Why doesn't someone offer cold-calling in Warriors For Hire?

I am having the same trouble finding someone to make calls for me. I am selling a product that is what I would consider a One Call Close- Mobile websites. For me it's a bit easier b/c I don't expect to meet in person with future clients, I am simply hoping that my commission salesman can close over the phone. I would consider advertising in craigslist for your area. It's a great time to be an Employer, soo much talent sitting on the sidelines for dirt cheap. I'm going to be sorting resume's from the phillipines over the next month to find a salesman for me. Again my product is sellable to virtually everyone so I don't need to worry about entertaining clients from a specific city. Whatever you do, make sure you create an agreement between your salesman and you on paper.

If you are able to make the calls yourself and want us based people you may want to try Craigslist. There are people who are looking for part time work who would probably do this for the amount you listed. You should at least call 20 hours yourself so at the very least you can train them, otherwise you are probably going to be disappointed with the results. Not the best solution but if you have a limited budget maybe a place to start.

I get what you're saying. And in theory it sounds good, but I think you'll be wasting your money/time looking for someone to work on commission. (and I mean this from a helpful intent - not trying to bash your idea).

I'm sure others have different experiences and maybe just setting an appt. for $20-40 is a good rate. But IMHO, that will be a subjective opinion of whomever is doing the cold calling. I mean really what you are purposing is for someone to do lead gen for your business - right?

If you happen to find someone who can bring the kind of A-game you'll need, they will be/should be smart enough to ask you some questions as well. Which, should be something along the lines of.....

1. What type of qualification is required for the appt? Is it just a "sure, I'll listen to your pitch" from the business owner, along with a specified date/time? Or is more along the lines of B.A.N.T.? (Budget, Authority, Needs, Timeframe)?

2. Will YOU be paying this appt. setter for every appt. even if you don't close the deal? (this will require a bit of faith on your part to trust that they know what the hell they are doing in the first place).

Take a look at Craigslist sometime in the Jobs or Gigs section. There's always someone in there with the next big idea or business opportunity and are looking for a "partner" or salesperson to do something on straight commission or a percentage of the sale. If you want a real chuckle, read through a few and then contact them - ask them to explain what makes their idea so great or what type of market research they've done to uncover demand...etc. You'll find that most are just a bunch of wishful thinkers and have no real business acumen or experience.

Anyway...I digress.

Just for a minute, put the shoe on the other foot, and ask yourself this question: If YOU were the cold call master, why would you settle for $20-$40 per appt. when you could do the same thing for a real estate investor, software companies, yachts...etc? Something with BIG money "per appt" or "per lead". Trust me, there are TONS of businesses out there that would love to pay just straight commission for even an appt. and it would be a lot more than $20-$40. Take it to the next level and actually close the sale, and now you are making thousands of dollars.

I get what you're saying. And in theory it sounds good, but I think you'll be wasting your money/time looking for someone to work on commission.

Best of luck!

@jason - you're a marketing professional and a completely different caliber of person than what I believe most people who make these kinds of requests are thinking of.

I was going to say more but I'm sure it will be misunderstood....so I'll just leave it at that.

Looking at your post and knowing you are struggling with something that the most successful pros admit to struggling with at times, got me to thinking back to successes and failures that I have had over the years. I'm not a sleek pumped up smell good marketer but I learned from the beginning you got to have a buyer if you are a seller... See how bright I am?

My posts tend to get long, just me I guess but I will give you my opinion, some helpful content I hope, you decide and I'll move on.

Another poster said that many reading here are newbies. I try to direct my comments to the new people in sales and pass on from my experiences.

I recently have made suggestions in other threads and I don't want to type it out here again (Hunt and peck you no.) So here's a comment or two and if you don't mind several links that you might glean a point or two from.

You mentioned above that you feel that a direct just get to the point approach might end up with less appointments. From my experience this is not necessarily so.

Oh boy it's going to get long again but I don't know how to teach or get you to thinking in the short.

