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Encouragement For New Cold Callers.

by John Durham
10 replies
I cant say it any better than this guy. He, like you, a week ago had anxiety about picking up the phone.

One week later this is his conclusion:

Originally Posted by Rearden View Post

A couple other observations, specifically geared at the person who's eternally thought about cold calling, but frankly hasn't had the balls to take action.

1) As I sit here Thursday morning after talking to nearly 500 people this week, I can HONESTLY tell you NO BODY was abrasive, abusive, or mean-spirited. In fact, I'm only thinking of the positive outcomes -- not just the great leads I generated, but also that several of the people I spoke to -- again, completely cold without ever meeting them before -- were actually HAPPY that I called. Can you believe that? I even had one dude who said, "It's been a pleasure to speak with you; you're how telemarketers should be, asking the right questions and being conversational."

2) I can guarantee you, I was probably one of many telemarketers who called each person on my list that day. As soon as they said "Not Interested," I'm sure not even 5 seconds later they forgot who I was and any annoyance they may have felt. Trust me, you're not nearly of a pest as you've been brainwashed by negative hype over telemarketer-haters.

3) Truthfully, all it takes is getting through 10 calls on the phone to experience how EASY it is to make phone calls. 10 calls! By number 11th, you'll be laughing at yourself for how stupid it was to lose sleep and be afraid of talking to people over the phone (that's how I felt). After that, it's easy as pie.

4) Cold calling really develops your conversational abilities, your rebuttal-handling skills, and closing skills. Plus I think it's easier to say the more controversial rebuttals over the phone while pre-qualifying than it is in person during a face-to-face presentation.

So, there you have it. If I think of any more positive reasons why you should be cold calling, I'll include them later.

PS: Guys. IT'S TRUE. The people ARE out there, waiting to GIVE YOU their MONEY! Are you going to pick up the phone and take it?
He hoped this would help someone buried deep in his thread. I hope it helps even more people with its own headline!

Feel free to take this thread over Reardon.

-JD
#callers #cold #encouragement
  • Profile picture of the author Anthony Gibson
    Just like anything else, you adapt and intuitively learn things and improve your skills if you are determined to succeed and stick with it long enough! Great stuff!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Bump.

    Something that people who want to make calls need to see.

    So how has it progressed?
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  • Profile picture of the author wally247
    Yep...I finally learned this too, and it's SOOOO true.


    My biggest hurdle was thinking that I am annoying people. I haven't made near 500 calls yet, but next week I will, because I have to.


    But I've not had a single person be even slightly annoyed with me. I called one place twice in a matter of 30 seconds because they had 2 listings, and the girl laughed the second time.


    She didn't scream and call me names.



    C'mon guys, pick up the phone.


    IT'S LIBERATING!
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    • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
      Originally Posted by wally247 View Post



      C'mon guys, pick up the phone.


      IT'S LIBERATING!
      It sounds like you caught da bug
      BTW, it's not just liberating ...it is also highly addictive

      Good stuff.
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      • Profile picture of the author wally247
        Originally Posted by kenmichaels View Post

        It sounds like you caught da bug
        BTW, it's not just liberating ...it is also highly addictive

        Good stuff.
        Yes! That's a great word for it. Once you do it, that feeling of total dread is replaced with "I could make a sale anytime".

        You start to feel in control of your life!
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  • Profile picture of the author Rearden
    Good to see this being brought back up.

    I've taken a sales job since writing the above post revolving around cold calling, and put in 150% more activity last week than the senior salespeople, and sent them some decent leads and appointments for them to work the next few weeks.

    There I'm cold calling just to set an appointment; it's fairly easy. But you wouldn't believe (well, maybe you would) the lack of prospecting activity these guys are doing.

    Part-time, I've switched back to working aged burial insurance leads. They're cheap to buy, they're actually reply mail, and most agents that bought them before did not work them properly. I will door-knock them as well as go back to heavily pre-qualify them on the phone.

    With all that said, I have not pulled the trigger on my offline prospecting pursuits as I really want to. I'm really torn on what to do, so much, that I haven't taken any sort of action -- well, I did hire a CL poster and got my first lead to begin working this week.

    But here's my problem:

    1) Paralysis by analysis -- so many offline options to sell I don't even know where to begin. So I haven't...
    2) Technical Incompetency -- I'm not a techie like a lot of guys; I've always sold intangibles (insurance and personal training), and don't have baseline understanding of web design/SEO/etc... Plus I don't have references (except my own personal training site which was #2 on Google but I've since taken down) or even my own personal web design site fully operational. All that translates into a lack of confidence prospecting and asking for top dollar.

    It's funny; it ain't the action of cold calling that's stopping me. It's just the lack of experience. I know if I had the testimonials, positive results, and even just a few experiences of what to expect... I'd be blowing the phones up asking for web design business versus working insurance leads, as I think working offline opportunities is much, much more lucrative....
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Reardon;

      So now you are getting leads for other salesmen or yourself?
      Why do you think that selling offline marketing is more lucrative than insurance? I've sold both. The only reason I do online marketing is because it fits with my subject when doing speaking gigs.

      But I've seen people speak to sell insurance products too.

