Those who are coldcalling, do you use a program or dial one by one?

35 replies
Just like the title says, is there any cheap autodialer out there for someone just starting in offline marketing? I hate dialing one number at a time.
#coldcalling #dial #program
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayhew
    SalesDialers.com You can get it for $89 thru StellarProspects. Lot's of great features.
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    • Profile picture of the author gp32765
      Yes, there system is good.
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      • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
        Originally Posted by gp32765 View Post

        Yes, there system is good.
        Which system are you referring to? VanillaSoft or Sales Dialers?
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  • Profile picture of the author summerbuzz
    Vanilla Soft may help you with cold calling. It is used for inbound sales and sales by phone.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
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    • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
      Originally Posted by Mwind076 View Post

      As a cold caller, and one that's been doing it for 6 years. I will not use a dialer. They are slow, and only a ploy to get your money. The companies that run them tout them as this golden goose.

      I can dial faster than any dialer, I can call back who I need to, when I need to, I can put people on hold, I can hang up and redial and I can press the buttons myself. Dialers are for micromanagers who "THINK" they are controlling how much telemarketers can reach in a hour/day. They are totally useless and slow down the entire process. Most of the CRM's they are incorporated into are also slow and the data entry fields are useless and time consuming.

      Get an excel list and start dialing. If you don't want to make the calls, hire me. I can guarantee you, that if you and I dialed for the same amount of time on a dialer and me on my phone, I'd outsell you.

      Want more info? Email me at yahoo. Mwindham10.

      Hate to disagree with you, but you are flat out wrong on this one. I can manually dial 45 - 50 dials per hour and make contact with 5 decision makers which is faster than almost anyone I have had the pleasure of working with. Using a power dialer, I can dial 110-125 dials and make contact with 10-12 people per hour. Both of these are actually for a 45 minute call block with a 15 minute break. The dialer is double the output and just flat out works and I have been manually dialing for years so my data is consistent over time. I have a friend that owns a leads/appointment setting company (well recognized) and even they don't dial manually. If fact, they don't even have phones on their desks. The slowest method they use is click to dial which is still faster than dialing by hand. Also, unlike you, they guarantee qualified appointments with the people you want to see...not jut generic appointments like you are offering. Qualified OPPORTUNITIES not appointments drives my sales funnel.

      If you are in fact an appointment setter dialing by hand, then more power to you. You are in the dark ages, but here is a thought. It seems like you have some experience in this area; however, rather than constantly telling the world how great you are and relentlessly pitching your services (you seem to do this in every post), try taking a cue from some others with cold calling experience (Mr Durham comes to mind) and share info rather than going straight for the close.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
        Originally Posted by DukeNasty View Post

        Hate to disagree with you, but you are flat out wrong on this one. I can manually dial 45 - 50 dials per hour and make contact with 5 decision makers which is faster than almost anyone I have had the pleasure of working with. Using a power dialer, I can dial 110-125 dials and make contact with 10-12 people per hour. Both of these are actually for a 45 minute call block with a 15 minute break. The dialer is double the output and just flat out works and I have been manually dialing for years so my data is consistent over time. I have a friend that owns a leads/appointment setting company (well recognized) and even they don't dial manually. If fact, they don't even have phones on their desks. The slowest method they use is click to dial which is still faster than dialing by hand. Also, unlike you, they guarantee qualified appointments with the people you want to see...not jut generic appointments like you are offering. Qualified OPPORTUNITIES not appointments drives my sales funnel.

        If you are in fact an appointment setter dialing by hand, then more power to you. You are in the dark ages, but here is a thought. It seems like you have some experience in this area; however, rather than constantly telling the world how great you are and relentlessly pitching your services (you seem to do this in every post), try taking a cue from some others with cold calling experience (Mr Durham comes to mind) and share info rather than going straight for the close.
        You know nothing about me. I do qualified appointments, and the 3 contracts I have prove that. I also have had 26 people contact my company to work for them off of this forum. Not that it's your business, but I thought I'd reply to your unfounded post. I have never bashed anyone here, nor do I feel you know what you are talking about.

        For instance - "I can manually dial 45 - 50 dials per hour and make contact with 5 decision makers which is faster than almost anyone I have had the pleasure of working with. Using a power dialer, I can dial 110-125 dials and make contact with 10-12 people per hour. Both of these are actually for a 45 minute call block with a 15 minute break."

