I'm planning on making my first call tomorrow but for some reason I get scared shitless whenever I think of it. I know that once I seal the hundred dollar sale I'll gain confidence. Any tips for cold calling? I'm not going to be calling a business owner, just the average joe looking for property. Will update!

cold calling? are you serious? this is not 1930 anymore bro! there are much better ways to market your products. why don't you build a list of targeted leads first and then call all of them? it will definitely be much more effective

drink some coffee before you make your first calls, this will help you feel a little more confident.

Also make a random phone call and talk on the phone for a few minutes before making your first business call, this will get you adjusted and ready to talk on the phone with your prospective clients.

Watch Youtube Karate Kid Montage - You're the Best right before you make the call and you'll be fine.

OP,

What's the worst that they can do? Say no...not the end of the world, and it means you're that much closer to a yes. Cold calling is a numbers game...set a number of no's that you want to hear as opposed to a number of yes's. Then the no is an accomplishment instead of a failure...set the number of no's higher each day and you'll be drowning in yes's in no time.

Check this book - Go For No - out...little campy but it might help -

Code:

http://www.mediafire.com/?59n003rhc9th91c

Virus Check -

Code:

http://virusscan.jotti.org/en/scanresult/0fc1fc4e0b5328c9162bca9b9b1815756416e5b9

ND

Originally Posted by EmpireQuality

cold calling? are you serious? this is not 1930 anymore bro! there are much better ways to market your products. why don't you build a list of targeted leads first and then call all of them? it will definitely be much more effective

Ummm...if he's never made contact with them before, wouldn't that still be cold-calling? And since he mentioned that these are people looking for property, sounds like he's already got a targeted list that he wants to call...

And if cold-calling was so outdated and ineffectual - why would people still be doing it and making money?

ND

I find swearing helps. It gets their attention, and lets them know who's boss.

Nervous reactions are normal, don't sweat it.

Make prompts or a list of what you want to talk about and rehearse it thid will make sure you dont have any awkward moments where your struggling to speak. Preplanning is key to this being successful trust me i have done enough design pitches to know this. know what your talking about and be reasy to answer any questions

The more you think, the more you get confused. Its similar to giving a presentation in high school or college. You are nervous at first but after some time, it becomes a routine work. Good Luck.

First of all, stop calling yourself a nobody. I know it's just a saying, but it's not the right attitude. Especially if you're going for cold calls, you need some kind of self esteem.
If you're nervous, try to think about it like that: What the worst that could happen? They could decline your offer, but that's pretty much the worst that could happen. And although nobody likes to be declined, it's not the end of the world.
But if you don't give it a try at all, you will for sure never sell something. So trying is always the better option, right?

NeoPat is right.

Rehearse your pitch and stick to it. Know your pitch as your prayer.
Test variations of it. Keep what works and ditch what not.
Throw some jokes. Keep cool, relaxed attitude.

Great book, nesterdwarf, thank you!

Highly recommend to everyone to download and read it!

Originally Posted by EmpireQuality

cold calling? are you serious? this is not 1930 anymore bro! there are much better ways to market your products. why don't you build a list of targeted leads first and then call all of them? it will definitely be much more effective

That's still a cold call if you've never talked to them before.

As for selling? 100 bucks? That's ash tray money to the average business.

Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lofNPLZvTOs

Then this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqDtf1aw818
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTFU9c9MrkE

A lot sales is right there.

Make more of those calls! There is no other way I suppose

What's the worst that they can do? Say no...not the end of the world, and it means you're that much closer to a yes. Cold calling is a numbers game...set a number of no's that you want to hear as opposed to a number of yes's. Then the no is an accomplishment instead of a failure...set the number of no's higher each day and you'll be drowning in yes's in no time.

This is fantastic advice and I have used this technique for my sales teams to take the pressure off. In fact I go a bit further, I ask my team to try to get 3 no's from every customer before they are "allowed" to give up.

Upsells increased around 33% just by this alone.
A) you get use to no so it does not bother you
B) you begin to learn the 3 or 4 main reasons for no and begin building rebuttals
C) Sometimes the customer doesn't understand what you are selling and the value, so by framing the product differently (or offering a different product) you create a new need for the customer.

On the phone it is a little different because they can simply hang up but try to set a minimum # of no's for the day and set a minimum number of no's per customer.

So lets say you will fold after 2 no's per customer you can set your "no" count to 50 which would be a MINIMUM of 25 calls.

At the end of the day if your product really holds value then it is possible you will be closing some deals in a few days. The more no's you hear, the better you get at avoiding them.

Originally Posted by BENNY8877

I find swearing helps. It gets their attention, and lets them know who's boss.

