Cold Calling Awkwardness...

by 31 replies
42
Note, while its on my mind.

All week long I have been trying to learn this lick on the acoustic guitar. I have been playing for 33 years.

I have watched the guy on the video slow it down, and I have learned all his moves... Now I can play it "very very slowly, and very very clumsily...". Honestly, Im doing it right, but it doesnt even sound like the same lick.

On top of that, my fingers are killing me, and lastly, I feel like Im just going through the motions because not one note of it makes sense, even though it makes sense when he plays it.

The only reason I keep going through the motions is because I know something after 33 years... if I keep doing it, its all the sudden going to start sounding more like its supposed to, and suddenly it will start making sense, and I will naturally speed up and clean up... Even though it doesnt make sense now. This is how you learn ALL licks.

Many people feel that way when they try a new pitch on the phone. They feel they are just going through the motions... it doesnt seem to feel comfortable or make sense.

The discouraging part is that they dont know what I know... Its real, its a real truth... If you keep going, it will kick in, it will start making sense, you will start to get the result you want, and the next thing you know sales will come naturally.

You probably believe me, that if I keep doing this lick, it will eventually start to work... Now believe me, that if you keep saying your script , it will start to work too.

Doing the power ninety x program for ninety days doesnt feel natural to the body at first, but if you do what feels unnatural for ninety days, you come out the other side looking like a Greek God...

It doesnt feel like its going to work... but only those who keep going get to know what it feels like to get to the other side. It does work.

If you have just started cold calling your brain may feel like my fingers right now... dazed and confused and fried... But just like me, if you keep going it will start sounding right, and start making sense... and soon you will be doing it joyfully and masterfully and getting the desired result.

Take this from a little guy who has done the most amazing things on a phone and started out just like you. Eventually you will feel less awkward about picking up your phone and it will feel more like "wielding your trusty sword". Only a few will know that though because only a few are willing to go the distance.

In any event, a phone is absolutely your number one customer acquisition tool for offline marketing. Nobody wants to telemarket for the rest of their life, but it is a skill that I highly recommend people master, because it will serve you a hundred different ways. Mostly with the confidence of knowing you can ALWAYS produce money when you need to.
#offline marketing #awkwardness #calling #cold
  • Great analogy John! And, one I can relate to, having been playing for over 30 years myself. Now, I need to apply that to marketing......
  • I'm not a fan of cold calling but I was in sales for other companies for a long time. Sometimes we had leads given to us and sometimes not. Almost seems harder doing it for your own business. Fortunately my brother is a professional telemarketer and he is helping us out.
  • My problem was (still kind of is) I was taking the rejections personally (the rude ones!) Just the other day someone laughed at me and hung up and I almost stopped calling..I actually did stop for 30 minutes or so, but forced myself to get back on the phone because I have goals I NEED to get to...then..I got to the sale, so it does get better after you keep doing it and I like in your report where you say *you're a business owner just like them and you're not hard selling you're simply introducing your services to them and finding someone who's interested* My problem was I was actually TRYING to sell so my voice probably sounded like a fake, salesperson, once I got into the *introducing services* mindset it has been much better and people actually want to talk to you whether they buy something or not because it's like you're having a basic conversation and not trying to sell anything
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    • Hi Deidra,

      I've been selling gas and electricity to domestic customers over the phone for a while now for a major uk supplier. When I started I used to take rejection personally and it used to drived me crazy sitting there for hours.

      That was until I decided that I could either CHOOSE to let it get to me, or CHOOSE to take advantage of the rejection.

      Guess what?

      I chose to take advantage of the rejection!

      How?

      Well, firstly I decided to consult rather than to sell. I now put the customer in a position where they feel that I'm doing them a favour by helping them with their bills. you're probably aware of it, but where I work it's called consultative selling. By the end of the conversation, those customers would either take up the offer or decline in the knowledge in that they were losing out.

      The other thing I would do is to tell myself that every "no" brings you one step closer to a "yes". If you don't feel the conversation is going your way, do what you can to politely bring the call to a close as you're wasting precious time you could be using to call those who are more interested in your offer.

      Hope this helps!!
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  • @ Diedra

    I use to have a sign on my desk that said "just deliver the message".

    It reminded me that my job wasnt to sell, but to just deliver the message. Having that mentality took an unbelievable amount of tension out of my voice and the vibe I projected. Also drawing pictures while talking...or playing game boy, watching tv...Shuffling papers...and being a bit pre occupied with something else, other than the sound of your voice, can help you disassociate a bit, just enough to take the anxiety energy out of the equation.

    Next, Next, next... Let it roll off.

    OH! BTW! UPDATE!: I can play the lick now really well! Took a straight week to master... Now Im bored with it.