        There are 60 minutes in an hour...let's say you take your 15 minute break...why I don't know, it's an hour. You are full of crap because you can't physically talk to 10-12 people and inform them of any type of product or make an appointment. You have 45 minutes, and dial 110 (on the low side) that is one dial per 24 seconds. Which, I agree is doable. I can dial 4-5 per minute on disconnect, vm's, na's and ni's. Let's put in your "make contact" claim. I can make contact with all 110 of those people. That doesn't mean I'm doing **** by just getting them to pick up the phone. You, my sir are full of crap. Dialers are a waste of time, and I can say that because I too have used them.

        I also dial by hand because I work for myself. Not a micromanager that thinks keeping me tied to the phone will prove I'm working. My numbers and appointments prove I'm working, as do the paychecks that keep rolling in. I can get up and take a walk, start dinner, run errands and do anything I need to when my appointment are set. I'd much rather be my own boss than be stuck to a dialer that someone else designed so THEY can make money off of people.

        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.

        Now, I'd appreciate it if you would stick to your own false claims and not butt into my proven way of doing business. Anyone can see that your "numbers" don't add up. You are free to continue with your dialer and 120 dials per hour. I'll stick to actually having a conversation with the people I call and booking appointments for my clients. It has worked for years, and by the looks of the people asking me to work for them, will continue to work.

        Happy automated dialing!
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        • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
          Originally Posted by Mwind076 View Post

          You know nothing about me. I do qualified appointments, and the 3 contracts I have prove that. I also have had 26 people contact my company to work for them off of this forum. Not that it's your business, but I thought I'd reply to your unfounded post. I have never bashed anyone here, nor do I feel you know what you are talking about.

          For instance - "I can manually dial 45 - 50 dials per hour and make contact with 5 decision makers which is faster than almost anyone I have had the pleasure of working with. Using a power dialer, I can dial 110-125 dials and make contact with 10-12 people per hour. Both of these are actually for a 45 minute call block with a 15 minute break."

          There are 60 minutes in an hour...let's say you take your 15 minute break...why I don't know, it's an hour. You are full of crap because you can't physically talk to 10-12 people and inform them of any type of product or make an appointment. You have 45 minutes, and dial 110 (on the low side) that is one dial per 24 seconds. Which, I agree is doable. I can dial 4-5 per minute on disconnect, vm's, na's and ni's. Let's put in your "make contact" claim. I can make contact with all 110 of those people. That doesn't mean I'm doing **** by just getting them to pick up the phone. You, my sir are full of crap. Dialers are a waste of time, and I can say that because I too have used them.

          I also dial by hand because I work for myself. Not a micromanager that thinks keeping me tied to the phone will prove I'm working. My numbers and appointments prove I'm working, as do the paychecks that keep rolling in. I can get up and take a walk, start dinner, run errands and do anything I need to when my appointment are set. I'd much rather be my own boss than be stuck to a dialer that someone else designed so THEY can make money off of people.

          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.

          Now, I'd appreciate it if you would stick to your own false claims and not butt into my proven way of doing business. Anyone can see that your "numbers" don't add up. You are free to continue with your dialer and 120 dials per hour. I'll stick to actually having a conversation with the people I call and booking appointments for my clients. It has worked for years, and by the looks of the people asking me to work for them, will continue to work.

          Happy automated dialing!

          Wow...ruffled your feathers didn't I. Since I don't know what I am talking about, please explain how my 50 dials per hour has helped build a million dollar financial services practice? That means, my practice grosses a million per year (recurring too I might add), grows by about $100,000 in fees per year(that's $10mm in new assets per year), and I net about 51% of that. I have two other partners that are in my practice and I gross the least out of all of them.

          How did the practice grow? Picking up that 800lb phone, calling to make appointments, then going to meet the client and bringing home the bacon. I am not going to even waist my time arguing with you. I have made more dials than most people on this planet to the tune of 40,000 dials on a light year and 50,000 dials on a heavy year...FOR YEARS...and there is no doubt that a dialer is faster. It is indisputable. A dialer gives me more dials and more contacts...period.

          You bring into question your experience because anyone that dials for a living doesn't sit at a phone bank all day without regular breaks. Calling in 45 to 50 minute call blocks with a small break is the reason I outlasted the rest. Even the Godfather of coldcalling in our business Bill Good recommends this. People are scared to death of calling which is why most people quit...that and the monotony. Cold calling is hard work and even I don't like doing it, but i do it anyway because it fills my bank account with tons of cash. It always has and always will.

