Cold Calling Blues

by 44 replies
54
I've got the cold calling blues..
This is my second day of cold calling this week, and for some reason I'm having no luck.
A couple weeks ago I started cold calling and got 2 website sales from it, but for some reason this week nothing. I dialled 100 numbers yesterday day and reached a lot of people, today I'm not feeling as motivated but I'm still dialling.
If anyone has any tips, please feel free to offer
#offline marketing #blues #calling #cold #woes
  • Hi there,

    This is my first week making calls too

    I've managed about 180 dials so far

    75 no's
    44 left vm's
    26 emailed contact details might be interested at some point etc
    31 number busy, bad number, no answer, call bk

    Its tough but I guess gotta keep going, got another 2 days to make a sale

    Matt
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks, it's good to know I'm not the only one
      I guess I'm just feeling down, because my first week was so easy.
      I practically got two sales within an hour of calling

      I also have till Friday to make a sale, I'm extremely broke
  • I tried working in cold calling a few years ago, hated every minute of it and found it was very bad for my self esteem. Not to be too discouraging or anything, I guess if you're good at it you can actually make some dough.
    Best help I can give you is to disconnect yourself from the task, put your own personality to the side and simply play the role.
  • Everyone hits dry spells, when you're new it can happen more frequently. Just keep dialing. You may be sounding desperate in your pitch, because you need to make a sale. Be aware of that, it can keep you from making a sale. Before you pick up the phone, put a smile on your face, I know this may sound stupid but people can hear a smile, just don't get manic(overly happy). Stay pleasant and steady.

    Remember, just because they don't buy from you today, doesn't mean they won't buy from you 2 weeks from now. Heck, they probably won't even remember talking with you. This is why call centers call from the same lists repeatedly.

    I called a guy 2 weeks ago, he was rude and hung up in my face, I waited a week and called him back (with a smile and a nice steady, calm voice) he made an appointment with me. The prospect could just be having a bad day.

    Also, stand up some times when you call, if you can, it changes things a bit. If you hit a really dry spell or just aren't getting going like you know you should, take a 15-20 minute break, think about other things and then go right back to calling. You'll find this will really help.

    Most important, don't give up. Every "NO" gets you one call closer to your next sale.
  • Hi Callers,

    First I have a question for you and that is, is this your own business or are you working for someone else? If it's your own business there are ways to get around this and are at times more efficient as well.

    You can always hire it out. You can get some over seas folks to do calling for you for a very reasonable price. You could also invest in some automatic voice broadcasting software that can call thousands of people per hour.

    Just Google it or look it up on Youtube.
    • [1] reply
    • I don't have the money to hire out right now.
      I'm just starting my web design company, so i would prefer to learn the ropes myself before hiring.

      Thanks for the tips everyone! I have got one interested guy, but he was with a client so he asked me to call him back this evening.
      Back to cold calling for another 5 hours :p
  • Variance doesn't just only exist in poker...

    Variance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • why don't you just give up??
    • [1] reply
  • I guess there are off-days in cold calling, but don't give up! Keep at it.
  • Hey Kurry25!
    I too am new in the web development sector...
    I am from Toronto as well =D
    Keep your head up, my 2 cents to you is something that iv experienced myself and I am grateful for it... About 2-3 months ago I did a free website for a band (the leader was a friend that used to work for me back when I was a manager at a McDonald's downtown) the entire thing was new to me, it was my first website iv ever made with wordpress but guess what? I didn't charge the guy a cent! now him and band are getting really big out there and right away he referred about 3 people back to me on the day we launched his site!

    Band websites are extremely easy to do, and it is a very simple concept... but aside from that you have a lot of ways to upsell them as well, I now do posters at 100$/copy for him and 150$ for all of his other friends!
    I really like doing band websites because they already have a fan base or they are in the process of building them, and having that signature at the bottom plus a thank you video from the band goes a long way....
    it is 2:50AM and I am completely beat... sorry for the bad english!
    If you ever get lonely in this big city hit me up! I could definitely use an IM friend =).

    Cheers!

    Michael
    • [1] reply
    • Here's some inspiration...

      For the last 3 months, I have been making between $4500-$6000 selling websites purely through cold calling.

      So, there's my evidence it can be done.

      In terms of improving results, I recently found ALOT more success using a new method. First, I will contrast my old method vs my new one...

      OLD METHOD
      1. Scrape ALL Google Places listings without a website for varying niches (ie plumbers/electricians etc) and cities.

      2. Call all mobile phone numbers (since virtually all those numbers were direct to business owner).

      3. Get a sale in roughly 1 in 150-170 via phone only (no appointments).

      This method was REALLY draining, since it took hundreds of calls before even 1 sale.

      NEW METHOD
      1. Go through the **LOCAL** Yellowpages/Newspaper/Magazines.

      2. Call ONLY local businesses that either have a domain name email address (ie Joe's Plumbing has the email info@joesplumbing.com) with no website listed, or have a website listed that looks old/bad or has a broken link website listing.

      3. Call and ask about their website, mention I am a local web designer and was wondering if they might like to have an appointment at my office (or their business) to discuss a website update?

