i don't buy it bro.

There is no way anyone can talk to 400 people and NOT sell something.

even if you had the worst product, worst script, never ever even asked for the money
if you spoke to 400 people, someone would have felt sorry and just GAVE you money.

don't know what your intention was with this post... actually i think i do.
but your wasting your time.

One piece of advice. IF you really did talk to 400 people and no one bought anything
from you, go get an application to mcdonalds, that's more your speed.

this is just another BS post from one our not so friendly phone sales haters.
Different user name, same BS, same stupid agenda.

A script is very helpful, even if you have it in bullet point form. Practice your tonality in front of a mirror, visualizing you in front of someone. Your physiology will come through on the phone, along with tone.

Consider your goal for the call, it should surely not to sell them over the phone. You will likely be trying to earn the right to their time, to meet with them in person or on the telephone.

Consider an auto-responder system over 30 days...as a fall back if you fail to close the meeting, get their preferred email address and email them value over 30 days.

To achieve that goal, how would you like to be approached if you are very busy?

Perhaps something that will make your life easier and not cost you hardly any time.

Ask for 15 minutes of their time and offer a great benefit, such as leaving them with a customized 6-month plan for their business. Here, follow this link and use this as your template plan ... just customize it by inserting their customer needs and specific business objective.

Good luck! Curious on your progress

Wow. Yeah. Either these numbers aren't right or this just isn't for you.

Rick? So who is ken michaels? why does everyone hide their real name around here

wait Rick and Ken? so which one is it?

Whats the need for two names? which is the real one?

Not very trustworthy, trying to hide your identity.

Geeze... they're at it again.

Pathetic..

Fake screen names to start useless threads with fake allegations and the same people trolling to try and start an argument.

I don't understand the motive.. Oh well..

If you make that many calls and haven't got anywhere it's because you suck. I don't mean, just below average suckage, I mean, you suck so much that you could teach an aspiring "adult actress" class.

you guys are really weird. I am quite discouraged by such a display.

So can I please get out of my flame-resistant suit now? or is it still raining outside?

SocialEntry... how are you hiring your sales people? Are they foreign or in house?

I would bet if you made even 10% of those calls, you would have multiple sales by now.

Durham, are you saying that you have never encountered this situation before?

Ken I checked this guy out a bit I think I read him wrong too. Man when people start coming here messing with us its easy to start seeing ghosts and getting gun shy. I have been through it before, it will lev el back out, we have just been fighting a swarm. Good fight BTW bro!

In your tenure here you will have other times like this, they come and go...but we are right most of the time.\

Oh, I see you already addressed this above.Thanks.

Ps. He sent me some call recordings Im checking out now...or in the next hour. Sometimes when a battle is over Ken Im still out on the field swinging my sword around. I get so involved that it takes a minute to realize we have already won- the "battle" that is.

Did the same thing in telemarketing...it took me an hour after getting home to get out of the zone.

Odd how if he's using a script I offered, he never asked for my opinion on a darn thing...

If I can be of any help socialentry please let me know.

Training is something I am incredibly passionate about, and mobile is one of my most profitable niches.

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OK guys here is the deal.

Nick has two inhouse trs on the phones trying to sell mobile websites.

They are not experienced sales people.
Neither is Nick

Also the script was turned into a flow chart ... literally ... arrows and all.

I suggested he goes old school and puts the script and rebuttals on paper

I also suggested hiring a real rep with experience,
that is NOT an option right now.

So he now knows his only option is to learn sales himself so he
can then teach the tsr's and grow.

Also, the actual script itself needs work.

Any way, he can use all the help anyone is willing to provide.

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People are often taking things and chopping them up, using a bit of this and a dash of that, as if it's a chinese buffet. Or they take everything extremely literally, and have someone who doesn't understand the process try to mumble through it verbatim. Fail. Go and try SCUBA diving or fencing by reading a pamphlet about it. Fail.

Here's the process:

Get the prospect off of whatever they are doing and onto the call, if possible (ie. not a bad time).

Uncover pain if it's there, and have them acknowledge it if it is.

Monetize the problem--have the prospect figure out what it's costing them not to change.

Figure out the investment--what are you willing to provide the solution for, as a % of the cost of not changing. IE. if the prospect says it's costing them $500,000 in new revenue not to change, I would be totally fine in saying the investment in my solution is a specific number between $5000 and $50,000 (hint: my price would be towards the $50K side).