          BTW, I am glad people are emailing you to to request your services. Wasn't that the intent of your posts?! Good luck...and don't expect a call from me. I will be on my dialer! LOL!
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          • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
            You ruffled nothing, you just made yourself look like the ass you continue to prove you are. Look, everyone does business their own way. If you are running a 1M$ business go do that and quit being a douchebag. I'm thinking you have no work to do and you need something to fill your time with so you get on here and spew nonsense about yourself.

            I have work to do. If you're going to be here, be helpful to someone...there's always got to be one party pooper and one person who feels the need to prove how awesome he is. Just know no one is buying it, so you can stop.
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            • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
              Originally Posted by Mwind076 View Post

              You ruffled nothing, you just made yourself look like the ass you continue to prove you are. Look, everyone does business their own way. If you are running a 1M$ business go do that and quit being a douchebag. I'm thinking you have no work to do and you need something to fill your time with so you get on here and spew nonsense about yourself.

              I have work to do. If you're going to be here, be helpful to someone...there's always got to be one party pooper and one person who feels the need to prove how awesome he is. Just know no one is buying it, so you can stop.
              Your continued name calling really demonstrates your lack of professionalism. Very pubescent, but it really doesn't surprise me. Oh, and the proving of how awesome one is? Seriously?! Read this quote of yours...

              "Get an excel list and start dialing. If you don't want to make the calls, hire me. I can guarantee you, that if you and I dialed for the same amount of time on a dialer and me on my phone, I'd outsell you.
              "

              Want more info? Email me at yahoo. Mwindham10. "



              Sounds like it is the pot calling the kettle black on this one so let's just agree to disagree. And you are right. I don't have any work to do because my business has systems in place that allows it to run itself. It is a machine, but it still has to be fed food in the form of prospects in order to grow. Meanwhile, I invest my time and efforts into other platforms and look for ways to systematize them to ignite growth in other areas of interest. In short, I get a rush out of starting and succeeding in business.

              BTW, you are still incorrect when you state that someone can outdial a dialer. Even the other poster agreed with me on this one. BTW, go check out a company called ConnectAndSell. They recently received a few million in venture funding because their dialing technology is so good and used by several very well known companies. Go check out the dialer from MojoSells.com. Go check out the dialer from SalesDialers.com. Go check out the dialer from InsideSales.com and all of the studies they have to back up their claims. Go to Focus.com and read all of the real world results that people have had using dialers. Real companies...not someone operating out of their living room and "going to the grocery store and/or starting dinner".

              Again, you are completely off of your rocker stating that manual dialing is faster than an autodialer. It is untrue and completely ridiculous. There is just too much published evidence and real world examples that prove you wrong.

              To the original poster. Please accept my apologies for getting your thread muddy. However, please further investigate the use of dialers. You will be doing yourself a big favor. I believe you can rent CallFire dialers by the hour for a few bucks and InsideSales.com or VanillaSoft have free trials so you can use them to see what you think. No matter what you do, the most important thing to do is to continually make the calls and win some business for yourself. It works!
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      • Profile picture of the author tchavez
        I do agree with you on this. However, if you are to use autodialers you have to have a phone in your desk too for manual dialing since most of the gatekeepers are going to give you another contact number.

        And I can't agree more regarding "Qualified OPPORTUNITIES not appointments drives my sales funnel." That's actually the essence of appointment setting - to set appointments to interested if not interested enough to let you call them back for a sales call.

        I've been dialing for a few years and had great success with that. I have my own team to do that now though.

        IMO

        Originally Posted by DukeNasty View Post

        Hate to disagree with you, but you are flat out wrong on this one. I can manually dial 45 - 50 dials per hour and make contact with 5 decision makers which is faster than almost anyone I have had the pleasure of working with. Using a power dialer, I can dial 110-125 dials and make contact with 10-12 people per hour. Both of these are actually for a 45 minute call block with a 15 minute break. The dialer is double the output and just flat out works and I have been manually dialing for years so my data is consistent over time. I have a friend that owns a leads/appointment setting company (well recognized) and even they don't dial manually. If fact, they don't even have phones on their desks. The slowest method they use is click to dial which is still faster than dialing by hand. Also, unlike you, they guarantee qualified appointments with the people you want to see...not jut generic appointments like you are offering. Qualified OPPORTUNITIES not appointments drives my sales funnel.

