My Pathetic Cold Calling Journey

Just keep going! You can do it. Make 100 calls a day, every day. The sales will come. I promise.

Thanks Alanis. I know they will come, I am just impatient lol. Your cold calling story was also very inspiring. First call and....wow! That is just amazing! Congratulations!

I'm starting my cold calling too. It's not easy. I think it's actually harder for those of us that are good in person because we don't have to fight for attention when you are right infront of someone. Just keep dialing that's what im going to do. Shoot for 100 contacts, not calls.

Sounds familiar Mike. I have managed to blast through a few days him-hawin around until it was 'too late' to call. My husband and daughter laugh at me...so I gave them a script to call and be appointment setters for me haha....see how they like it then!

I find it interesting that you aren't comfortable going into a business but yet you can rock a presentation. I am the exact opposite. Small talk, chit chatting, going up to strangers, no problem. Having to get up in front of people and be the center of attention...we have a problem.

In fact, I almost skipped my wedding because of that reason, and I almost quit college for that reason too! (Only girl in a computer class and was told we had to give presentations....ahhhh, don't think so!). But I did it, got through it somehow.

I know I just have to keep doing it to get good at it. Kinda like finals week at college. At the beginning of the week I was freakin out, by the end of the week I didn't care and just did it.

cash89, I know what you mean. I feel as if people tend to not be as mean if they have to look you in the face but they can hide behind the phone. We will get there. We just have to keep plugging away!

Well see Mike, you made it too tough on her! I made multiple blogs for all my kids and my husband and all they had to do was add content...guess how well that worked? lol.

Now that I am getting the hang of the selling process I think I can muddle through a presentation lol. (I managed to get through one in front of the owner of a local corporation, running on no sleep cause my class decided to throw me under the bus half an hour before the presentation! Buuuut I didn't have to 'sell' them anything.)

I think you will be able to get through your wedding just fine! (The consequences of leaving a fuming bride at the alter just won't be worth the price you would have to pay! haha)

There is only one way that works for training a cold caller and getting them to break the ice and start producing-

"Dont let them get off the phone when they want to- Make them stay on it all day".

Thats what I have done with every person I have ever hired, and trust me, the first few hours or first couple of days, some of them really want to go home after two hours, lol

The only way to break them in is to make them stay the whole shift, most end up making a sale in that time, and as for the ones who dont; if they come back the next day they may have hope. lol

They will still have to stay in the booth all day though if they clocked in.

What normally happens is that they become successful.

even a total loser on a call center floor generally makes more sales per day than the average warrior offline consultant. - Even the guys who can barely keep up quota.

I believe the difference is that we as warriors have a will, and we dont have to make ourselves break it. Whereas a call center operator has no choice but to stay on the phone till they break ground and get sales or be fired. Most of them get the sales, because they need the job.

It goes to show that if you want it bad enough its there...Even Hadrian, in another thread was not producing until we had the thread "talk".... The "talk" is "Produce or Im not going to waste my time here..."

Now, in a call center its more like "Produce or you are going to get fired".

Its amazing how what seemed impossible before can be like nothing once your will to actually get the result is properly ignited.

In closing I will say azeruws, I have enjoyed your posts... I think that what you experience is the same as MANY experience. I know how tough it can be to cold call when your mate is in earshot and can listen, not exactly the easiest circumstances to start, but that gets to be like nothing too if you keep going...

Most newbies, like most newhires in a call center have a wall to break through. We have no problem getting them through it in call centers because they can see that if they follow our advice they will be like the others all around them, making quota all day and even breaking records...and we can make them stay on the phone till they break that ground, 8 hours per day... you cant help but get good like that.

However, offliners have a personal will to deal with and they have to make their own way to breaking those walls. So Its not so simple sometimes.

In any event, if you determine to keep going , you could soon produce just like a telemarketer, only making 100 times the money with 20 times less effort and dials...- But in starting, remember-there is a huge difference between a person that makes 500 calls per day every day for months on end, and a person like most offliners who dabble with 20-40 calls here and there....Its like the difference between a 4 cylinder and a v12....

Only the caller himself can decide which one he's willing to be.

@focusedlife I appreciate your advice. My only issue is that many businesses don't have their emails online, especially if they don't have a web site. It is much faster to just call than spend 10 or 15 minutes trying to hunt down an email.

I am aware of spypig and tried it out. The only thing I don't like about it is that the person has to have images enabled or it won't register when they open the email. I don't know what your success rate is with spypig, but I personally have images turned off in my email so I worry about the reliability of the service.

I am also afraid of letting myself get sidetracked with too many methods. I have done everything possible to avoid cold calling and I keep returning to it. I don't want to fall off the bandwagon after I just get on lol.

I hope to eventually get to the point where I don't have to constantly cold call, but in the meantime I need to keep my blinders on and stay focused.

