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Why Hanging Up On Telemarketers Is a Lost Opportunity

by Anthem40
24 replies
It is pretty common for people to talk over or outright hang up on telemarketers. If you are serious about your business or are serious about becoming effective at cold calling and are guilty of this action, you are making a huge mistake.

Why?

1.) You can now understand what it is like from the decision making perspective.

Listen to what they are saying. Did they lose you right off the bat? Why? Did they grab your attention? Why?

Throw an objection at them- maybe one similar to those you hear the most. How did they respond?



And my favorite exercise, assuming I see some potential-

2.) Sell the telemarketer on your services. They talk to a lot of people day in and day out. They are motivated by money and by sales. Lead the conversation to how they can actually make more money off of you by sending you referrals. Or maybe they actually have something that can help you!




Or don't, because there is always someone who "has enough business" and is not interested in evolving.
#hanging #lost #opportunity #telemarketers
  • Profile picture of the author SashaLee
    Hi there,

    It sounds like you're sucking on some bitter lemons after being hung up on over and over.

    The company I work for has close to 200 SMBs that we provide marketing solutions for. Not one will employ a telemarketing "blast" or pure "cold" calling approach.

    Why? Because they are sick, literally, of idiots calling up saying rubbish like, "Can I speak to the owner of the business?" or, "Can I speak to whoever handles your adwords account?", or some other such unqualified vitriol that vexes the daylights out of them.

    And don't get them started about Voice Broadcasting....which doesn't even deserve a title.

    All the best,

    Sasha
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    • Profile picture of the author Anthem40
      Originally Posted by SashaLee View Post

      Hi there,

      It sounds like you're sucking on some bitter lemons after being hung up on over and over.
      Sasha, would you say, in your opinion, that you missed the point of this thread or completely missed the point of this thread?

      all the best,

      Anthem40

      Signature
      95% of IM'ers have great relationships with clients who also advertise offline and with other people. Stop missing out on that cash and leverage into it. PM me if you are an established marketer and want to find out how.
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      • Profile picture of the author SashaLee
        Originally Posted by Anthem40 View Post

        Sasha, would you say, in your opinion, that you missed the point of this thread or completely missed the point of this thread?

        all the best,

        Anthem40
        No, I would not.
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        • Profile picture of the author Anthem40
          Originally Posted by SashaLee View Post

          No, I would not.
          Not one of the choices

          But thanks for the negative energy and attempt at thread derailment!!
          Signature
          95% of IM'ers have great relationships with clients who also advertise offline and with other people. Stop missing out on that cash and leverage into it. PM me if you are an established marketer and want to find out how.
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            I don't think I've ever listened to a cold caller to learn how they sell, but I've ordered from infomercials, mostly to see how they upsell. And I'd record the call.

            And I called an internet Guru for an hour "Strategy session" for the sole purpose of learning how they upsell you into coaching/a high end seminar. Of course, I recorded the call.

            I paid $100 for the privilege, and it was worth it.

            Haven't any of you guys ordered online from a Guru, just so you could see the sequence of upsell and cross selling offers?


            I've never listened to a cold caller and then offered him a job. I've had a few people do that to me (with appointments) and it really really made me mad..
            Signature
            One Call Closing book https://www.amazon.com/One-Call-Clos...=1527788418&sr

            “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought.” - Matsuo Basho
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  • Profile picture of the author grey38
    I agree with Sasha in saying that everyone is super sick of cold calls/telemarketers. However, at it's worst form cold calling can be a numbers game that guarantee results. If you made 300 calls a day and only closed one person from those, you could have 5 paying clients after 5 days of work which in some peoples lives depending on how much they make can be very profitable/livable.

    Now you get 3 people. All three are on autodialers calling 300 people a day each setting up 3 meetings a day total. You could have 15 meetings at the end of the week in a worst case scenario. And most experienced cold callers find 1 out of 100 calls they can set up a meeting or close. So worst case scenario you could have 15 meetings or (with 1 meeting out of 100 calls) an average scenario you could have 45 meetings at the end of one weeks worth of cold calling.

    It may not be pretty, but it is effective Sasha : )
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  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    I think you guys missed his point. It is about the observation of the person on the other end of the call aka the telemarketer. He is saying to stay on the line with them to see it from them other side.