        If you are in fact an appointment setter dialing by hand, then more power to you. You are in the dark ages, but here is a thought. It seems like you have some experience in this area; however, rather than constantly telling the world how great you are and relentlessly pitching your services (you seem to do this in every post), try taking a cue from some others with cold calling experience (Mr Durham comes to mind) and share info rather than going straight for the close.
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        • Profile picture of the author rixlo
          Yes, everyone does business in their own way. I did 'cold' calling in my own business and working for one of the largest banks in the USA. We called them 'power hour'. I don't like or believe in auto dialing. I like to be able to reach someone or VM so they can hear me and not a recording. I believe in my experience this is keeping the 'human' factor where it belongs. With all the electronic advances we are making, it is also making less human contact even with the social medias. This is going to be harmful for our up and coming generations. You have to do what YOU feel is going to work for you. Good luck to all.
          ric
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        • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
          Originally Posted by tchavez View Post

          I do agree with you on this. However, if you are to use autodialers you have to have a phone in your desk too for manual dialing since most of the gatekeepers are going to give you another contact number.

          And I can't agree more regarding "Qualified OPPORTUNITIES not appointments drives my sales funnel." That's actually the essence of appointment setting - to set appointments to interested if not interested enough to let you call them back for a sales call.

          I've been dialing for a few years and had great success with that. I have my own team to do that now though.

          IMO
          This very rarely happens to me (given a different number to call) because of they way I operate while on the phone. I generally talk to 10 to 12 decision makers per hour (a 45 minute call block). In a typical day, I usually speak with 40 to 50 decision makers depending on how much time I put into it. That takes 400 to 500 dials. The rest of the dials that I make may be gatekeepers, "He's not it in", "He is in a meeting", "Please take us off your list", or whatever. It doesn't really matter as far as I am concerned because they either get thrown out never to be called again or recycled at the bottom of my list.

          Out of those 40 to 50 decision makers, 5 become what I would consider "hot leads", meaning they either went for my offer right off of the bat or they want to meet to discuss the offer. Out of the other 45, another 2 or so will become "warm leads" that are added to my drip list. I have a system in place to follow up with everyone in the funnel (multiple touch points) and at the end of every month, I flush everyone out with a simple questioning methodology that I have developed over the years. It is very effective in keeping my funnel functioning effectively.

          My pitch/offer is fairly straight forward (actually it is very straight forward) and I want my decision maker to disqualify himself as quickly as possible because there are thousands and thousands of prospects out there. Because of this, no prospect is more important than another. Very simple. Either they want what I have to offer or they don't. If they don't, they get a "thankyouverymuch" and I move on.

          Once a month in my firm we have a "training call" with the rookies to help them build their businesses. Two months ago, the person that leads my division (largest wealth management firm in the U.S.) and the National Training Officer, gave me a call and asked if I would lead the call because so many folks struggle with how to build a business using the phone for lead generation and it is well known within my firm that I have been successful using the phone.

          Based on that call, several individuals from the firm followed up with me directly and asked if I would be their ad hoc "Coach" of sorts. Normally, I wouldn't agree to do something like this on a national level because it is too difficult to manage although I do normally take on one or so rookies per year locally when I see potential. At any rate, I gave everyone my formula for success, laid out expectations, and we have a quick call once a week to cover questions or concerns. Out of this group of 12 individuals, three did not do what they said they would do in terms of calling and as a result one got ****canned, and two are very close to having the same happen to them. Weak! The other 9 report their dials to me on a weekly basis and their production is incredible compared to their peers and this is only after two months. I can't wait to see what happens after several more months of this.

          Plain and simple, what I do works. My business is purely a contact sport and the more contacts I make, the more clients I end up with. Fairly straight forward stuff. Nothing more and nothing less. I am at the point in my career that I almost discourage appointments unless I am fairly certain the prospect is serious about doing business. In other words, I qualify like crazy because I do not like wasting time "reaching" for appointments. As a result, I screen hard for Need, Dollar, and Commitment. Others call it Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline (BANT). Whatever you call it is fine...as long as whomever you spend your time with is actually motivated and qualified.

          As far as having a phone on my desk, I do. I was referring to a friend (a client actually) that owns a large lead generation firm and works primarily for technology companies. His people do not have phones on their desks and they do a significant amount of business setting appointments for others. Very significant.