      Call me and ask to talk to me about life insurance? 30 years ago, they were as thick as hornets. Now, I never hear from an insurance man.

      These people need you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rearden
    Claude -- Ben Feldman ever call on you?

    These are business reply cards sent back for burial insurance; target market is 60-80, lower income. I'm solely running them and buying them from an organization that mails these cards out for agents.

    It's definitely a profitable market; however, the big problems are (a) in a world of identity theft, especially among seniors, I have yet to meet someone who solely prospects and closes insurance deals over the phone on one singular call, so I end having to qualify on the phone, then run the appointment. And (b), chargeback risks in this market are horrible; 1 out of 4 policies will lapse within the first year and the agent owes the advanced money back that hadn't been earned (an advance is like a loan).

    Insurance is insurance; but there are more moving parts typically when selling to businessmen like yourself. For low-income seniors, it's paying for final expenses so kids don't have to, so the insurance product is fairly simple and straightforward. For businessmen, you have succession issues, key man issues, disability concerns, tax-deferment -- I have no knowledge in the business field, so I can't transition easily from what I'm doing now to pitching businessmen (as I think that's the most lucrative field of all).

    I LOVE selling insurance, but I love marketing, too. I definitely like the advantages of offlining -- over-the-phone business, scaling up opportunities, outsourcing, etc. -- and I think it would work better considering my circumstances.
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by Rearden View Post

      Claude -- Ben Feldman ever call on you?

      These are business reply cards sent back for burial insurance; target market is 60-80, lower income. I'm solely running them and buying them from an organization that mails these cards out for agents.

      It's definitely a profitable market; however, the big problems are (a) in a world of identity theft, especially among seniors, I have yet to meet someone who solely prospects and closes insurance deals over the phone on one singular call, so I end having to qualify on the phone, then run the appointment. And (b), chargeback risks in this market are horrible; 1 out of 4 policies will lapse within the first year and the agent owes the advanced money back that hadn't been earned (an advance is like a loan).

      Insurance is insurance; but there are more moving parts typically when selling to businessmen like yourself. For low-income seniors, it's paying for final expenses so kids don't have to, so the insurance product is fairly simple and straightforward. For businessmen, you have succession issues, key man issues, disability concerns, tax-deferment -- I have no knowledge in the business field, so I can't transition easily from what I'm doing now to pitching businessmen (as I think that's the most lucrative field of all).

      I LOVE selling insurance, but I love marketing, too. I definitely like the advantages of offlining -- over-the-phone business, scaling up opportunities, outsourcing, etc. -- and I think it would work better considering my circumstances.
      Actually, I called Ben Feldman once. His voice was very soft, and he spoke with a slight list. He lived about 60 miles from me in Ohio.
      I used to sell life insurance. Ben Feldman and Joe Gandolfo were my heroes.

      Believe me, I know about lapses. That's was one of the main reasons I switched to a hard (meaning a material) product like vacuum cleaners.

      When I sold life insurance to small business owners, it was always a straight life insurance product. I never really understood key man insurance, pensions and the like. A $500,000 whole life policy could be $15,000-$20,000 a year.
      I always just sold the policy. Most clients never even asked about using it for key man insurance.

      In the bad old days, I never sold over the phone, and it never really occurred to me to try. I can really see how offline prospects for online marketing services would be more in line with your interests.

      You should know, I get tons of e-mails offering online services (at my retail store). I also get several calls a week offering to "update my free listing". Most of those are because I'm listed in every imaginable directory. And that's how they get their lists to call.

      If I weren't offering online services myself, I would recommend selling websites, even if they have a website.

      I speak in front of small business groups often. There is a guy offering a website (no shopping cart, just 5 pages and it looks good) for $200 a month, with a 12 month commitment. He regularly sells 30% of the room, and he is absolutely a terrible salesman. The simplest SEO question stumps him. he doesn't know anything about mobile websites, or that it's easy to make your website mobile ready. Building links is unknown to him.

      But small business owners buy in droves. Why? Because they at least know what a website is. And his websites are pretty. And he works in niches.

      He does know how to get referrals from happy clients, which he works.
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      • Profile picture of the author cainbrian
        I remember my first telemarketing job. The reason I started working there was because I knew if I wanted to work from home building internet sites, I might need the skill on the phone.

        I was always the analytical-shy-sit-in-the-back-of-the-room type of guy. I remember my first few calls were so horrible...lol.

        However, I couldn't believe that someone would actually sit through my whole super long script - reading word for word, and actually set an appointment with me to purchase solar products.

        Once I got better on the phone, I used some of my copy-writing techniques that I learned to write my own scripts. When I broke free and started to be able to "wing it," I put myself on the #1 spot on the leader-boards in less than 2.5 months.

        Now I feel like that guy in the Boiler Room... I can close anyone, anywhere, at anytime (lol jk... but not really). It's a crazy cool skill to have, and it is something you can use for life!

        I encourage you that if you are a new cold caller, just keep going and keep track of your progression. Make a game out of it to keep getting further and further into the qualification and closing process. It can be quite fun (although I still want to bang my head against the wall when I make 200+ call in a day..lmbo)
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