      4. Got a sale in about 1/10 calls (usually with appointments) that met these criteria, basically a 10x increase in results.

      Sure, the sample size is quite small, I only called about 30 businesses and got 3 local sales, but the criteria made it ALOT easier.

      So don't take my word as gospel, but I am just letting you know that I really did see a HUGE increase in results using those calling criteria.
      • [ 4 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • So you called about...what? 200 people and got two website sales?
    That's really not bad, especially for a new guy with little training.

    Years ago, I had a salesman (we cold called homes...door to door). He said "Claude, I hate this business. Nobody is buying"

    I said "Well, let's look at a few facts. (and we went to an activity board).
    Last week, you worked at total of 8 hours, you made two sales, and got a check for $800. The question I have for you is 'why aren't you doing it more?'"

    If you look at cold calling as "How much you make per hour", in a month, it's always a pretty good amount.

    I hear this quite a lot;
    "I worked all last week and only made one sale"
    But if you keep acurate records, usually, this means you cold called on Monday for 4 hours...and made one sale...and then quit"

    Not saying that's you. But it happens often.

    By the way, maybe you aren't saying the right things. Jason Kanigan has a great approach that is very comfortable to use and gets pretty high numbers. I don't have a link, but you can do a search.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Here are a couple of articles that might just help you:

    Beating the Prospecting Blues, Steps One and Two | kanigan.ca

    Beating the Prospecting Blues, Steps Three to Six | kanigan.ca
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • You might want to read this WF post on the same subject I just read before opening this post.

    The only issue I see with the link is that we don't recommend doing any breakdowns or deciding anything before making 20 hours of calling. A block of 20 hours is not 200 calls, it's about 600-800. Sampling 200 calls is not enough of a cross section to base success off of. In addition, if you are new to cold calling and have not done it for a while (or don't like it) you need to consider paying someone that does like it and knows how to do it.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...vertising.html
  • Thanks guys, I actually made a sale to a handyman a couple hours after posting this thread. I'm usually very optimistic but felt like I was having a bad streak.
  • Hi I have also started for cold calling for Make almost 50 call each day still trying to get some Positive response most of the dialled numbers are normally on Voice Mail.
  • All you cold callers why not leave your Tel. number here so you can get cold called 10+ times a day and see how it feels. Game?
    • [2] replies
    • Hows that relevant to the original question?

      Lee
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • Yeah! And why doesn't someone leave their address so I can send them 10 junk mail pieces a day! See how that feels!

      Or...why doesn't someone here just leave on their TV so I can broadcast ten commercials! See how that feels!

      Wait, Wait..I'm on a roll.....
      Why doesn't someone just look at their computer screen so I can show them two posts that don't add anything to the discussion...see how that feels! :rolleyes:

      (Break for applause)
      • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • Banned
    I am not doing that at all and would probably hate it, but just a suggestion, I don't know if you already mention it but you could talk about doing websites optimised for desktop AND mobile version, then you can have a pitch about how smartphones are in every customer pockets and the websites to look good on mobile phone need to have other designs conventions than desktop websites.
    So perhaps if you include this "new" side in your talk it can get the interest of people, just like maybe desktop websites were more easy to sell 10 years ago, now it might be easier to sell the idea of a website that is tailored for mobile devices as well as desktop.
  • Wheres JD when you need him?

    You have to consistently improve your script Week one two and three will give you an idea of your stats.

    You keep working on it, TESTING like the guys doing ads test until you hav a script that will give you the highest percentage of sales.

    Keep testing!

    Sue
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Of course, that's the smart answer.

      You could just "trial and error" your way to stumble onto what works, or you could hire John Durham to write a great script, or let Jason Hanigan show you painless, yet proven ways to get sales over the phone.

      Sorry, but I keep seeing these cold call questions that indicate that people are spending huge amounts of time on scripts and approaches that simply don't work.

      There is a diamond mine in this town. You can stumble around in the dark until you fall into it...or you can buy a map.

      These "tales of woe" don't need to exist.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • I use to call cold for many different companies. For one company I was doing 300 dials a day.

    What I would recommend is you need to find a way to make it exciting for you. For example, I kept a detailed excel spread sheet even though the companies I worked for didnt really require it. It was like I was hunting for information. So even if I got a "no" I still gained info on the call. The persons name, department, etc.... Kind of a weird motivation tip. But play around with others. Another common one is to turn cold calling into a game.


    Just a idea, which i personally have no experience in, but have you thought about or tried outsourcing the calls?
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • If you make a sale on your initial cold call, that's great! However, that is not typical. Your goal on an initial call should be to introduce yourself, what you do and get some contact information such as an email address, mailing address or referral. As a real estate broker for many years, I can tell you that it is extremely difficult to make a sale on the first call. People only do business with people they know and trust. It takes approximately 7 or 8 "touches" before people even start to take you seriously or start to recognize the brand. By touches, I mean contact. That contact could be follow up phone calls, emails, newsletters, postcards, etc. Initially, the contact should be once a week for a month or so and then twice per month and than at least once per month. Emails and newsletter sent via auto responders work very well. You only need to add their contact information to your database/email list once and the auto responder does the rest without any effort on your part provided the information you provide is useful. Regardless of what you are selling, these people are going to need what you are selling sooner or later or know someone that needs what you are selling. When that time comes, these people will automatically remember you if you have been following up with them in a consistent manner without being pushy. Your goal should be to build your reputation and database by adding contacts to it on a regular basis. This should be part of your business plan. It really works but you do need "thick" skin to handle the rejections when you are first starting out. It gets easier with every rejection.
  • oh i thoght it was about calling people/busiensses who did not give you permission to do so. Am I wrong? LOL Funny how all the "cold callers" seem to think there's absolutley nothing wrong with it. Should be banned. Isn't it illegal?