          Cold calling has gotten harder and harder every year that I have done it (over a decade) because there are so many ways to screen you out these days. Make no mistake about that. But, bottomline, this year is going to be my biggest year ever because I have simply spoken with more people and a dialer has allowed me to do that. I started using a dialer at the beginning of the year, and by the end of July, my stats have shown that I will have spoken to as many people as I normally would have spoken to in an entire year. We are talking about six months that has yielded what twelve months has yielded for me in the past. My pitch hasn't changed. The name on the door hasn't changed. Nothing. The only difference, and I mean the ONLY difference, is that I have simply spoken to more people.

          Don't get me wrong. Using a dialer didn't make customers don't come at a quicker pace. By that I mean, my dials per contact, contacts per lead, and lead per customer stats are still statistically the same. No real variation. Again, the only difference is that I can now do in one day what used to take me two days to do. My dials and contacts are double what they normally are. Using the dialer has been a true force multiplier.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Raglin
    I've dialed by hand as a cold caller for years and have to say that I'd use an automatic dialer every time that I could.

    Anything that can be used to save time and money should be considered first every time over traditional approaches.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Clough
    WOW.....great offline discussion people! I'm learning so much.

    OK, let's recap:

    ass

    douchebag

    ruffled feathers

    lots of anger in the words

    I can out-sell you

    spew non-sense

    intent of your posts

    my *#&^'s are bigger than yours

    Kinda' reminds me of Jr. High School, or Middle School depending on your ages. Speaking of ages, you all are showing some really childish behavior with all this mud-slinging.

    Are you politicians, lawyers or just plain pissed off?

    Listen.....this is an offline marketing discussion thread. We're supposed to be here to help each other, aren't we?

    So maybe you should get back to the issues at hand and take your
    feelings "offline!"

    Let's make some money and help someone!
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    • Profile picture of the author Doug Terry
      Well said Rowdy and iamchrisgreen I think we should charge for that webinar...LOL
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  • Profile picture of the author elijahcamp1
    Well I havent gotten too much useful information from this post, but did have a good laugh. No need to hate on eachother, everyone has their opinions and things that work for them. Thanks for the responses anyhow.

    Anyone know of an autodialer for the free Google voice?
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  • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
    To the OP - I apologize that it has gotten out of hand. I answered a question, to which DukeNasty felt the need to disagree with. I don't feel that we all have to use the same methods to obtain our results. Had he realized that his way is good for him and my way is good for me, and stuck to actually giving advice I'd have been happy that the OP got some different views on things. However, he decided to bash someone else that explained another option well. While he is doing the exact same thing he's accusing me of. I'm very professional and have no issue stating when I'm wrong. However, just because this is a male dominated forum, I won't be talked down to because he wants to further prove how loud he can roar. I do hope you try the autodialer and then try someone that knows how to cold call and see the difference.

    DukeNasty - After your last comments I'm not sure you even know what you're disagreeing with me about.

    "Again, you are completely off of your rocker stating that manual dialing is faster than an autodialer. It is untrue and completely ridiculous. There is just too much published evidence and real world examples that prove you wrong."

    At no point, ever, at all, did I say that manual dialing was FASTER. I agree with you, it is NOT faster than an autodialer. What I stated in my original and subsequent comments, and stand by is that it does no good at all to dial faster unless you are trying to make in into the Guiness Book of World Records. You cannot, will not, and never will sell more than any person that is dialing manually and REACHING PEOPLE when you are dialing 110-125 (your figures) per 45 minute block. You can't TALK to anyone when you dial that many numbers. Period. I don't know about you, but I can't sell a thing if I don't actually have a conversation, and I can't have a conversation with anyone dialing a phone number every 24 seconds for 45 minutes. I can however tell you that my "proven, documented" figures show that I book 7 appointments per hour based on my last 6 years of calling. (That's fact, not proving how awesome I am) I did not get those numbers on an autodialer.

    So, we have no reason to disagree now, since you didn't understand any of what I said in the first place.

    I too read your past posts, and have read more than enough about your free spending wife and corner office overlooking Buckhead. As for what I said about out selling...I stand by that. It's not bragging if it's true.
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  • Profile picture of the author iamchrisgreen
    I've never experienced a cold call duel before.

    I would love to see a webinar where we get to watch you two for an hour cold calling against each other.

    I'm only half joking too because I think you can learn a TON from watching people do these calls.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
      Originally Posted by iamchrisgreen View Post

      I've never experienced a cold call duel before.

      I would love to see a webinar where we get to watch you two for an hour cold calling against each other.

