Journal: 90+ days of cold calling

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blank_czech

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Mar 16, 2008
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I'm a little bored and want to improve my phone skills. I feel like having decent cold calling skills is a useful ability for any marketer, and I feel bad that I haven't had the experience of having dozens of people hang up on me.

I'll be updating the journal every day for the first week or so, then moving on to every few days.

The plan:

Going to sell some leads/services to relatively local businesses over the phone.

WOD:

- Check to see if recording phone calls without informing the other party for private use is legal in my state

- Download call recording app for Android

- Make a test call to verify the app is working

- Write out a basic template

- Start compiling a list of businesses to call (at least 10)

For today, what I'll be doing is checking to see if recording your own phone calls is legal without informing the other party. If it is, I'm going to download an app to my phone and do a few test calls to see if it's working.

The plan is to review my calls to see where I'm getting stuck in the process and where I could improve. Hopefully I'll be able to export some basic call data (time of day, length, and make a note of who picks up the phone first etc) to improve faster.

Then I'm going to write out a template that I'll use tomorrow and the next day. I don't plan on spending a ton of time writing the template out as I'm sure whatever I write is going to be garbage without any experience to go along with it.

The last part of the day will be spent starting to gather a list of businesses to cold call starting tomorrow. I also don't plan on spending a lot of time doing this, but I might need to in the future. I don't know how fast I'll burn through numbers yet.

Ideally, I want to spend most of my time on the phone calling people since that's the skill I'm trying to improve.

I haven't read any books or articles yet, but will plan doing it after the first week or so. I feel like anything I read in the books won't be of much use without a few hours of experience under my belt to apply it to. The only tip I know of off the top of my head is to call early before the gatekeepers (people who can't give me money) arrive.
 


What's your offer/hook/usp? Or at the end of the call what outcome are you hoping for...

Interesting thread, I'll follow along. This is the sort of stuff that gets me moistest.
 
Let me say one thing, you don't need a whole lot of experience to start generating business.

Have you ever heard of an irresistible offer?

It's when the offer is almost stupid to turn down...

For example...

I tell you I can help your business grow, make more money and for the first month you don't pay anything...You just sit back and watch your business grow...If you're the rare case where you aren't happy with the leads I generate, we walk away friends and you pay nothing... If you're happy after the first month ... Etc... Etc...

Just have them sign up for google adwords and buy vouchers off fiver for the first month ;)
 
Helpful Hints:

Get a script, make it your own, and lose it as fast as possible when you can adapt. People can tell when you're reading, even when you're skimming. Learn how to start, and just go along a guideline from there.

Organize a follow-up system. Cold calling can yield a one-day sale, but is likely a systematic series of follow-ups. You lose a few through the cracks and you're percentages tank fast.

Smile when you dial, bruh.
 
Every rejection is one step closer to the sale.
I used to cold call as a management trainee. It was fun. We also used to walk up unsuspecting prospects.. Those were the days. I really thought, It was my calling lol

And now I am so nasty to cold callers... and mainly because they do it so wrong.. lol
 
cool. It sounds like this isn't about call reluctance much at all. If so, congrats on that.

Sounds like you just want to grok the skill because having that skill would be bitchin. I dig the analytical approach.

Here's a couple infocruds I learned from a medium-length stint of 15 hrs a week of low-pressure cold calling. (Lead gen, not high-pressure close-or-no-commission.)

(Partially written for my own recall/reflection/gayness)

-- Don't have an overly chirpy greeting tone. a) Dead giveaway and b) no-one trustyworthy talks like that and c) it's just business and d) you demonstrated that you have integrity: You don't adopt personal mannerisms just to get money. Your service is good enough, you don't have to.

-- "Who's in charge of _______?" <-- that's what you say to the phone answerer . Let's say it's marketing.

-- "When do they usually set their marketing budget for the year?"

-- If it's a long time a way, ask for an asynchronous communication method (voice mail or email) and then ...

-- ... send them a "I'm going to contact you later." ping along with an extremely short (2-seconds spoken outloud or 7 word written) provable, believable reason the service/company is worth applying their brain attention for X minutes in the next step in the conversion process.


So... that's one of many approach-lets. Fill the funnel for later. Warm, moist leads for later.

The way you're doing it is tits, though. That hack-the-problem approach makes the dreaded cold-call enjoyable because of the multiple succesful outcomes at different levels. ... and you actually learn the right things about some important things.
 
