I'm not scared of cold calling anymore! 5 calls = 2 "leads"

Awesome, man!

These are standard brush-offs, so pretend you got no leads and keep going - the biggest mistake people make is thinking reschedules might lead to something so they stop doing more outbound because they're afraid of being too busy. I'm not saying this to discourage you - if they actually do follow through that's awesome - I'm just saying that mentally you should always pretend you didn't get a lead and keep dialing new people. Stop when you get a credit card over the phone, do the work they are paying for, then get back on it.

I actually enjoyed speaking to the new prospects I think once you taste abit of "success" whether its reaching the decision maker or getting an appointment the rewards outweigh the fear of cold calling.

I actually cold call a client last Nov, got the meeting, signed him up for SEO and he's been with me ever since.

Sounds like you handled yourself on the phone great. Wish more cold callers who called me would.

A good sales professional knows how to get those conversations going and once they are going you get more opportunities to close.

Will all or any of these close? We don't know. What we do know is that you got appointments for meetings and call backs. They might be blow offs but I normally only schedule a call back or meeting with a cold caller if I have some interest.

Thank you for your feedback. The only reason I stopped is because I haven't prepared myself a real call sheet. Still had monthly reports for current clients otherwise I would have steamed ahead.

You're right, I'm trying not to get ahead of myself until I get a real confirmed appointment but it's been enjoyable so far with the responses.

Will definitely keep everyone updated. Thanks

Good job, keep going. Have fun with it. Just yesterday I called a fairly large company at 540p and the head of the whole company picked up the phone. I predict that one call will result in tens of thousands of dollars in business over the next year. You never know.

Nice job! Courage is a great way to overcome apprehensions! Keep doing good work and keep scaling it all up!

Here is a quote from the great boxer Mohammed Ali

I hated every minute of training but I said "Don't quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion!

The quote can be reworded for sales calls

"I hated every cold call I ever made but I said to myself don't quit suffer now and live the rest of your life as a millionaire"

MASSIVE ACTION = MASSIVE RESULTS

Keep making those calls every no is getting you one step closer to a yes

Best of luck, cold call and a warm attitude goes a long way.

Just a word of advice. Make sure you are getting an alternate (cell preferably) number and an email for these appointments. Especially if you are going to make a habit out of scheduling them 2 weeks out. I can assure you that he had time before May 13, so it's a good chance that this will not happen, or that you will be on the trying to catch him to reschedule loop if you don't handle it correctly.

My advice is to send him an email NOW, and then another reminder email or call 2 days before the appt.

One way to avoid the over a week later appt brush off is to stop them and say that you are unable to schedule appointments more than a week out due to your meeting schedule. You can just say that you don't want to agree and then be unable to devote that time to them. Then and ask them if there is ANY opening in the next week, and tell them you will make yourself available. If they insist on the longer appt, then tell them you will pencil it in and you need to touch base with them 2 days before, "do you have a direct number so I can call you briefly to confirm the appointment 2 days before?" That's also when you get the email and tell them you will send a reminder.

Update - 13/05/2013 - Met the insurance broker today.
Drove 200 miles in total for a 30 min meeting

Plenty of buying signals

"How much are we talking about here"
"We've been fine with referral work but we don't want to be left behind by ignoring the internet"
"You're the only one that's met us, most have cold call and promised this and that"
"The new quoting system is nearly finished and just need promoting"

I asked, "when would you expect to start when the system is up"
His reply "End of June"

Shook hands an left.

To be continued

Congrats!

Personally I do not like offline marketing simply becuase it is more work for me and I make plenty with online marketing, but I am glad you are having some results with what you are doing!

Keep up the good work and keep on making those calls!

Wait, 200 miles and you left without getting paid?

"End of June? That's perfect. If I start today, we should be right on track to see the results right about the time you're ready."

Well you are getting there. You are not afraid of cold calling so thats good.
Now you just need to overcome your fear of closing.

This part of your story kinda stuck out to me.

Plenty of buying signals....
Shook hands an left.

Good job. Just taking the initiative to start calling is more than a majority of people will ever do. Once you get a couple of clients, things will start snowballing with referrals and a better reputation.

Mindset is a huge factor in anything that is challenging. If we give in to the thoughts that it is to hard, then we will give in to the excuses that prevent us from moving on the better and greater things. The start is always the hardest. When one reaches for the phone, it can seem to be a lead weight at first.

Hey Michael, every time you are in a new situation, you'll learn from it, believe me none of the 'experts' here or anywhere nailed it first time round , keep going over what happened, how can you improve it, then do it , retest, tweak, retest, tweak, until you nail it and then still retest and tweak.
The first 200 connections are learning fodder , sure some may be landed, but learn from it first and foremost, theres plenty more than 200 prospects for you to nail down but if you don't ever give yourself the time and opportunity to learn and improve from it, you'll never own the hammer

Love this thread, Michael - keep up the good work!

This is my wallpaper to keep me fired up. I got this designed but you can have it for free.

With this one particular client, my cold call has turned into £2,100 in turnover since Nov-12 and counting. Next week we're proposing an $8,000 online solution. He's seen the initial document with prices, so fingers crossed.

Enjoy

Nice story Michael. I too was petrified of cold calling, until it landed me my first SEO client for over £2,000 per month. That contract lasted 11 months and netted me £22,000 for one cold call, a few exchanges back and forth for a couple of weeks and then closed the deal in the first, and only, face to face meeting. This sort of thing happens thousands of times daily, most people just choose not to try as they don't believe it's possible.

Cold calling can be so arduous but if done right, you will be surprised with the results you get and sales make on top of that!

As much as I hate report this (egg on my face), I'm taking a step back with both of these insurance leads.

I've chased to much, not on their list of priorities. Ball is in their court now. Starting to feel like a pest and if I'm being honest, not one has actually gave a buying / commitment signal. I mis read "having a chat" is a sign of buying. Starting to regret that 200 mile round trip to be only stringed along.

I need to learn to qualify better and not to instantly push for an appointment because "its better to talk face to face"

Onwards and upwards.

That's OK, man, you're getting in the right frame of mind about it now

When a prospect asks me "When can we get together and discuss" I say "Right after you've paid me". Say it with a smile, they'll hear it in your voice. I do this even if they're within walking distance, and even if I have nothing else going on, because it accomplishes two things:

1. It makes your time look more valuable.
2. It tells them that your paid clients are your priority, and that you're busy WORKING for them instead of busy chasing new business.

If they're ever taken back by the unwillingness to meet for a pre-sales conversation, I level with them and tell them those things. That my job is to deliver results, not sales pitches, so if you're confident that my methodology will work for your business then once you've retained me we'll have a face to face meeting and go over all of the details and put together a plan of attack.

When you do this, you just put yourself at a higher position than most of your competition. While everyone else is out there begging for new business, you message will be heard as "Look, I'm the best at what I do, if you want to work with me we'll talk, if not I have other shit to do".

You will not get every customer you talk to when you take this approach - but you will get the serious ones. The ones who know they have a problem, and know you're the solution. And those are the best customers, because you never have to chase them down for payment or "sell yourself". They trust your judgment. And down the road when you say "You know, I think we could get even better results if we added X and it will cost $Y" they'll listen because they trust you because you aren't selling them something, you're recommending something that will improve their business.

Congratulations! This is a good outcome with just 5 calls. Do not let this get into your head though Michael. Do not assume that they are really strong leads until you have closed the deal. Make sure that you keep nurturing your leads so that they will not forget you.

Good luck to your future calls. These are just 5 calls, plenty more to go and more leads to come!