      I'm only half joking too because I think you can learn a TON from watching people do these calls.
      That would work, you could hear me talking to customers while you watch him sit there with his headphones on letting his computer dial 120 numbers in 45 minutes.
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      • Profile picture of the author iamchrisgreen
        Originally Posted by Mwind076 View Post

        That would work, you could hear me talking to customers while you watch him sit there with his headphones on letting his computer dial 120 numbers in 45 minutes.
        FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT ... (Just playing) ...

        Why don't you guys do this? It would be a great learning for all of us to see the pro's in action.
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    • Profile picture of the author rushindo
      Originally Posted by iamchrisgreen View Post

      I've never experienced a cold call duel before.

      I would love to see a webinar where we get to watch you two for an hour cold calling against each other.

      I'm only half joking too because I think you can learn a TON from watching people do these calls.
      Pleeease do this! I would so love to listen in on these cold calls! If you guys don't do, someone else do it (cough John cough). If you don't want to do it live, record it or something. Comon everyone, beg them so they will do it LOL!
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      • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
        Originally Posted by rushindo View Post

        Pleeease do this! I would so love to listen in on these cold calls! If you guys don't do, someone else do it (cough John cough). If you don't want to do it live, record it or something. Comon everyone, beg them so they will do it LOL!
        I would have no issue showing someone how to do what I do, in fact, if anyone wants to listen for real and get some training on how to cold call and what to say to clients, let me know.

        We have had non-stop PM's and emails in the 2 weeks I've been on here giving advice, so much that we've started doing consultations because we were getting emails of "what are your rates" and "how many appointments do you book a week?" Seems people here need guidance on HOW to get prepared to do offline marketing. So, if you are serious, and want to know what do do on the phones and how to get appointments booked, or get customers to say yes once you get them on the phone, I'm game for letting you listen in.

        On the other hand, if you want to watch the other guy sit on his dialer and try to outdial the world with his 110-125 calls per hour/45 minutes (since he takes a 15 min break), then have at it...but you won't learn anything.

        FYI - John Durham (if that is the John you speak of) has PM'd us and suggested we also start looking at his website for helping people with their appointment setting needs...check it out.

        Originally Posted by John Durham

        If you post the exact same thing you posted about your experience appointment setting in the classified at my forum...thetelemarketingforum.com, you will get responses. Just a heads up. They are free.

        Great post,
        John
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    I have all the technology anyone could ever dream of for predictive dialing, and have run 1000 TMs on them... and some of the people I respect most disagree with me... But if I personally want to set B2B appointments I manual dial. Because it isnt like residential... Dropped calls make a difference.

    Plus "more people pick up" in b2b than residential, so I dont find that I need predictive dialing to sort through "no answers" as much.

    I like knowing when the customer is going to pick up and getting a leg up on the sales call as opposed to a customer saying hello for 10 seconds before I even know they are on the line... The lack of irritation in the customers when you manual dial creates a better quality in 5 out of ten calls that makes up for the lack of numbers.

    I can do it either way, but I like to be up close and personal with my list if its not something major and i only need a handful of leads... If I need to call 600 numbers, then sure I'll use an autodialer, but usually a list of 100 is enough to give me a few appointments when I want them, so I just use yellow pages and a pen and paper.

    Ps. To The OP. I would change this thread title to "Do You Use Predictive Dialer or Dial Manually - Predictive Dialing vs. Manual Dialing ? " .

    Now you have a magic thread. Just a heads up.
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    • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
      Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

      I have all the technology anyone could ever dream of for predictive dialing, and have run 1000 TMs on them... and some of the people I respect most disagree with me... But if I personally want to set B2B appointments I manual dial. Because it isnt like residential... Dropped calls make a difference.

      Plus "more people pick up" in b2b than residential, so I dont find that I need predictive dialing to sort through "no answers" as much.

      I like knowing when the customer is going to pick up and getting a leg up on the sales call as opposed to a customer saying hello for 10 seconds before I even know they are on the line... The lack of irritation in the customers when you manual dial creates a better quality in 5 out of ten calls that makes up for the lack of numbers.