    I do keep them on the phone till I know they suck. Even then I sometimes try to keep them on the phone. I enjoy watching others sell. I can always learn even from the amateurs.
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    Aaron Doud - Sales & Success
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    • Profile picture of the author Anthem40
      Originally Posted by Aaron Doud View Post


      I do keep them on the phone till I know they suck. Even then I sometimes try to keep them on the phone. I enjoy watching others sell. I can always learn even from the amateurs.
      This is it, I have picked up a nugget or two that has worked well for me by listening to people. No matter how experienced I am, there is always someone who knows something I do not.
      Signature
      95% of IM'ers have great relationships with clients who also advertise offline and with other people. Stop missing out on that cash and leverage into it. PM me if you are an established marketer and want to find out how.
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  • Profile picture of the author lhic
    I have done this as well. When I receive a cold call, I listen to their pitch and actually tell them where they are going wrong.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Shelton
    I also like to listen to the sales process and learn from them but the other day I wished I hadn't. A guy called up from a company I had bought domains from in the past and my experience with them was so bad that if I was dying in the desert and they were the only lemonade stand, I still wouldn't buy from them.
    Anyway, the guy was selling web services and I thought I'd see what kind of bunk he would say. I ended up telling him of my horrible experience with his company and he said something like "well I am not like that" and I told him it didn't matter but if it made him feel any better he could send me an email with more information, send an email only.
    So the next day (I should have known this would happen!) I get a call from someone else from this same company saying "thank you for choosing our blah blah services" and I said NO I DID NOT and had to make sure they weren't trying to bill me for anything - should never have talked to anyone from that company again, obviously. So from now on, if this company calls, it is an automatic hangup. So some calls are not worth entertaining for even a moment.
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  • Profile picture of the author trader909
    Isn't cold calling illegal?

    it's basically phone spam...in the UK they are really clamping down on it. Good thing to.
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    • Profile picture of the author SuzanneRe
      It feels like selling is illegal in the UK!

      You cannot cold call, you cannot cold email. Direct mail costs too much, I would have to remortgage my house!! So if any warrior from the UK, can tell me how they are managing to sell any offline services, I am all ears :confused:

      Sorry for the rant, having a bad week!

      But I am really at a loss how you can get your name in front of businesses, if your not allowed to contact them cold.
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      • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
        Originally Posted by SuzanneRe View Post

        It feels like selling is illegal in the UK!

        You cannot cold call, you cannot cold email. Direct mail costs too much, I would have to remortgage my house!! So if any warrior from the UK, can tell me how they are managing to sell any offline services, I am all ears :confused:

        Sorry for the rant, having a bad week!

        But I am really at a loss how you can get your name in front of businesses, if your not allowed to contact them cold.
        Why don't you cold walk? IMO it is much easier to sell in person anyways since so much of communication is non-verbal.
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        Aaron Doud - Sales & Success
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        • Profile picture of the author SuzanneRe
          Originally Posted by Aaron Doud View Post

          Why don't you cold walk? IMO it is much easier to sell in person anyways since so much of communication is non-verbal.
          Aaron, strangely enough I have been thinking of doing that, just need to sort out getting some transport first. As right now, within walking distance of where I live, not many businesses at all.

          Never done any selling face to face, so hope I do not make a complete fool of myself!!
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          • Profile picture of the author Anthem40
            Originally Posted by SuzanneRe View Post

            Aaron, strangely enough I have been thinking of doing that, just need to sort out getting some transport first. As right now, within walking distance of where I live, not many businesses at all.

            Never done any selling face to face, so hope I do not make a complete fool of myself!!
            Cold walking is my strongest method as of right now.
            Signature
            95% of IM'ers have great relationships with clients who also advertise offline and with other people. Stop missing out on that cash and leverage into it. PM me if you are an established marketer and want to find out how.
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          • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
            Originally Posted by SuzanneRe View Post

            Aaron, strangely enough I have been thinking of doing that, just need to sort out getting some transport first. As right now, within walking distance of where I live, not many businesses at all.

            Never done any selling face to face, so hope I do not make a complete fool of myself!!
            As long as you are prepared to take a no and move on while always expecting a yes you will be fine.