Determine whether your prospect can fund that investment. Hint: money can almost always be gotten, if the reason is strong enough.

Then close.

How I close is what my clients pay me for. But it should be awfully easy once it's set up this way. And for completeness, if it falls off the rails anywhere along the way, ie. they don't have enough pain or the cost of a solution is less than the cost of not changing, then they qualify Out. Thankfully so, because they have neither the need nor budget for our solution.

Or you can follow a traditional selling process with features and benefits, objections and rebuttals, and all that other stuff. It's up to you. But don't mix and match.

good thing you prove them wrong, and now are getting help from the best of the best out there. like someone else already pointed out, listen to them and take notes you will learn a lot

Did you get your script and rebuttals on paper yet?

Or at least typed out.

BTW, i was thinking of you and your situation last night.

With zero experience, you stepped upto the plate and just started
swinging for home runs....

That is friggin awesome !

Do you realize most people never even get to the point if doing anything?
they never even give themselves a chance to succeed or fail.

Most are perpetually stuck in that state of "preparing"

I hope you take some of the advice people are giving you,
i think you are a part of the tiny group of people
that have what it takes to be wildly successful.

I for one will root for you each step of the way,
and do everything i can to help you get there.

You are a badass, and if you keep your momentum
moving forward, i can easily see you becoming an
inspiration to others.

do not despair bro,,. keep spirit,,. no pain no gain

Ken, I just realized that I've somehow reverted to using a mind map/flow chart with arrows and everything. I've been in a slump for about two weeks, since I've been using it, and here I thought it was the weather or something.

Thanks for identifying that for him. Helped me too.

@ Social entry... I am having a heck of a time getting these recordings to play, if you could please upload them into a playable format and send a link I'd appreciate. Thanks.

Ken, exactly. I have so many things on my mind that I have no idea what I'm saying to people. Well, how I'm saying it to them, I mean. I was going to record myself tomorrow to find out, but I'll just get back on the script.

Also wanted to thank you or John or Nameless, can't remember who, who confessed to doodling while on the phone. That's always been helpful to me.

I downloaded a bunch of mind-mapping apps to test on my tablet and they've distracted me. I guess I must have also made the mistake of mind-mapping and doodling my script and decided to throw the real one away.

Yes, pretty hot. Also I moved into a new office. It's a focus and maybe a fish out of water issue.

You wont need a mind map if you know exactly what you are selling. I think many peoples problem is that they are open to go any direction on the phone instead of focusing their sales pitch on a fine point and locating people who want that specific thing only.

If you dont know exactly what you want out of a conversation you can get ANYTHING.

Personally I would focus on a single service, and sell only that in a given session, and be on the look out for only that.

Because if you have 100 options in your head then you are being led from subject to subject by the prospect chasing your tail and you mind map.

I would focus , again, on a specific thing I wanted to sell, and hone in on that, disqualify anyone who donesnt want THAT and get to the get who wants THAT.

If you arent offering 20 different potential things in a given call session, then a couple of soft rebuttals will qualify them in or out...and you wont have to carry a million things in your head, you can actually master turning the phrase that you choose.

I believe dale carnegie said that millions are made from the effective tuirn of a single phrase.

Back when I was in fundraising that term was "We are calling on behalf of the local D.A.D.C. for the 23rd precinct (or whatever it was).... Well that was an effective phrase and I had to say it verbatim about 50 times before I learned to turn it effectively.

You cant do that if you are jumping from one thing to another chasing your tail constantly.

Also, when you arent verbatim, the law of averages starts over at zero everytime you make a change and are no longer repeating the same consistent action.

Hope this helps.

Ps. We had a team that did dadac and a team that did fire fighters, and a team that did cancer funds...

Now when a dadac caller got a no, they didnt say "Oh well maybe you will be interested in firefighters then, or we can also do cancer fund..." lol

Focus is why call centers work, fine focus, getting average people to master the turn of a single phrase that works.

Each person has a specific job and its to say a verbatim pitch, if you put too much on their plate they arent focused.

"Blinders"- they are important for horses to win races. "Your job is only to do one single thing, say this pitch verbatim till you master turning the phrases".

If you allow them to master it by not changing up alot, or giving them too many options...and focus everything on that phrase, they will master turning it...first you have to know what it is though, and if you have had past success you probably do know...

Sure it does, John. I started a new line of business and I've been trying to split the day into halves, calling for the new line in the morning and the other in the afternoon/ evening. I'm not going to be able to do it unless there is something I'm missing that I can learn

I guess I dont understand what you are saying bees. Sure what does?