      I can do it either way, but I like to be up close and personal with my list if its not something major and i only need a handful of leads... If I need to call 600 numbers, then sure I'll use an autodialer, but usually a list of 100 is enough to give me a few appointments when I want them, so I just use yellow pages and a pen and paper.
      And that may be the difference. I never prospect for appointments like you and Mwind do. I prospect for people indicating buying intent and often times an appointment isn't necessary. Huge difference. Also, I never use a predictive dialer. The dialer that I use allows me to hear the person when they answer the phone. This is an important distinguishing factor that can't be overlooked because predictive dialers are usually only useful when in a call center environment and you have multiple reps that are being fed live calls as they become available. BTW, I always call B2B and never call residential. Residential has been very ineffective for me.
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      • Profile picture of the author John Durham
        Originally Posted by DukeNasty View Post

        And that may be the difference. I never prospect for appointments like you and Mwind do. I prospect for people indicating buying intent and often times an appointment isn't necessary. Huge difference. Also, I never use a predictive dialer. The dialer that I use allows me to hear the person when they answer the phone. This is an important distinguishing factor that can't be overlooked because predictive dialers are usually only useful when in a call center environment and you have multiple reps that are being fed live calls as they become available. BTW, I always call B2B and never call residential. Residential has been very ineffective for me.
        I understand high probability selling... even encourage it. One school of thought being right doesnt make the other wrong. Like yourself, I can out perform anyone who has ever sat within 100 feet of me... In my experience, some people do better manually.

        Ps. I agree that the most useful part of predictive dialing is for managing reps. For that I would hardly live without one. Im referring to a guy at his kitchen table trying to close a couple of sales per week or 5....

        If you manage reps..a dialer is almost a must, if its more than three or four and you arent directly looking over their shoulder. No doubt. It helps you track stats you didnt even know you needed, and does help imporove performance in the training sense, you can pin point problem areas because numbers dont lie.

        "But telemarketers often do. lol"

        They will tell you they called for 3 hours and their stats will show 2 hours pause time...
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        • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
          Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

          I understand high probability selling... even encourage it. One school of thought being right doesnt make the other wrong. Like yourself, I can out perform anyone who has ever sat within 100 feet of me... In my experience, some people do better manually.

          Ps. I agree that the most useful part of predictive dialing is for managing reps. For that I would hardly live without one. Im referring to a guy at his kitchen table trying to close a couple of sales per week or 5....

          If you manage reps..a dialer is almost a must, if its more than three or four and you arent directly looking over their shoulder. No doubt. It helps you track stats you didnt even know you needed, and does help imporove performance in the training sense, you can pin point problem areas because numbers dont lie.

          "But telemarketers often do. lol"

          They will tell you they called for 3 hours and their stats will show 2 hours pause time...

          John, you said, "One school of thought being right doesnt make the other wrong". I think this about sums it up nicely! Let's all just agree to disagree.

          The original poster asked this question...

          "Just like the title says, is there any cheap autodialer out there for someone just starting in offline marketing? I hate dialing one number at a time"

          That is the question that was asked. He stated matter of factly that he doesn't like manual dialing. He didn't ask to hire anyone. He simply wanted to know which dialers are the cheapest. A few folks posted prices for dialers per the request by the original poster. At that point, someone came onboard and posted this...

          "They are slow, and only a ploy to get your money. The companies that run them tout them as this golden goose. I can dial faster than any dialer,...If you don't want to make the calls, hire me. I can guarantee you, that if you and I dialed for the same amount of time on a dialer and me on my phone, I'd outsell you."

          Based on your experience, you HAVE to know that that is not the case, misleading, and very disingenuous. It is humanly impossible to outdial a dialer. But, nevermind that. If someone chooses to dial by hand because that is their preference then so be it. Like you said, one way that is right for you doesn't make it right for someone else. But facts are facts. Power dialers are faster than dialing manually. Can you spend all day dialing manually and accomplish the same thing a dialer can accomplish in half the time? Sure you can although it is tougher because B2B contact rates degrade throughout the day. I did it for years manually and the numbers don't lie. But a small investment in a dialer allows me to save time these days and there is no way I would leave home without it.

          We have all spent far too much time debating this. Again, let's all just agree to disagree!
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    Auto Dialers in Calls center increase productiviity drastically... keeps momentum and pace... I think a person just dialing from theior kitchen table manually could have good experience either way if its B2B.

    I understand your passion about dialers. They were revolutionary 20 years ago... now the internet people are catching on and its exciting to share with them.
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  • Profile picture of the author elijahcamp1
    Thanks for the replies everyone, this has been a goldmine of information. I will be doing some research into various dialers the next couple days and will report back what I find to like.