LOL! XD Will begin on Monday!

Cold calling sucks... no doubt about it. But... I think its one of the most effective ways of marketing and getting results quickly.

My quick advice is to develop a VERY short script... you should be able to say why you're calling in a MAXIMUM of 15 seconds, preferably shorter, but that's max.

Try to be as conversational as possible, and try not to read your script (of course, that takes practice).

I think something called "The Great Telemarketing Report" was shared here in the download section and it was excellent. If you search you may still find it around.

Originally Posted by blackfairy

First of all, stop calling yourself a nobody. I know it's just a saying, but it's not the right attitude. Especially if you're going for cold calls, you need some kind of self esteem.
If you're nervous, try to think about it like that: What the worst that could happen? They could decline your offer, but that's pretty much the worst that could happen. And although nobody likes to be declined, it's not the end of the world.
But if you don't give it a try at all, you will for sure never sell something. So trying is always the better option, right?

You're right, thanks. :)

Edit: I tried replying to everyone using multiquote but was left with an error when I tried posting it. >.<

drinking a beer or 10 usually helps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2q_Z...eature=related

^ "I'M GUNNA CUM!" xD


Happy Holidays to all.

+1 on Boiler Room!!

Be completely up front with people on what you are trying to get them to do. People get upset when they feel they were manipulated at the beginning of a call. They will be more apt to listen and convert if you are transparent with them.

Originally Posted by PecosBill

Be completely up front with people on what you are trying to get them to do. People get upset when they feel they were manipulated at the beginning of a call. They will be more apt to listen and convert if you are transparent with them.

Boiler room gave me tons of tips haha.

How'd it go, cold calling becomes an addiction so be warned very fun!

I do everything the opposite of Boiler room. Good movie though. I guess it depends on what you selling but I try to help people make decisions and educate them and rarely get too salesmany... Then again, there are top performers that are leagues ahead of me.

I'm assuming you know the name of person you are calling and that they have expressed some interest in your product as opposed to picking random folks from the whitepages

I usually find that it helps no to sound to salesie, be informative, knowledgeable and talk they way you would to a friend or family member.

This is NAME calling from COMPANY NAME. I'm giving you a quick call because we are [Having a special/ inviting local customers to our event/contacting homeowners etc] and wanted to see if you had time to come in on Monday or Friday so we can meet you in person and discuss more details with you. Does the afternoon or morning work better for you?

Keep it vague on the phone, the point is not to sell them on the spot but to get them to come into your office or proceed with the next step in the sales process.

do some exercises, like calling 3-4 people to offer your service (for warming up), after you feel more confident then just call your main prospects

My advice is this... if you're not a salesman take on a persona of one. Whether or not you call as yourself is up to you, whether you call and pretend you're outsourced to do it... whatever.

Don't call up with no confidence, believe in yourself and your product... or at least pretend you do

Originally Posted by EmpireQuality

cold calling? are you serious? this is not 1930 anymore bro!

Had to laugh at this. This is proof, as if anyone needed it, that being a "Senior Member" and having a large post count stands for absolutely nothing.

I can guarantee you that cold calling is, and always will be, one of the most effective ways of getting new customers.

dropsy16..what kind of property are we talking about here?????? Real Estate? If it is i can help. Holla fo a dolla! Just playing. Get at me if this what you are talking about

Never think you are a nobody, this is the worst thing to do. Just chill and ride that deal like a boss.

keep calm. relax.

when you're talking to someone on the phone (or delivering a speech), visualize them as SHREK.

tell me how it went.

Understand that 90% of all of your sales will come from rebuttals. That means that the beginning of a sales cal starts with the first no! Until you hear that first no, you are not engaging your potential client. The thing I most hate to hear is a bunch of uhuhs when I cold call. I want to hear nos that I can pitch to and 14-16 digit numbers. Everything else is filler BS or lies...

good luck.

There is a fantastic book everyone in Offline Marketing or any type of sale should read; search for it on torrents, its not hard to find. Its called "Go For No" by Richard Fenton. Its a game-changer.

The point your missing isn't the salesmanship. It's the old dogs teaching the new dogs the business and being rewarded with accounts for their effort. This is a great sales floor model for our industry as it is easy to scale up.

Originally Posted by bookbuster

I do everything the opposite of Boiler room. Good movie though. I guess it depends on what you selling but I try to help people make decisions and educate them and rarely get too salesmany... Then again, there are top performers that are leagues ahead of me.

Originally Posted by theconspiracy

keep calm. relax.

when you're talking to someone on the phone (or delivering a speech), visualize them as SHREK.

tell me how it went.

Omg I actually visualized this and it helped loads! $600 made on leads. Thanks guys!