Oh, trust me, I feel their pain lol

Now that is inspiring to hear!

Yes, it is definitely tough to force yourself to do it when no one is there breathing down your neck. I can come up with all kinds of other things I 'need' to do.

Having that added pressure is definitely an incentive to produce results. I know once I get in the rhythm of things it will almost become second nature

As you can imagine, I have found your post to be extremely inspiring and immensely helpful. They have given me the confidence to push myself through my fear. Having people around can make one self conscience, but after today it seems like I spent most of my time on the greeting and I think after a while they won't even notice me talking. (I have manage to move from room to room looking for the 'right' spot and I am getting tired of relocating lol)

I can't say I have completely broken through my wall, but it is starting to come crumbling down!

I know I definitely have to step things up. But my family and my freedom are my motivation. I am going to do it if it kills me. My ultimate goal is ...(either you or Jason mentioned this) to be able to pick up the phone and make money no matter where I am or what situation I happen to be in. I find that skill to be the most liberating of all and it is one I am encouraging my kids to learn, because if you can sell you can pretty much do anything!

One thing that will help you quit relocating, and also make your tone come across more casual. is to just put a TV in the room and watch it while you telemarket, on a low volume. Nothing too dramatic that requires a bunch of concentration, maybe like a cooking channel or QVC home shopping network or something that inspires hopes and new thoughts....positive energy, but that doesnt have a theme you can get caught up in watching (fixated on) exclusively for an hour at a time... Tip from one home worker to another. Having a TV in the room playing can make it seem less awkward and alone...plus gives you a little preoccupation to watch while you talk and takes tension out of your voice.

I remember a few years ago, when I went to cold call it was just me an Bobby Flay, hangin out together, me cold calling and him grilling!

Yes, the stories here are very inspiring and when I run out of funding for direct mail and email and social networking are limited options when there is a time factor involved...well you have nothing left but the phone.

I definitely plan on mastering it. No sense in putting off the inevitable!

So how much time and energy have you invested in learning how to call effectively?

Are you expecting to become skilled at it in just a few days?

Why wouldn't you want to get on the phone and get the direct, live feedback from business owners, instead of waiting around wondering if they even received your mail?

Azurews, you and I were both up till the wee hours. Judging from that I wouldnt be shocked or disappointed if the news was still looking pathetic today...lol

That is NOT pathetic! You took action. Good for you! Be proud of that.

You want to hear pathetic....

Me calling 5k businesses (had contact with about 1,800) when I first started and I think I closed 3 deals. I learned a ton about sales, cold calling, business and myself. Have not picked up the phone since. I don't like it.

@azurews I love that you shared your story. It's helpful and inspiring.

I'm actually more comfortable on the phone than in person because I am an introvert, but I learned my cold calling 'skills' as a bill collector many years ago. I fumble and stumble in person and I really don't like chit-chat. I do it when I have to, but I don't like it.

I did try cold calling a while back but found I wanted to check every business online first before calling, to see if they had a website, Facebook page, negative reviews, etc, etc. It took me forever to make just a few calls. (If I'm really honest ... it was probably a stall tactic!. I didn't want to experience the rejection). I could make 150 calls in a shift as a bill collector no problem though.

Anyway, you've inspired me to give it a go again. I'll make a list and not stop calling until I get a few yes's. IDEALLY I would like to know how to get more work with emails. I need to find a good email script/template I can use.

Thanks for sharing and the best of luck with every call!

My response is going to be a bit different then everyone else’s. But I hope it helps.

Obviously, there is a difference between what is happening in your head in the contexts of making that initial contact in person and making that initial contact on the phone.

I am betting that when talking to someone in person, you are not focused on rejection at all. In fact I am betting that it doesn’t even enter your mind. You probably feel comfortable, connected, and paying more attention to that person than your fears.
But, when you imagine making a cold call, I am betting you are imagining a more scary scenario. Maybe the person who answers the phone being mean, angry, rude, or hollering at you? Maybe not that, but something like it. And it is this scary imaginings before you even pick up the phone that is getting your heart racing.

I have helped many of my coworkers overcome this fear of cold calling and here is what helped them and may help you.

First, stop thinking of it as cold calling (even though that is what it is) Because the phrase or words cold calling have this negative connotation for you. And there is this added mental baggage attached to that phrase.
Think about it. How do you feel, when you think about the difference between making a cold call, and making a phone call?

So from this point on you are just making phone calls.


The second thing I would suggest you do, is before you pick up the phone, instead of imagining the person on the other line potentially being mean to you, imagine the person on the other end. Picture them in your head and imagine how your conversation would go in real life if you walked into the business. Remember how nice people treat you in real life and how does that feel when that happens.
Then once you get those feelings in your body then pick up the phone and make the call.

Shane_K

You are doing it - that's what matters. Just keep at it and the sales will come. Congrats!