Helpful Hints 2:

Know who you're calling for and assume the contact by first name basis when possible. "Hello?" "Hi, is Sam in today?" If this means a quick creep on the net, go for it. Otherwise the gatekeeper (if there is one) is likely going to give you the 'ole, "He's on a call right now, can I give you his voicemail?"

To build on Medway, they will reject you in two ways:

  1. A mild no but stay on the line
  2. A harsh no and hang up

You're actually looking for #1's. But as prescribed, have a fast answer. Common answer methods which help diffuse the no are:

  1. Agree with him in some way--everyone lightens up when they think they're on the same team.
  2. Ask a question back--"He's not in can I take a message?" "Sure, do you know when he'll be in?" **this is my favorite--works like 95% of the time.
  3. Use "I know you didn't" up front.--"I know you didn't expect my call," or "I know you didn't think you needed this," and then tell him a benefit!

Listen! Seriously, don't fucking ramble on and on. Give a small benefit of you what you do, and ask a question. If you get someone talking, you're doing the right thing. If the line goes silent, they either need another small snippet from you, or they're gone.

Write down all the super funny rejections. A.) because it'll fuel you, B.) because a forum like this will love to see them.

Smile when you dial, bruh.
 
10/8/2013

Todo:

- Call ten businesses, see who picks up the phone. Ask who I'm talking to, and if I can speak with the owner. Additionally, if the business doesn't have hours listed on their website, ask for that too. Also ask if they have guys on call.
- Add ten more businesses to directory
- Write out longer template based on how today's calls go

Notes:

Last night I took a melatonin supplement, couldn't post my update because I was falling asleep at the computer. Anyways, discovered that I shouldn't be calling before 8am and after 9pm. Was going to check the do not call registry, but the page looks like it got hacked by the Russians (https://www.donotcall.gov/). Tried to wake up before 8am, just missed it, will get my calls in before 9am though. I need another Excel work page for my call logs. Date, time of call, length, business called, and the number used. If the business doesn't have any hours, I'll ask about that when I call.

I don't have any real plans for today other than picking up the phone and calling the businesses. I don't call people on a regular basis, and honestly I don't know how my voice sounds or anything like that. Today is mostly about testing call quality and getting the bare basics covered. Also using a new text editor to type this (Haroopad).

The social column is what social media sites they're on. Some business have more than one phone number, so I'll have to call all of them. I foresee a fun date with regex in the future. I added more columns for more phone numbers and hours of operation in that screenshot.

Calls:

1 - Asked for the hours, hung up, female secretary picked up the phone, didn't get her name.

2 - Asked if they had an on-call person, also female secretary.

* Put on some pants and a polo, taking this next call standing up

3 - Asked for the hours, female secretary

* For some reason I felt like I had to justify why I asked what their hours were, don't know why. It seems kind of unnecessary. Also putting on socks for this next call.

4 - Asked for the hours, female secretary, said the owner would call me back

* So far I'm 4/4 on females picking up the phone. I read about female secretaries, but for some reason I didn't actually expect for a lady to be picking up the phone most of the time. Last company was the first one who picked up the phone on the first ring. The first three, were all three rings.

5 - Got one of those voice directories, didn't sit through it. Also a female voice

* Took a break, made some popcorn and got some tea. Voice hasn't cracked or anything.

6 - Another female. Asked if they could come by after five since I am working from 8-5, and they said they couldn't. Website said 24/7 emergencies.

7 - Female, got sent to voice mail, kind of odd.

8 - Female, don't service customers if you don't buy their products

9 - Female, hung up fast, very weird call. I was getting some weird reverb and would hear myself a quarter of a second after I talked and then would hear her.

Still need to add some more businesses for tomorrow. Ended up adding more columns than I realized I was missing to spreadsheets. Everything looks like it's working fine. Tomorrow the actual calling will begin. I get told I mumble a lot, but it seemed like everyone could understand me well. I am in one of 12 states that require 2-party consent to record phone calls, so I'll only be recording myself talking it seems like. Still need to add more businesses to the spreadsheet and will write out a simple template. I'll post the template I'm using tomorrow when I do the calls.

Forgot to add why I'm cold calling instead of e-mailing. I tried e-mailing already and it's mostly smaller local businesses and I wasn't getting very many responses.