For example, I gave a workable verbatim line in the telemarketing war report- and the people who fiollowed it verbatim long enough to master it learned to turn that phrase and so far a couple of hundred people have reported sales.

You have to identify a phrase that works and stick with it. That fundraising company hasnt changed its pitch in 25 years, not a word, and over a couple of hundred calls their people master it.

Anyway, you said sure it does, but Im not sure what you are referring to to be able to help.

Lets say you are a google certified affiliate, pitching "places"- and you start by saying "Im calling on behalf of google"- Its going to take you 50 times of turning that phrase to get it convincing, but once it is mastered it will open up alot of calls for you...

You wrote, "Hope this helps." I'd lost my focus and you pointed out how. It helped. Thank you.

Do you know how I might do better at splitting my day into prospecting for two similar but separate lines of business?

Oh cool!

BTW: I hear alot of people saying "Im using a mixture of this and that", silly. If you know something works do that in a concentrated way... just the way it worked for someone else, without deviation. No need to reinvent the wheel.

Thanks bees. I like the feeling of knowing something helped.

Ps. I would focus on one for half the week and another the other half, because switching up is alot of inertia and it hurts your momentum.

Okay, I'll try that. Thanks again.

Ps. One more thing, sorry I keep adding thoughts.

Think of it like a google adwords campaign.

A guy will test phrases until he finds something that works on 5% of the population that views, then he will roll that ad out.

You find a phrase that gets you the response you want , and then you roll it out.

First you may find a good greeting that opens them up...but still have trouble transitioning to the body, so you keep your greeting until you find the transitional statemnt that works...then add that. Mastering one level at a time. With that kind of focus it will work out in a couple iof hundred calls.

Or just go find a pitch that works already or has all the elements and use that, still wont work until the turn of phrase is mastered, then it will work like gangbusters!

Okay Im done. This was an exciting question.

Out of thanks Ken but thanks.
Didnt mean to hijack your student bro, just was excited about answering this. I know our advice is similar though and you probably would have said about the same thing.

No keep adding when you feel like it. I have no local peer group and I need review and pointers all the time. That's why I came here.

EDIT: I didn't mean that to sound like that. I have no good salesmen to talk to around here, is what I meant to say.

Cool. Well I just want Ken to know I respect him and didnt answer because i felt his werent adequate, ken is a real call center manager, he and I have the same knowledge. Its all the same (what works), its just that most people around here dont get that.

Problem is that there are only a few real life call center managers that really know. Ken is one.

Ps. The reason a call center managers advice is valuable is because an individual can only tell you what worked for them based on their skills...but a call center manager can tell you what works for the masses of average people overall.

An individual can tell you how THEY do it, but a call center manager can tell you how any average person can. Because they have seen what works over the numbers of people, not depending on personality type...

I dig Ken very much. I just thought he might have gone to bed, which is where I'm going now. Thanks for the help guys. Good night.

Good. If I can get to sleep now, I can beat you three to the phones in the morning. Nameless concerns me most because he's the nearest one to my market. Keep him busy with questions and personal insults if you can.

There were a half-dozen apppointments done by my personnel.
Ok, I started testing my own offer to cut down on operating costs. Now it's only me that's dialing.


one agreed to a sale after standing me up twice, and even then when I dropped by his place of biz he didn't have the check ready, in fact he wasn't there at all. Oh wow. Another might be interested, he told me that he'd check with his partners first. Called him yesterday, told me to call back on friday. Anyway, it's in my neighbourhood and on my way to work, doesn't hurt to ask this one.

Troubleshooting:
First of all the headsets I gave my guys were really bad. I tried with them, albeit they were more comfortable then the one I am currently using, the microphone made so that a lot of people couldn't hear properly on the phone.

made a 100 calls today, started off really late in the afternoon(4:30) and stopped at 6:00, but I raise early in the morning and try and make up for the low volume tomorrow. I didn't get anything, but tommorow is a new day.

I went through one full pitch with an interesting character, I didn't have the answer to this:
"I just don't give a ****. If the people don't like my food, tough." I was a bit taken aback by the fact the open disregard for his own customers' well-being as well as the open admittance of greed.

Man, I suck at this but whatever, it's not like the first time I do something I am really bad at. Either I suffer now or I suffer twice as much down the road.

By 10:30 I will be on the phone, I won't stop until 6