Prospecting Expectations Management- What Numbers Should I Expect?

I saw a guy in another thread saying he made 500 calls and got nothing and he needed advice because telemarketing doesnt work!

He got a ton of advice ranging from "You need to set a funneling system and dont expect to make profit the first year" (along with a bunch of very general statistical data quotes and college text book theory)

To

"You need to start a TV program and set yourself up as an authority and it takes 11 times for someone to buy"

To

"You need to not expect to get a prospect for 90 days and do a massive ad campaign...".

To

"You need to write a 100 page book, that leads to another 100 page book that leads to qualified prospects"

...all kinds of stuff.

Okay here's JD comin along... and I have to tell you- all that is a bunch of BULL$***

Sure it works (some of it), 90 days from now if you are dedicated, or a year out...

BUT:

Can you really listen to some real world truth for just a second?

If so, then Im not wasting my time here. Im not bashing those other ideas...Im telling you a truth that you can see all around you for yourself. You would honestly have to be BLIND not to see it.

First of all.

If the guy made 500 calls and didnt come up with a single lead, then something is wrong (maybe NOT severely) with his approach... Then on the other hand, it does happen very rarely that a person will make 500 calls and get nothing. Lets deal with that.

Needing to tweak your approach is what we call "the first day of training" in the real world; its not an insurmountable mountain.

(Someone said "I once tried to play the piano, and it didnt work! :rolleyes:" lol)

Now , about making 500 calls and getting nothing... Thats not going to happen to most people but WILL to some. Again; it's called "Your first day". That simple.

Secondly:

You have to think of it this way- Some pro telemarketers in actual offline call centers dont get leads their first day either... sometimes its three days before they start popping consistent results.... and then a few weeks later they are doing 8-10 per day just like all the other 60 people in the room are doing.

Pause and think about that for a second....

Now

Think about this:

Each of those telemarketers make a minimum of 500 dials per DAY

Now go back and think about this again...

That once new guy couldnt get a lead his first day, and now he is steadily writing 8-10 per day just like everyone else -EVERY DAY!

If you thought about that like I asked, and you are willing to accept some reality, then right about now you are getting it!

MOST people in a call center DO write a couple of leads their first day....but for some guys it takes 3 days of training to get them in their groove, then they are doing it like clock work from then out....With all the months of trying you have done, how much would it be worth to you to become a person who could write 8-10 leads per day?

Is it worth as much dedication as an 8 dollar per hour employee puts into his first three days on the job?

It had BETTER be, if you think you want to own your own business and make six figures per year!

To close this point...

So far the O.P. of that thread, in MONTHS, hasnt even done as much calling as that trainee does on his very first day, yet he feels he made an EXTREME effort...enough effort to say, with CERTAINTY, that it doesnt work.

So this makes perfect sense to me.

It really isnt a mystery at all.

"John are you saying that 500 dials isnt an EXTREME effort?"

Im not saying ANYTHING, Im just giving you awareness of the facts that you can see all around you, and you ask your SELF if 500 dials is an extreme effort or not:.

Here are the facts

1: 5 million AVERAGE people in the united states have fulltime jobs employed as telemarketers
2: They each make five hundred calls their first day on the job
3: Most appointments setters have a MINIMUM QUOTA of at least 6-8 appointments per day
4: Some of them dont get a lead their first day, but weeks later they are up to par just like everyone else hitting quota day in and day out...

Now, I ask you to tell ME, do you think 500 dials in months of time are really that extreme?

To an hourly employee, one of the over 5 million in the United States alone, thats just the first day of training.

Dont need a college degree to figure that out!

So, yes, you have to be able to spot exaggeration, and you have to be able to read through the college text book theory, and you have to be able to recognize and deal with reality... I just gave it to you. I didnt quote any books or college professors.... Thats just how it is.

If you want to take ten years to funnel people go for it. Most tms are keeping up quota within their first week though. Im just tellin you like it is.

No exaggeration at all....with five million USA examples to prove it who do this 40 hours per week...If you want to be a millionaire, first you have to at least be as strong as an average hourly person.

You may not like me...but Im tellin you the truth.

-JD

Ps. What should you expect?

You should expect that if you can even write TWO appointments per day and only close TWO out of TEN of them (ultra realistic) ...You will make more than 6 figures probably. Maybe ALOT more!

This should take you altogether about 3 to 3 and a half hours per day to accomplish, averaged over the week... including the time spent running the actual appointment, if you dont do "phone appointments".

You should see sales within a week, to two weeks max...some people do their FIRST DAY.

Is it worth it? I dont know- Is it?

Thats a personal decision, and this is an example of proper, accurate, real life numbers, to help you establish a formula for sound "Expectations Management".