7 ms·

Cold calling is wildly effective. It just takes making more than 2 calls a week. I tell my team "get 100 on the phone without selling something and I'll give

Cold calling is wildly effective. It just takes making more than 2 calls a week. I tell my team "get 100 on the phone without selling something and I'll give you $100" been doing that for years and have never paid a rep the $100.

maxxxxx 9y ago
What's your experience with people actually enjoying it or at least not hating it and finding such people? I have done cold calling myself but found it very exhausting to the point that I just couldn't do it anymore.
- goatherders 9y ago
  Everyone hates cold calling. Everyone. Some people like the challenge and the reward of getting a total stranger to spend money. But no one actually like a cold calling. But there are a lot of things we do professionally that we don't enjoy. Expense reports are a huge time sink and I hate doing them. But I hate not getting reimbursed even more. If you are trying to hire salespeople who can cold call well then I suggest looking for people that are highly organized, process driven, friendly and good storytellers. During the interview try and pay attention to how many times they say "uh" "like" and "you know." Ask them their favorite experience from last summer and see if the way they tell the story is interesting. Try to get them to tell you if they have student loans, a mortgage, a family...anything that indicates a greater immediate financial need. Challenge something they said and see if they defend themselves (competitiveness). The best salesperson I know is crazy as a shithouse rat and rather unreliable...until I tell him I met a guy that's better at sales than he is. Then he gets to work and does things that will blow your mind (cold call to 5 figure deal in 2 weeks). The second best cold caller I know told me in the interview "I hate cold calls. But I love Chanel." It takes a personality type but it isn't difficult work at all. Most people are just scared and/or don't spend enough time on the work.
  - gradys 9y ago
    > Try to get them to tell you if they have student loans, a mortgage, a family...anything that indicates a greater immediate financial need. Uh... Might not want to do that actually.
    - goatherders 9y ago
      I didn't say to ask. I said to try and get them to tell you. Big difference.
      - overthemoon 9y ago
        And people say they hate cold callers! Why could this be??
        maxxxxx 9y ago
        A lot of people will be very happy to talk to you if you are not a complete a...h.... and offer something that interests them.
- oligopoly 9y ago
  State management and selling something you find to be beneficiary to client helps. I Haven't done it for ages but damn making a sale is a great feeling :) Kinda makes me want to google start ups looking for sales people based on commission. Would be fun to experiment stuff I've learned since those days.
  - goatherders 9y ago
    I have a few friends that do this - fully staffed businesses for outsourced sales for startups. I do it myself on the side. We work only on commission and make a killing. So many startups are founded by people that want nothing to do with selling. They gladly pay the fees.
    - maxxxxx 9y ago
      When I did my product I would have paid serious commission to someone who does the "dirty work" of selling and is actually good at it.
MatthewRJones 9y ago
Eh... I'm not sure about "wildly effective." A few years ago I started a business and cold called for several hours each day for the first four months. I didn't make a single sale, and I'm told I have an excellent phone presence. What succeeded for me was SEO, direct mail, and email campaigns. I still had to do sales pitches, but I was working off warm leads from people that actually wanted to hear from me. I'm not saying cold calling doesn't work. I'm saying it's an inefficient use of time. Yes, some people will buy, but there are far more efficient ways of reaching potential clients.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  It probably depends a lot on your type of product.
- oligopoly 9y ago
  It sounds you tried different scripts, tones, outcome frames, pacing/leading, pausing, emphasising key words, right people on the phone etc..? Somebody liked the sound of your voice, however the sales numbers suggest something isn't lining up. Read your script out loud and record it with iPhone. You can pretty much sell anything cold calling enough people. Could be the product you are selling, but sounds like there could more efficient ways to proceed if you ever start cold calling again.
- goatherders 9y ago
  It wasn't wildly effective for you, over four months, for your product/service to the specific people you called at the price you offered. A valid data point for sure, but far from empirical.
  - ecdavis 9y ago
    No true cold caller.
j-c-hewitt 9y ago
Really depends on what your offering is. If everyone else is also cold calling for your service, it's probably not going to work. If very few people are cold calling / cold e-mailing with your very valuable service that solves an urgent need, then it will be highly effective. Cold outreach with a lot of effort/expense put into it is also a different beast from the typical cold call.