Pictures:

ScZDcfx.png


fKIcUai.png


sE3Muh4.png
 
blank_czech said:
10/8/2013

Todo:

- Call ten businesses, see who picks up the phone. Ask who I'm talking to, and if I can speak with the owner. Additionally, if the business doesn't have hours listed on their website, ask for that too. Also ask if they have guys on call.
- Add ten more businesses to directory
- Write out longer template based on how today's calls go

Notes:

Last night I took a melatonin supplement, couldn't post my update because I was falling asleep at the computer. Anyways, discovered that I shouldn't be calling before 8am and after 9pm. Was going to check the do not call registry, but the page looks like it got hacked by the Russians (https://www.donotcall.gov/). Tried to wake up before 8am, just missed it, will get my calls in before 9am though. I need another Excel work page for my call logs. Date, time of call, length, business called, and the number used. If the business doesn't have any hours, I'll ask about that when I call.

I don't have any real plans for today other than picking up the phone and calling the businesses. I don't call people on a regular basis, and honestly I don't know how my voice sounds or anything like that. Today is mostly about testing call quality and getting the bare basics covered. Also using a new text editor to type this (Haroopad).

The social column is what social media sites they're on. Some business have more than one phone number, so I'll have to call all of them. I foresee a fun date with regex in the future. I added more columns for more phone numbers and hours of operation in that screenshot.

Calls:

1 - Asked for the hours, hung up, female secretary picked up the phone, didn't get her name.

2 - Asked if they had an on-call person, also female secretary.

* Put on some pants and a polo, taking this next call standing up

3 - Asked for the hours, female secretary

* For some reason I felt like I had to justify why I asked what their hours were, don't know why. It seems kind of unnecessary. Also putting on socks for this next call.

4 - Asked for the hours, female secretary, said the owner would call me back

* So far I'm 4/4 on females picking up the phone. I read about female secretaries, but for some reason I didn't actually expect for a lady to be picking up the phone most of the time. Last company was the first one who picked up the phone on the first ring. The first three, were all three rings.

5 - Got one of those voice directories, didn't sit through it. Also a female voice

* Took a break, made some popcorn and got some tea. Voice hasn't cracked or anything.

6 - Another female. Asked if they could come by after five since I am working from 8-5, and they said they couldn't. Website said 24/7 emergencies.

7 - Female, got sent to voice mail, kind of odd.

8 - Female, don't service customers if you don't buy their products

9 - Female, hung up fast, very weird call. I was getting some weird reverb and would hear myself a quarter of a second after I talked and then would hear her.

Still need to add some more businesses for tomorrow. Ended up adding more columns than I realized I was missing to spreadsheets. Everything looks like it's working fine. Tomorrow the actual calling will begin. I get told I mumble a lot, but it seemed like everyone could understand me well. I am in one of 12 states that require 2-party consent to record phone calls, so I'll only be recording myself talking it seems like. Still need to add more businesses to the spreadsheet and will write out a simple template. I'll post the template I'm using tomorrow when I do the calls.

Forgot to add why I'm cold calling instead of e-mailing. I tried e-mailing already and it's mostly smaller local businesses and I wasn't getting very many responses.

Pictures:

ScZDcfx.png


fKIcUai.png


sE3Muh4.png
Click to expand...

I did cold calling for sometime ago. I made some pretty go money at it while I was in college. Here somethings I've learned, you have to lie a bit to get your head in the door, and then you have to sound like you know what the fuck your doing. You can't be worried, and you have to flow with the different feelings your getting.

Even say, I'm calling x back to get passed the gate keeper.

Also, confidence confidence confidence confidence confidence confidence. People hear it in your voice when you don't have it.
 
1) Get refereed to the correct department by the CEO.

To do this - send him/her a package. In the package a hand written note with copywrite that grabs them by the balls.

Call them a couple of days after posting that shit out - your line "Can I speak to Mr X, it's in regards to the package I sent them"

I could make this into a long ass CCarter style post but to tell you the truth I'm just re-regurgitating what was on a recent Mixergy course by Sam Ovens - some Kiwi that loves google re-marketing.

I highly recommend Mixergy for learning this sales type shit, there are some awesome interviews, one that sticks in my head is a door to door sale man with some real nuggets. The other is cold email.
 
BOSS: You apparently have no call reluctance. Tits. That's a fat chunk of the battle.

REDIRECT: Where's your head at?

If it's "Get Good At Cold-Calling" Fuck that. Wrong mindset. Fail mode. (But it's success mode for outbound call centers funded by companies that have the margins and years/knowledge to churn phone sales.)

If it's "Use phone, email and voice-mail to start the long process of acquiring business relationships"... may fat, firm tits reward your value propositions.
 
After college I took a sales job as a headhunter at what I thought was a reputable company. Boy was I wrong. It was hard work and sleezy, but it was the best education I ever had. I ended up going out on my own for 5 years or so.