Think about this...

You are a business person, I am a business person, most all here are business people or want to be, right? What if I were calling you to try and market an internet marketing product to you? Ask your self these questions.

1. You are in the IM business. Are you a total loner, a caveman starting fires by rubbing sticks together or are you open to tools, processes and services that may help you in your business?
2. Assuming the latter, in what ways are you going to find out about these tools, processes and services? Could it be that a sales person (of an IM product) might contact you at some point? Market to you? (Remember I'm just trying to help you sort this process out.)
----The point I'm making here is if you are not a loner in the cave you expect to be marketed to. Right? If you are dealing with a business person especially, they want to be marketed to. It saves them a lot of time not having to go and search for the things they need to obtain and/or to improve their business.---
3. Knowing this it helps you get the mindset that you are there to help the customer and you have something that they will thank you for by selling to them.- What are testimonials? "Thank you salesperson for taking my money and providing me with something I really value".
---- I know this is basic for old timers and pros, but this is for the new brothers and sisters to selling-----
4. As a businessman or an individual, I expect to be solicited and I want to be solicited! But!!! I want to be dealt with in the right way. ( The right way is the purpose of good sales training and advice.)
5. So rule # 1, in any kind if approach, is to deal with a prospect in a way that you would like to be dealt with.
---So stop right here get a piece of paper and list the ways you would like to be approached and dealt with. Also what kinds of things would you react positivity to and then those you would react negatively to. Don't make a big deal just jot down several things that come to mind. Just do it ok? Thank you! For those reading my post on another recent thread, have a Kaizen event with yourself!
6. So the point here is to take some time think about it and put some emphasis on the positive things into the call script.
---Keep in mind I am only suggesting one possible strategy here the direct and to the point approach.--- For the unseasoned salesperson this takes away any feeling of deception that you may feel using more advanced techniques. It helps you be comfortable with yourself.
7. What do I say when I reach the DM? ( I can't write a whole course in a post you will have to wait for the book.) Take your notes from above with your positives and work up a simple to the point, matter of fact reason for your call. Remember you are selling an appointment, more than likely, not trying to close a sale on the phone in one contact. (If you are trying to close a sale in one phone call, you will definitely have to wait for the book to hear my suggestions on that.) Pick out one, not a list, of your best features and word it in a curiosity and semi emotional way.
--- "Hello Mr. Beltstrap, I'm Larches from Sunnyvale Alligator Safety Products. Id like to talk to you about a new safety practice that is helping many farmers like your self. Employees handling Alligators can be risky at times. I have some things I'd like to tell you about, that will help your company save on your workman's comp claims. (Then use a typical appointment close routine). Now I know this is sort of ridiculous script but the steps of introduction, state a problem, then a solution are all there short and sweet. You are comfortable and relaxed and so is Mr. Beltstrap. He's not wondering if you are selling something or not, and he knows how you are trying to help him. This makes him comfortable with you. All you are asking him for is a moment to talk with him about solving a problem he has.
8. I'm not going into a lot of techniques and theory here, if that interests you good, but most sales people I have worked with want simple solutions, not why they work.

I did a campaign like his once with a list of about 100 businesses in Delaware and Eastern MD. I was selling an insurance product. I would call 5 business at a time. (Had to keep my butterflies lined up) I used a script and stayed on it. I used, my name , problem , solution, close for appointment. (You know, would Tuesday or Thursday be better? 1:00 or 2:00? etc.) I spent some time on creating the script probably the most important thing. I started over 25 groups (sales) and put about $125K on the books in a three month time frame. The next year I taught others that I managed and in four months we put about 1Mil on the books. So used properly direct and to the point cold call phone prospecting can work in selling anything. Yes you get no's but do your research, plan and prepare. The next time I did this personally I had my wife do the calling as my secretary, same script with mods say she was calling for the "agent" She just read from the script and closed more appointments than I did.