    DukeNasty - just out of curiosity, you said you're looking to close the deal on the phone for financial services. The only financial services I know of are big ticket items, which i image would be hard if not impossible to close on the phone. What is the initial service you're offering and what kind of price tag does it have? Have you found a difference in trying to sell higher ticket items then lower ticket ones?
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    • Profile picture of the author DukeNasty
      Originally Posted by elijahcamp1 View Post

      Thanks for the replies everyone, this has been a goldmine of information. I will be doing some research into various dialers the next couple days and will report back what I find to like.

      DukeNasty - just out of curiosity, you said you're looking to close the deal on the phone for financial services. The only financial services I know of are big ticket items, which i image would be hard if not impossible to close on the phone. What is the initial service you're offering and what kind of price tag does it have? Have you found a difference in trying to sell higher ticket items then lower ticket ones?

      Not a problem at all. Plenty of people don't want to do it, but it doesn't bother me because there is an endless supply of clients. I have clients all over the country and it is almost impossible for me to run out of people to call. My minimum qualifier when I call is $100k, but that just gets you in the game. It is rare that someone is going to give you all of their wealth on an initial call, but for wealthy folks, $100k on a tax free bond from their alma mater or from a local utility is something that they will do with no problem. After great customer service for a period, more times than not, I get all of their personal assets. I also do calls locally for a seminar model that we use that is a pure money maker so in that pitch I am merely inviting someone for a free lunch or breakfast, but I still go through a stringent qualifying process.

      Like I said, I am not calling for an appointment per se. I am looking for people with money who are seriously interested and ready to buy and there are plenty of 'em. Think about this. This morning I hit the phones at 7:30 and called folks locally for my first call block and make 13 contacts. From 8:30 to 9:30 I called Birmingham,AL which is an hour behind me. However, the decision maker is just getting in their office because for them it is still 7:30. Another 14 contacts in the book. Had a preplanned long followup call to make, so didn't get back on the dialer until 10 my time (EST). Called Denver for an hour and a half because I have had good success there and took down 19 contacts in that hour and a half.

      Normally, I would have jumped out to the west coast for another call block since they are 3 hours behind and made a round of my followup calls, but I had an appointment that I needed to get in after lunch (i.e. 18 hole Wednesday showdown with the usual suspects) , and the "meeting" was pushed up because rain was in the forecast!

      People talk so much trash about using the phone for sales, but even if you are doing some type of inbound lead generation, you have to pick up the phone at some point and separate those who are serious from those who are merely kicking the tires. I simply choose to do it sooner rather than later. And I applaud you for beginning your foray into dialing

      But, make no mistake about it. I get shot down plenty of times...probably more than everyone else. But the reason I win and win consistently is because I pick up the phone and dial more than anyone else and i am willing to accept the fact that I already know that MOST people aren't going to do business with me. The ones that do decide to do business with me make it more than worthwhile. The law of large numbers always works in my favor! :p
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  • Profile picture of the author ChessTrainer
    i think everyone can agree that the dialer is the more convenient alternative. thats an amazing service.
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  • Profile picture of the author docsulo
    Some leads should not be put into a dialer before they are manually called. At the other extreme... some lists MUST be put into a dialer in order to make it worthwhile to call them.

    The lead and the list determine the way to proceed.
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  • Profile picture of the author TGArthur
    I was looking into a dialer, and after reading this page, I think for phone calling people who live at residents might work with a dialer. When I get around to getting a dialer, I'll let everyone know the results!
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    • Profile picture of the author WikiWarrior
      I dial one-by-one and am having success with this. To be honest, using an auto-dialer scares me a bit, as lame as that sounds. I might try it in September when I get my own place but for now I'm happy to manual dial. I should say that my list of calls is very targeted because I use software called Power Leads Pro X to gather leads so when I make each call I know that the business needs my service/s.
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  • Profile picture of the author seabro
    There is no question, having a computer dial a number is quicker than dialling with a finger. What happens after the caller answers is another story. Maybe the finger guy is better on the phone, maybe not but the dialling is quicker by computer.

    Also, if you have a 'not ready' button, which you have to press to pause dialling between calls, otherwise you are quickly connected to the next prospect then in most cases you are going to be more productive than someone who will occassionally have sip of tea and a bite of biscuit before finger dialling.

    When I get around to cold calling, I will user Elastix, it is a relatively easy to setup VoIP PBX server which is free (Open Source) and supports auto dialling, you just load in your spreadsheet of numbers/names etc. Maybe out of technical reach of some/many, but I used to be a VoIP guy so I am familiar. It will support 100+ agents so if you want to upscale, all you need is another agent, another PC, another pair of headphones and another free softphone. Google Elastix if you're interested.
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