maxxxxx 9y ago

What's your experience with people actually enjoying it or at least not hating it and finding such people? I have done cold calling myself but found it very exhausting to the point that I just couldn't do it anymore.

goatherders 9y ago
Everyone hates cold calling. Everyone. Some people like the challenge and the reward of getting a total stranger to spend money. But no one actually like a cold calling. But there are a lot of things we do professionally that we don't enjoy. Expense reports are a huge time sink and I hate doing them. But I hate not getting reimbursed even more. If you are trying to hire salespeople who can cold call well then I suggest looking for people that are highly organized, process driven, friendly and good storytellers. During the interview try and pay attention to how many times they say "uh" "like" and "you know." Ask them their favorite experience from last summer and see if the way they tell the story is interesting. Try to get them to tell you if they have student loans, a mortgage, a family...anything that indicates a greater immediate financial need. Challenge something they said and see if they defend themselves (competitiveness). The best salesperson I know is crazy as a shithouse rat and rather unreliable...until I tell him I met a guy that's better at sales than he is. Then he gets to work and does things that will blow your mind (cold call to 5 figure deal in 2 weeks). The second best cold caller I know told me in the interview "I hate cold calls. But I love Chanel." It takes a personality type but it isn't difficult work at all. Most people are just scared and/or don't spend enough time on the work.
- gradys 9y ago
  > Try to get them to tell you if they have student loans, a mortgage, a family...anything that indicates a greater immediate financial need. Uh... Might not want to do that actually.
  - goatherders 9y ago
    I didn't say to ask. I said to try and get them to tell you. Big difference.
    - overthemoon 9y ago
      And people say they hate cold callers! Why could this be??
      - maxxxxx 9y ago
        A lot of people will be very happy to talk to you if you are not a complete a...h.... and offer something that interests them.
oligopoly 9y ago
State management and selling something you find to be beneficiary to client helps. I Haven't done it for ages but damn making a sale is a great feeling :) Kinda makes me want to google start ups looking for sales people based on commission. Would be fun to experiment stuff I've learned since those days.
- goatherders 9y ago
  I have a few friends that do this - fully staffed businesses for outsourced sales for startups. I do it myself on the side. We work only on commission and make a killing. So many startups are founded by people that want nothing to do with selling. They gladly pay the fees.
  - maxxxxx 9y ago
    When I did my product I would have paid serious commission to someone who does the "dirty work" of selling and is actually good at it.

MatthewRJones 9y ago

Eh... I'm not sure about "wildly effective." A few years ago I started a business and cold called for several hours each day for the first four months. I didn't make a single sale, and I'm told I have an excellent phone presence. What succeeded for me was SEO, direct mail, and email campaigns. I still had to do sales pitches, but I was working off warm leads from people that actually wanted to hear from me. I'm not saying cold calling doesn't work. I'm saying it's an inefficient use of time. Yes, some people will buy, but there are far more efficient ways of reaching potential clients.

maxxxxx 9y ago
It probably depends a lot on your type of product.
oligopoly 9y ago
It sounds you tried different scripts, tones, outcome frames, pacing/leading, pausing, emphasising key words, right people on the phone etc..? Somebody liked the sound of your voice, however the sales numbers suggest something isn't lining up. Read your script out loud and record it with iPhone. You can pretty much sell anything cold calling enough people. Could be the product you are selling, but sounds like there could more efficient ways to proceed if you ever start cold calling again.
goatherders 9y ago
It wasn't wildly effective for you, over four months, for your product/service to the specific people you called at the price you offered. A valid data point for sure, but far from empirical.
- ecdavis 9y ago
  No true cold caller.

j-c-hewitt 9y ago

Really depends on what your offering is. If everyone else is also cold calling for your service, it's probably not going to work. If very few people are cold calling / cold e-mailing with your very valuable service that solves an urgent need, then it will be highly effective. Cold outreach with a lot of effort/expense put into it is also a different beast from the typical cold call.