Wow,

I have to give you credit, cold calling is the most difficult strategy of all when it comes to sales. Most cannot handle rejection, so you have to condition yourself early on to ignore it or you will be burnt out before you get past the first day. lol

Most hate to sell, and most hate to be sold, so good luck, I use the strategy of Pay It Forward, Give To Receive, Care To Share and People Helping Poeple, I don't sell it, I tell it, totally different results, plus you cultivate reciprocal referrals, the real success strategy in any business.

Success to all,

I love the comments here and I will answer them later this evening. Yesterday I only got in about 40 calls (no sales). I had some client inquires to respond to and a pretty big meeting to get ready for today. Then my husband needed help with his biz, a storm came through and we lost electric. So I was up a good bit of the night getting ready for the meeting that the client just rescheduled on me. So now I am working on getting back into my 'call groove' so I can try and salvage my day

You're right...Fridays suck monkey balls....back to work

Don't give up azurews. We all need to start somewhere. Up til 2011, I owned a biz that paid me in the 6 figures for the last 8 years. Times were good. No worries. But some good things come to an end. I ended up losing my company to backstabbing partners and left me unemployed, losing my house, and having my vehicles repossessed. I spent all of my savings to keep supporting my family (didn't get unemployment benefits)

Fast forward to 2012. Currently, I work for 9 bucks an hour doing a part time job trying to support a family. I know that 9 bucks an hour can't support a family of 4 so I looked to IM and offline marketing. IM is easier but the results don't come fast enough so I looked to offline marketing for quicker results. First off, I am not a person who can sale. Never have been. I suck on the phone. Always have. I am personable but suffer from slight anxiety. So any uncomfortable situation is not good for me.

So what am I doing? I am getting on the phone, making calls and visiting businesses. I know that I am leaving my comfort zone but when I realize that the possibility of my family not being provided for, I power through my fear and anxiety.

Has it worked? I am working part time and with the help of my wife, we have managed to make 3 sales totaling about $1,300 dollars with 7 other people deciding within the next week with a total of about 75 calls, 35 direct visits.

Once you get your first yes, all the other no's go away. You will get better at handling rejection and even at selling your products or services.

LOL...unfortunately, I am a night owl. Hence, targeting the west coast gives me a few extra hours to work with

I am getting the follow up down. I didn't have my prospects categorized to easily refer to who I needed to follow up with. But I am working that out better now.


Funny, I started out hiding in my son's bedroom to cold call (he has 'kinda' moved out). Then I went down to the basement when he came back home and took over my cold calling area. Then I got tired of lugging all my stuff down stairs and went to the dining room instead. I finally just gave up and did it in my normal area, in the middle of everything, with 5 teens, 2 dogs and a husband running in and out.



I will definitely check out Ari Gapler. Thank you.


Yikes, that's a lot of calls!

I do have the same problem. I want to check out everything beforehand but it just gets too time consuming. I am the type that if I were (been years) to go in a mall shopping for shoes, I would find the one pair I like at the first store, but I wouldn't buy those because I would have to make sure I didn't miss anything and would have to check out every other store in the mall too. 2 hours later I would be back buying the first pair I saw anyway. Wasted a lot of time and that is the habit I have to get out of.

Sounds like you're doing great to me! I attempted sales and cold calling about 10 years ago but quickly realized I sucked at it and it just wasn't me. I'm an introvert and don't care to talk more than I have to so reaching out to strangers over the phone was definitely one of the hardest things I've ever done.

As much as I hate to admit it, I fell off the bandwagon. I went from calling while sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by my family and half their friends, to letting that nauseating fear creep back in and suck all my ambition out of me. I don't know what happened, I think part of it was not calling on Sunday. Not calling just one day seemed to do me in. (I probably only made about 50 calls all week)

I am determined to suck it up and climb back on the bandwagon and get it going again. Sorry to disappoint you guys (and myself, and my family).

Another thing I learned it to organize my follow ups better. I initially had my calls organized into separate files by date-niche-state-city. But then I had to go into each file to see who I need to followup on. So now I made a separate follow up file so I can see who I need to get back with easier (I know, I am a bit slow lol).

Anyway, I am praying for a better week this coming up week.

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I know it's tough to keep your chin up when things aren't going so well and sales aren't coming in.

To give you a cold call laugh of the day....I did some calls today and I didn't make a sale, but I did get an offer to run off to Fort Myers Florida! LOL

The fact that you called him back later and closed him is impressive!

I am selling whatever they need. If they don't have a web site, I am selling a web site. If their site sucks, I am selling a redesign. If they aren't mobilized, I am selling a mobile site. Not enough customers...selling seo. Well, you get the idea. I have to find out first what they need before I know what I should sell.

I know I am not at the one call close yet and I have sent out faxes, emails and snail mail info, but my goal is to eventually be able to do a one call close.