Ok you got a book in this post, take from it what you like if anything. If you'd like for me to look over a script for you, just PM me all I ask I'd for is an email address to take the dialog out of the WF PM system. ( And yes to put you on my list.):rolleyes:

There's so much more I'd like to expand on here and I'm leaving a lot out but it is a post that I've already made too long.

The links to look at, keeping in mind they are just food for thought not real specific. They are meant for those who are newer and wanting to make some $ quickly. But the sales techniques and principles there-in are sound.
I use them!

1. Re: Broke as a Joke

2. Re: Broke as a Joke

Old Dog...

P.S If you are wanting to know how to get past the Gatekeeper, (Boss's secretary.), good stuff from other warriors and some more of my suggestions on thread running currently on "Offline Forum"
Gatekeepers and how we deal with them....ideas?

Love this thread!

I have not found anyone for cold calling that I am comfortable with.

However, over the summer I did use a gentleman on FIVERR to qualify leads for me. He has a slight Spanish accent. It went well. He was very detailed oriented and provided me with a call log. I gave him an outline/script for the calls.

Qualifying leads takes a lot of time. I am working hard to outsource a ton of aspects of my business.

Some of my friends use My Phone Room and seem to be happy.

Have a rocking rest of your Friday!!

I'm not big on recommending books, but Keith Rosen's Complete Idiots Guide to Cold Calling is worth picking up!

And reading.

There are flaws to some of this logic, but I guess only in certain industries.

I am a salesman. That is my job. I actually like it a little bit more than being a business owner (which I have been before) because I still make as much money as my skills allow - I just don't have to burden all the risk!

Sales and cold calling (prospecting) are not the same thing. I break my client list into 3 categories: Gold, Silver and Bronze. I want all three levels of clients - but I have to manage my time.

Most of my time should be spent SELLING. Now, I can't sell if I don't prospect. I wrote a script and a call flow. Anyone who can speak naturally on the phone can follow the script and/or flow. I have called enough in my industry to know that 90% of the contacts made will end up in a predictable flow. Their answers will follow the same pattern. My outsourced prospecting telemarketer can follow the script and get great results. In fact, they can get the same kind of results I get.

So I can spend my time prospecting - or I can spend my time selling to prospects.

I am better at selling than prospecting. Guess which one makes the most sense for me?

I pay someone overseas $4/hr to follow a script and call flow I created after making a few cold calls and seeing the predictable pattern. I let them call clients that would be estimated as a 'bronze' level. If they prove themselves over time they can even call "silver" clients. This lets me spend time closing sales and prospecting my 'gold' level clients.

If I didn't have help, I would spend 20%+ of my time filling my pipeline instead of "emptying" it.

I prefer to spend my time at the end of the funnel than the start...

Ok, Ken, so you have admitted to being a sick & twisted man...first Step to recovery, right? lol Just Kidding...

There are a small number of people, like yourself, that do enjoy cold calling but you guys are definitely the minority.

Hey Shay,

That could be true, however for me personally, Telemarketing is my business. It isn't something I do on the side trying to make a few extra dollars.

Combining offline marketing with offline marketing I belive is the most powerful business model.

The partner route does make sense, however as I mentioned in a previous post, if the person truly is a professional Telemarketer with a record of success, they won't mind at all working on commission as long as it is a realistic commission and are not hoping to screw (so to speak) the Telemarketer.

well what happens when what is paid for is not delivered. Tomany work from home peole do not have the focus to delver on what is promisedor expected

We have tried hiring folks to work from home now several times ( O desk other sites and even here on the warrior forums ) and just recently tried it one more time. Like before following up with the leads we gave finding out they did not make the calls, give us the reports give the reports etc that they were paid to do. so after calling they leads they were supposed to we are now founding out the calls that should have been made were not.

Preformace based only unless the telemarketer is on a system the payer can track and verfiy or I promise you every time the supposed caller will short change the buyer. Without verification, chances are anyone that pays a home base telemarketer is just asking to get screwed.