            It will be a learning curve. Over time you will learn what works and what doesn't. You will never be perfect on day 1 and if you are always learning you will never hit your peak. Even if you one day learn to close 9/10 you will still be working to get better.
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            Aaron Doud - Sales & Success
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      • Profile picture of the author Jamie Ambition
        Originally Posted by SuzanneRe View Post

        It feels like selling is illegal in the UK!

        You cannot cold call, you cannot cold email. Direct mail costs too much, I would have to remortgage my house!! So if any warrior from the UK, can tell me how they are managing to sell any offline services, I am all ears :confused:

        Sorry for the rant, having a bad week!

        But I am really at a loss how you can get your name in front of businesses, if your not allowed to contact them cold.
        You've misunderstood the laws regarding cold calling and cold emailing in the UK.

        You can call any business in the UK (excluding Scotland I believe) as long as they haven't:

        1) Told you specifically not to call them
        2) Registered with the TPS (Telephone Preference Service)

        There are services which provide a list of companies that are registered with the TPS. Or, you can purchase the list from TPS themselves. B2C is highly regulated, B2B is not.

        Also, you can cold email B2B as long as the recipient has a business address in the UK.

        Legalities aside, no one will report you for sending a personalised email outining how you can help their business/site. The spam laws were brought in to stop huge mass emailing of cold lists, not to stop a web designer reach out to help a small business. If it's personalised (I don't just mean the recipients name) you won't face a problem.

        Would you mind a roofer letting you know you had a few tiles fallen off of your roof and he could fix your problem?

        I've cold called and cold emailed UK businesses for close to 2 years and have never even had an inkling of a problem. Just be courteous and you'll be fine. One piece of advice would be to soften down the rebuttals that you'll see in some US-based scripts on here before you apply them to the UK market. Again, just my experience.

        Cold calling/emailing aside, direct mail works great in the UK, you just have to approach it slightly differently. If you're blindly sending out 1000's of generic letters then it won't as we don't have any programs that make this cost-effective. If you're personalising an offer that solves a prospect's problem then it does.

        Try putting together a little 'pack' with a letter outlining who you are, how you found them etc, then a print out of their site with some annotations, maybe some ranking reports if SEO is your thing. With a CTA on the bottom of the letter with your phone number saying you'd love to discuss how fixing these problems could increase their bottom line. It'll take a little while at first, but with time and practice you'll get through it in no time. Royal mail deliver a large letter 1st class for 90p. That's nearly a third of the cost of a click for the keyword 'small business web design' if you were running a PPC campaign on Adwords.

        I don't know if you're selling web design, but it's just an example.

        I know it can seem frustrating, I've been there. Just keep on going. Don't stop. You could be one call/email/walk-in away from success. If you stop now you will have wasted all that hard work.

        Stick to a couple of methods and master them. Walk in to businesses in the day then go home and prepare your direct mail at night. You've got to live and breathe this if you truly want it. If you walk-in on businesses in the day and then stop, someone else out there is working harder than you to get those clients and will beat you to them. It doesn't matter how great your service is.

        Feel free to PM me whenever you want, I've been where you are so if I can help out I will.

        All the best!

        P.S. Sorry for the slightly off-topic post.
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        I refuse to be a product of circumstance. I am a product of my decisions.

        Warriors Made Me Quit My Job For Offline Marketing.
        2012 Update | 2013 Update
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        • Profile picture of the author SuzanneRe
          Originally Posted by Jamie Ambition View Post

          You've misunderstood the laws regarding cold calling and cold emailing in the UK.

          You can call any business in the UK (excluding Scotland I believe) as long as they haven't:

          1) Told you specifically not to call them
          2) Registered with the TPS (Telephone Preference Service)

          There are services which provide a list of companies that are registered with the TPS. Or, you can purchase the list from TPS themselves. B2C is highly regulated, B2B is not.

          Also, you can cold email B2B as long as the recipient has a business address in the UK.

          Legalities aside, no one will report you for sending a personalised email outining how you can help their business/site. The spam laws were brought in to stop huge mass emailing of cold lists, not to stop a web designer reach out to help a small business. If it's personalised (I don't just mean the recipients name) you won't face a problem.

          Would you mind a roofer letting you know you had a few tiles fallen off of your roof and he could fix your problem?