    Does it make money? Sure. But so does selling drugs. Is it right? Leave your phone number open and then deal with cold callers all day trying to pitch you stuff. Completey different to mail or TV where I can simply ignore it. You guys try and "sugar coat" cold calling but fail! Just becasue something makes money doesn't make it right!

    Oh and for calling me "Jack ass" i gave you an infraction matey. Keep it civil.

    Toodle pip.

    • [1] reply

    • sloanjim; Calling another business is never illegal. There is no "Do not call" list for businesses. For consumers? Sure, if they are on the "Do not call list".

      It's not a matter of right and wrong. You don't like cold calling, or getting cold calls...apparently a lot.

      And, in my experience, they are never really desired. But they aren't evil.
      Cold calls never ruin a sane person's day.

      I own a retail store that gets about 15-20 cold calls a day (most selling Viagra or upselling free subscriptions I get. I'm on a ton of lists)

      Every once in a while, I get a cold call from someone selling internet marketing services. If there is no 2 second delay and a voice from a foreign country, I listen politely. I'm thinking "this guy is industrious. Good luck to him". But I don't buy, because I sell those services.

      For some reason cold calling makes you very angry. But for the vast majority of the people I've ever cold called, it's a painless enjoyable chat.


      Now, an angry person, who hates cold calling? Well, cold calling isn't in the cards. But for competent salespeople? It's pretty painless to the person called.

      I've called about 2,000 organizations seeking speaking gigs. I've never been talked to in a rude way. Nobody has ever hung up on me. I've had many many people not be interested, but I didn't affect their day.

      I agree that getting BAD cold calls is irritating. Cold calls with the 3 second delays are irritating (because they never have anything of value to sell, it seems).

      But trained cold callers? If you (OK, maybe not you) someone gets a call from John Durham, Jason Kanigan, Ken Michaels, or me....I promise you, it's a painless educational experience.

      Cold calling equals selling drugs? See, you do have a sense of humor.


      And to "Bob" from India: Really, really guy...I don't need any Viagra. Wait! I guess some cold callers really are selling drugs!
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [DELETED]
      • [1] reply
  • Tpyical cold caller scammer artist. No sense of real bizz ethics. Result to cheap childish name calling. Well done. You have really set your-self apart from the many scammers on the Net.

    Oh and please no more priavtye PM's with insults. I'd expaxt a real busainess man tyo beahve a bit better than that!
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
  • Cold calling is not an easy task, every day is a new challenge for every caller. So no matter what "DONT EVER GIVE UP"

    Everyday is a new day, just learned from your mistakes and explore another technique so that you will hit you quota and get new sales!
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • you can get results,when you are persistent. In every call you made, think that you are helping them.
  • This is normal, just do not give up. However, try to review your list again and compare it with the two closes you have. It is good to see what industry or what kind of people are might be looking for your service.
  • Try something new ideas !!! check with the expert in local or google how to improve the scenario
  • ...lots of great ideas in this thread.

    I suggest finding someone you can communicate with live via chat in between calls... someone that's doing the same thing you're doing. Working in isolation can be difficult to bear long-term.

    Of course, try to limit your chatting to moments when you need to let off some steam or something really funny happened... but, remain focused the rest of the time.
  • As its your own business on days you feel down or unmotivated to cold call I never picked up the phone to dial out, instead id focus on other areas of off line marketing, or seo, or paper work / admin.

    If your not on your A game the conversion rate gets harder at least thats what I found...
    • [1] reply
    • You have to be careful with a strategy like that, the longer in between
      picking up the phone ... the harder it gets to do it.

      what starts out as simple procrastination, can easily turn to fear,
      as well as excuse after excuse, next thing you know, its been
      a month since you have picked up the phone.

      Lots of people do it. Especially people new to phone sales.
      Once they stop, they lose all momentum, and that's it
      Game Over.
      • [1] reply
  • Everyone gets the cold calling blues every once in awhile. You just have to bounce back from it. Always, Always, Always
  • This vid is inspirational for cold callers in my opinion:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ccess-tip.html
Join the discussion

Next Topics on Trending Feed

  • 54

    Cold Calling Blues

    I've got the cold calling blues.. This is my second day of cold calling this week, and for some reason I'm having no luck. A couple weeks ago I started cold calling and got 2 website sales from it, but for some reason this week nothing. I dialled 100 numbers yesterday day and reached a lot of people, today I'm not feeling as motivated but I'm still dialling.