • Profile picture of the author chewmike
    Based on my experience on cold-calling, you have to work for the law of average and depends on individual mentality and persistence. It does really work!
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