          I've cold called and cold emailed UK businesses for close to 2 years and have never even had an inkling of a problem. Just be courteous and you'll be fine. One piece of advice would be to soften down the rebuttals that you'll see in some US-based scripts on here before you apply them to the UK market. Again, just my experience.

          Cold calling/emailing aside, direct mail works great in the UK, you just have to approach it slightly differently. If you're blindly sending out 1000's of generic letters then it won't as we don't have any programs that make this cost-effective. If you're personalising an offer that solves a prospect's problem then it does.

          Try putting together a little 'pack' with a letter outlining who you are, how you found them etc, then a print out of their site with some annotations, maybe some ranking reports if SEO is your thing. With a CTA on the bottom of the letter with your phone number saying you'd love to discuss how fixing these problems could increase their bottom line. It'll take a little while at first, but with time and practice you'll get through it in no time. Royal mail deliver a large letter 1st class for 90p. That's nearly a third of the cost of a click for the keyword 'small business web design' if you were running a PPC campaign on Adwords.

          I don't know if you're selling web design, but it's just an example.

          I know it can seem frustrating, I've been there. Just keep on going. Don't stop. You could be one call/email/walk-in away from success. If you stop now you will have wasted all that hard work.

          Stick to a couple of methods and master them. Walk in to businesses in the day then go home and prepare your direct mail at night. You've got to live and breathe this if you truly want it. If you walk-in on businesses in the day and then stop, someone else out there is working harder than you to get those clients and will beat you to them. It doesn't matter how great your service is.

          Feel free to PM me whenever you want, I've been where you are so if I can help out I will.

          All the best!

          P.S. Sorry for the slightly off-topic post.
          Jamie, thank you so much for your post.

          The rules for email did not appear that clear when I looked it up, but what you say makes complete sense.

          Also good to know that you can call if they have not requested otherwise. Will look in to finding out how much a list from TPS would cost.

          I am finding it frustrating at the moment, the businesses in my area seem to be allergic to marketing! But I have no intention on giving up, as long as my boyfriend remains understanding anyway!

          Not researched direct marketing, have always been wary because of how expensive it could be, and if I am honest I do not think I am a born sales person or copywriter, at least not at the moment. But if you have had success with it in the UK, then maybe I will get out of my comfort zone and try it.

          Once again thanks for your input, daft as it seems, I feel motivated again.
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          • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
            If you've hung-up or you are contemplating doing so, you already know how not to sell (in your opinion).

            You get one stab at the intro. Make yours better than theirs.

            If your intro is poor your customer isn't going to listen past that point...


            Daniel
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  • Profile picture of the author trader909
    So if you run a business and every 15 min's some idiot is calling trying to sell the latest "sure marketing thing" That's fine? Look at it from the business owner perspective. Or even the ordinary man that would get slammed with hundreds of P.P.I. claim cold calls if it was not clamped down on.


    email spam is illegal...but cold calling (10X worse) is fine?

    It feels like selling is illegal in the UK!
    in the UK we have non call lists....i haven't been cold called or years... seems to be very different in the u.s.a./ it must be very annoying for business owners to recieve so much phone spam every day?
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    • Profile picture of the author socialentry
      Ironically, most of the criticism leveraged against cold calling could be leveraged against any form of marketing as well.

      I am the SMB owner, hear me roar!
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  • Profile picture of the author trader909
    But I am really at a loss how you can get your name in front of businesses, if your not allowed to contact them cold.
    read the forum..many methods. How about one customer at a time, word of mouth?
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  • Profile picture of the author SuzanneRe
    I have worked for years filtering calls for large companies, and never did cold calling happen every 15 minutes or even every hour. It really did not bother me taking a 30 second call when it did happen. Even when I was working over till late at night because I was so busy.

    Personally I have never cold called anyone, I prefer emailing businesses, with a clear instruction of how to stop any further communication.

    I respect and even understand why, that there are people who are against cold calling, and against emailing etc. But all businesses have to start somewhere, and emailing and cold calling are easy ways to at least get started.

    I personally hate having loads of leaflets through my door for takeaways and rubbish like that, everyday. It means I have to clean up the mess everytime I get home (they put them through the door for my dog to chew instead of in the post box!) But thats not illegal, and is far more of an inconvenince than an email. IMHO
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  • Profile picture of the author KingOfContentMarketing
    Here's how you handle it:

    Signature
    Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
    - Jack Trout
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