Here are a few things I remember about getting past the gatekeepers...

First, the phrase "smile and dial" is true. Just keep dialing the phone. I once called something like 260 different companies before lunch. It doesn't sound like you have a problem with cold calling, but it's a numbers game. Cold leads are indistinguishable from no leads and it can take lot of dialing to get the right person at the right time.

I think you need more columns... phone extensions, names, etc...

Call companies after hours and play with the phone systems. Gather names and extensions. It's rare that anyone will pick up so you can pretty much get the names and extensions of nearly anyone. I would just work my way up the extensions one after the other. Most executives have a number that rings on their desk, but often it's unpublished. If a company is less than 200 employees you can pretty much map out everyone in an evening. Keep track of all the extensions and names in your spreadsheet. Pay particular attention to when people say they are out of the office and to call so-and-so.

This next technique works unless you get caught... then just hang up, dial a different extension and try again: Call an extension and when they answer just say, "oh, sorry... this is Dan in accounting. I am working offsite on a project for Mr. Bigshot. I must have got his extension wrong - can you transfer me to him?

When someone is out of the office you can really take advantage of the situation. Many times people will change their voice mail and ask people to contact someone if they really need help. Once again pretend to be someone offsite and you were working with the person who is out. Your need to speak with Mr. Bigshot to give him/her an update. See if the contact has the phone number handy. Be casual... confident.

Your targets secretary will take days off so always be ready. Take advantage of the replacement. I worked with a guy that called the replacement secretary... he acted like he was in a real jam - he was in charge of the surprise party for Mr. Bigshot and he lost the company directory. This was back when people still faxed things. He got this girl to fax over the entire internal company directory plus the personal contact information of the Bigshot. It was a large Chicago financial institution with tons of employees. Nowadays, I would see if I could get the temp to email me something... everything.

I once purchased a company directory for $5,000. It paid for itself many times over. This still works.

Fish-bowling. You know those business card fish bowls in most lunch item restaurants? Pick restaurants that are close to your target company and simply walk up to the fish bowl and grab a fist full of business cards and walk out. I have done this dozens of times and I was never once questioned. Usually you can find the cards of the target company that include all the info you need to social engineer your way around.

Using the phone to get past the gatekeeper is often just social engineering. What makes people tick... Get them confused. Call early Monday morning and you will find many people will give you whatever you want just to get rid of you.
Most people, if they think you work for their company, will generally give you any phone number you ask for.. You just need to sound half-way believable.

Pretending to be a boss works very well in large companies where people know the name, but may not know the voice. Call any extension (it doesn't matter) and just start talking like you know the person. Then, it will get confusing and awkward for the person you're talking to... especially when you apologize and introduce yourself and ask if they just had their phone number changed... Then just tell the person to look up Mr. Bigshot's number so you can just pull over and call them directly.

The different plays on the phone are nearly endless.
 
10/9/2013

Todo:

- Call ten more businesses, ask to speak with the owner, pitch them some leads, if they have no website, ask them about a website first

- add ten more businesses to directory

- adjust template

- try on business relationship hat

Notes:

Yesterday was pretty good. I still have some call reluctance, but I don't think it's really worth talking about because eventually it'll go away with experience since I'm calling so often. I just take a few minutes (2-5) before jumping into the next call right away. I'm gathering the leads from Google mostly. Going county by county googling "incorporated town in county" + "type of business" and grabbing all the businesses that don't come up. A surprising amount aren't even websites. It's 70% G+ listings. Hence the website pitch as well/G+ management pitch as well.

I didn't get to call any businesses today because I was busy during the day and got back too late to legally call anyone. I spent the night adding more businesses to my list instead so I wouldn't have to worry about it more in the future.

Template:

Hello, this is [Name] I'm a freelance marketing consultant, may I speak with the owner of the business?

If no website, I noticed that your business is listed in Google, but it doesn't have a website or properly managed G+ page which could make it hard for your customers to find out information about your business. I could set that up for you if you like.

If website, I sell leads to various businesses and wanted to know if you would like to buy any.


10/10/2013 (day 3)

- Call ten more numbers
- Adjust template
- Add more numbers

First four calls went to voicemail or were dc'd numbers (they were from G+). Fifth number said they had so much business, they didn't need any more. The niche is a trade. Going to change my pitch to ask and see if they need any more business first instead of going straight into the pitch. Also I see a lot of the advice and have been compiling it to read through later once I get some more calls under my belt.

Template:

Hello, this is [Name], I'm a freelance marketing consultant, I was wondering if you guys were having any trouble finding customers
 
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