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Colding and leaving an answer machine message

by mrjibbles
12 replies
Hi Everyone

I was just thinking, for newbie's who find cold calling daunting, has anyone tried phoning companies out of hours and leaving a voicemail or answer phone message?

That way, you can get your point acros, leave the information and not have the memeber of staff who answers the phone, feel like that have been jumped on

They can also replay it incase they don't have time to talk if you phoned within working hours?

What are your thoughts?
#answer #colding #leaving #machine #message
  • Profile picture of the author PacMan99
    That sounds like a pretty good idea.
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    • Profile picture of the author David Miller
      You can't be serious! What happens if someone answers the phone? Do you say "sorry, wrong number?"

      Here's something you can try if you are afraid of face to face: knock on the doors of a business and run away!

      Seriously, this thread is scary in many ways.

      Is the phone THAT scary that you need to think of things that have a 1 in a billion chance of getting a response?

      This kind of thinking only adds to the belief that selling on the phone is so hard we must find clever ways of avoiding it.

      Clearly you recognize the value of the phone as a method of sales, or you wouldn't be thinking so hard about ways to use it without having to speak with anyone.
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      The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.
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      • Profile picture of the author IMSince2003
        I'm with David on this. The response rate to your messages will be so low, you'll be phoning 1,000 businesses in the middle of the night to get 1-2 calls back, if that.

        Originally Posted by David Miller View Post

        You can't be serious! What happens if someone answers the phone? Do you say "sorry, wrong number?"

        Here's something you can try if you are afraid of face to face: knock on the doors of a business and run away!

        Seriously, this thread is scary in many ways.

        Is the phone THAT scary that you need to think of things that have a 1 in a billion chance of getting a response?

        This kind of thinking only adds to the belief that selling on the phone is so hard we must find clever ways of avoiding it.

        Clearly you recognize the value of the phone as a method of sales, or you wouldn't be thinking so hard about ways to use it without having to speak with anyone.
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        • Profile picture of the author sandalwood
          When I first started cold calling, oh too many years ago, I would leave messages. I never had one call back. Zero, zip, none. It is a complete waste of time.

          However if you have nothing better to do w/your time after hours, please call. At least you'll be off the streets -
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          • Profile picture of the author mrjibbles
            Thanks everyone

            Your replies gave me a kick up the rear, so picked up the phone and rang 20 companies

            No sales, most saying they are all fine and don't need any help as they already have multiple lines of customers

            Very nice people though and my confidence has snapped to the point I feel fine picking up the phone.

            Then again, my main job is dealing with customers in a international bank so maybe that helped to lol

            Bummer though I was adviced by some very nice people to move to another niche

            Rob
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            • Profile picture of the author David Miller
              That's great to hear, and it proves the point that no one has ever been shot making a phone call....at least not by the party picking up the phone!
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              The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.
              -- FRANK SINATRA, quoted in The Way You Wear Your Hat
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  • Profile picture of the author localbusinessguy
    I did see on this forum somewhere that you could automate this but not sure how.
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    • Profile picture of the author David Miller
      Originally Posted by localbusinessguy View Post

      I did see on this forum somewhere that you could automate this but not sure how.
      Why would you want to automate what clearly has no value?
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      The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.
      -- FRANK SINATRA, quoted in The Way You Wear Your Hat
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  • Profile picture of the author jmdw99
    It's been a while, but when I use to cold call my rule was to never leave a message. You want to talk to a real live person, not hand over the control. They have no reason to call you back. I'm certain you have the right motivation to keep calling until you hit gold. Believe in your product, put a smile on your face and make a new friend. If the voice on the other end hangs up, "Next!"
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    If you're having trouble calling, you don't believe what you're offering is valuable, or you're concerned that people aren't going to have time to talk with you.

    You ARE providing value. You have expertise that they don't have or are unwilling to exercise.

    Only 1 in 4 people are going to be free to talk with you. Half the people you call aren't going to be in; half of those that are will be too busy to talk to anyone. Don't take it personally.

    Calling back is your best choice, trying to reach a live human being. That's how you get fast feedback.

    If you want to leave a message (and I do, not every time I call if I'm going through a list for a client and calling every day), try:

    "Hi, this is <your name>, and I've got a quick question for you. It's 0:00 out here (on the east/west coast, in the mountains, in Antarctica) and I'll be in my office until 0:00. My number is ###-###-####. Thanks!"

    Curiosity has caused people to call back 2/3 of the time I've left this message.
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  • Profile picture of the author deepestblue
    One way to leave VMs is after a few calls to the business if they do not answer, leave a VM. This way you can at least get your message through if it happens to be a business you were not intending on calling back at all at a later date.
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    • Profile picture of the author rbecklund
      I always leave a message if I get a machine. I have gotten a few clients from my messages, so it isn't a waste of time to leave messages. I kind of used to think the same thing, but when I get people calling me back, I definitely leave messages...
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