    Here it is; I love this guy (Its the acoustic part):

    Alan Jackson - I Don't Even Know Your Name Part 2 of 3 (Country Guitar Lesson) - YouTube
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    • That dude's got some chops!!. You too, if you can play it like that!!
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    • lol I actually started doing this my 2nd day of calling..I was thinking *what can I do to make this seem like I'm just doing something and not *working* because the working part was putting pressure on me to sell, so I now call with the tv very low to make it seem like I'm just sitting down watching tv and talking and it actually does help.
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  • I like it. Cold calling and telemarketing is basically a money printing skill
  • Thanks John for the encouragement. This is the toughest part of an Offliner's job.
  • I have to agree. When you are first reading any sales script all you are doing is reading a sales script. Then you start to feel it and then you start to live it. Then, once you are living it, you aren't in the script anymore and you have the confidence to play it (to continue using your guitar analogy) you start playing some slightly different riffs and modifying the song to meet the vibe of the audience. You never throw the music away, but you play your own tune in vibration with the person you are talking to.. maybe that was too much music and not enough sales script, but hopefully you stayed with it...
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    • Nope, it was dead on and hopefully people could follow what you're saying lol but it's exactly right. You don't *throw away* your original script, but after enough calls you learn how to tweak it and make it your own. You learn to follow the tone of the person you're speaking with..for instance..if I call someone that's talking slow, I talk slow, if you're a fast talker I have to keep up with you, if you're cheerful, so I am I..etc..every call is different you have to play off that person's vibe..I have some clothes to fold so I'll be doing that as I call tomorrow lol I have to get back to finding leads for these clients so I won't be making any sales calls today.
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  • great analogy, John! anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first. not sure who said it first but I know i heard that somewhere.
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    • Just like guitar instructional videos, just do what the trainer says.

      Not making sense?

      Keep doing it... eventually it will.

      What in life thats worth mastering doesnt come with a TON of repetition and frustration before achieving mastery?

      Almost everything we want to do... karate, guitar, sales, ...whatever. Web design.

      There is an instructional manual for everything.

      So why isnt it that everyone who orders the instructional manual winds up playing guitar? Why is it that everyone who signs up for a karate class doesnt become a black belt?

      Because it has to be worth it to you, to repeat and repeat and repeat things until they become natural to you.

      No matter how awkward at first...'

      You have to "keep doing it".

      So why should mastering the most valuable skill on the planet (sales) be any different?

      Sure there are great instructional manuals, just like this no brainer video above, but if you cant force yourself to sit down and rewind it 200 times till you do it like he does... Then despite the no brainer instructions you will never do it.

      On the other hand, if you ARE willing to go through the motions till it makes sense, then you CAN do it just like he does.
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  • great analogy, John! anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first. not sure who said it first but I know i heard that somewhere.
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  • Folks, the original post is so clear that the example it provides deserves a bump here. Yamaha keyboards & old organs (love the sound!) are my instruments of choice, and I can tell you it's the same with learning no matter whether it's guitar or something else.

    Anybody heard of Harry Chapin? He says in this video how he chose a career that he could be bad at for awhile. He became quite able at his chosen profession by sticking with it!

    Stick with your call plan. It won't take you years to become good at prospecting, but it will take at least a couple of weeks to become comfortable with it. Don't bail out early because you don't ''get it" yet: it's going to take longer than a day or two for you to become a competent prospecting "player."

    Maybe your expectation is that because you've been using your brain and mouth for twenty or thirty years, you're supposed to become fantastic at prospecting overnight. Not so!

    Your brain and muscles require time to make patterns and habits out of new behaviors. Prospecting is no different. Yet with commitment you can become a talented prospector who makes a work of art out of the calls you make.
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    • John, I just wanted to let you know that on my private forum, a lot of the members have been raving about you on how they feel empowered now to set appointments after listening to your mp3's. One has already sold a couple thousand dollars due to changing his gameplan to substitute cold walk-ins for cold called appointments, so thanks a ton.
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  • Great thread. Great analogy/lesson. And great videos.
  • I love this. Using the phone is the single most valuable thing I've found for selling to small businesses. This is NOT to say that other forms of marketing don't work - they do.

    But if you have no money when you start, email and phone call until you have money.

    Then do other forms of marketing, but CONTINUE doing email and phone call campaigns because you will get dramatically better results if you do!

    Any marketing method, backed up with a phone campaign, will get dramatically better results!

    The beauty from a competitive standpoint is that most people just won't do this.

    Mike
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  • Strive and persist, don't give up the fight!
  • I am not a big fan of cold calling myself. Sometimes you have to do it but I'm sure there are methods out there that can help minimize it from being a cold call. Just my opinion good luck to you and keep going forward
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  • All the newbies who just came into this forum pre-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas, and need to make cash now ...

    ... need this thread.
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  • Read this thread for probably the third time today - I love it. I'm a musician myself (tenor saxophone + singer) and this is such a perfect comparison. It's crazy how musicianship can relate to so many different aspects of discipline, motivation, and life in general.

    Thanks for this. A must-read for sure.
  • This is a good thread. After reading for the last few days, I feel a lot more confident about cold calling and I am ready to get started. Just have to decide what I want to do for business now.
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