terrified to cold call

accept : failure is a must, if you want to succeed

realize: sometimes a NO is better than a YES - you want a good fit, right?

it's a numbers game: only 1 of 100 prospects maybe the one you need
you have to find the bad eggs in your basket

celebrate every call that you did and didn't work out
you don't call: nothing to celebrate
(s)he said no : celebrate - it's one less on your list and on your way to success

call to qualify your prospect: is it the right person to deal with?
lead by asking: NOT does he need what you offer
BUT what's his need and what is he willing to pay for this
once you know you decide, whether you give it to him

failure is the path to success
every evening count your failures and celebrate again:
nn steps up the ladder
nn learning experiences
nn less on your list

trust in your fate
- sometime later in your life you appreciate
what turned out as a nightmare in the first place

hope this helps

oh, by the way, I hate cold calling
it actually feels better when you call the second time
don't forget to ask at the end of the call whether it's
ok to call some time later, things might change...

all of these methods and no one mentioned the obvious? drugs

If your terrified dont do it.

Pay someone else to do it.

Give away basic FREE website.

Create a killa post card / flier mail it, drop it off personally and do it regularly and repeatedly.

Note what fliers / postcards are put in your mail box and see if you can JV with those people.

Get with computer techies that fix computers on site for businesses and offer them a generous commission for referring / recommending you.

This is my preferred method its easier to sell make money to someone that wants to make more money ( comp techies) than sell a website to a cold client.

Don't Cold call be clever and leverage you time and efforts.

Go find some computer techies.

There easy to find, they look pale, broke and quietly desperate..

You could also try the local internet cafe's, pizza delivery people.

Some great advice above - don't do it! i too hate cold calling and am simply not willing to do it.

Here's what I do instead:

Do a google search for a particular local biz type like
'accountant orlando'

Look at all the Adwords advertisers - they are ALREADY paying $$$$ to promote their website (!very important point!) - makes them much easier to close.

Send the following email with a screenshot of their ad circled in red (use SnagIt or somesuch) in the BODY of your email - gets their attention when they see their OWN ad.

Subject: About Your Listing on G00gle

Hi (first name),

I saw your listing and was struck by an idea
which could generate many more leads for you.

It could also totally eliminate the money you pay
to G00gle

If you'd like to know what it is, call me on
xxxxx xxx xxx or reply to this email.

Yours in business,

my name here

It's quite quick to send - just one screenshot does 10 businesses (just slide the red circle down and hit 'copy') with an 18% conversion rate and no printing/stamps/going to post office.

And no cold calling - you only speak to those who have 'raised their hand'

Try doing an automated voiceblast. Iv been told by some top salepeople, that i do great phone, but i still get the shakes when i think of cold calling. With this method you will get your message out to thousands, but only speak with those really interested in your service. Now the upperhand will be with you, which will also increase your close ratio, If you want more info, shoot me an IM.

I have been blown away by the responses from all of you. Thank you so much I could never express the true happiness you guys have given me. I hired my friend told him what to say and sold a seo job in 3 calls. signed my first contract yesterday. you guys are unbelievably awesome!

I think you really have to define what you mean by cold calling. You mean actually calling them on the phone or calling on them at their business. Each would require a different approach -- although the same mindset.

Usually being terrified about cold calling is based in the fact YOU don't fully believe in your ability to provide the service. There's something that is holding you back about it. Either you don't believe in SEO, you don't believe you really understand SEO, you don't believe you can produce the results that you're wanting to promise them, you don't believe you deserve the fee you want to charge, etc...

There's some area that is holding you back and you have to over come in yourself. Once you do this then you can go forward. Then it's a matter of doing this 10 times in a row (making phone calls or speaking to business owners) and then wondering what the heck were you afraid of to begin with?

The fact is that most people don't see themselves as sales people. This is what holds them back. They see a sales person as being some slimy person trying to con someone into buying something they don't need. This is incongruent with their own self image.

The consultants I train have the same problems. Instead of teaching them how to "sell" I teach them how to establish themselves as an authority. How to approach a client in such a way as the client will ask them if they can hire them.

I believe, "You never have to sell someone something they want."

I have a client who's a radio personality in AZ. She's been struggling to expand her show's market. Has a great show, huge listener base, but simply can't figure out how to syndicated to other markets. Her problem was similar to yours.

She had something she believed had value but she didn't know how to sell the show so she could syndicate it. This was her "baby" and she was afraid that other radio stations would think it was really ugly. She was terrified that no one else would think it was as good as she did. She was terrified of failing. She hired me to help her syndicate it.

In her case, I showed her that her show already had credibility with her market. All she had to do was identify other markets with the same parameters as her first one. If she appealed to her first market then she would appeal to the same markets in other cities. Basically all she had to do was duplicate what she was already doing.

In your case, you may be making this more complicated than it has to be. In your mind you're thinking, "What if they don't know what SEO is? How am I going to explain how this works if they don't even know what SEO is? How am I going to prove results? How am I going to justify my fees?"

Using the same concept as my client -- you would simply have to go after businesses who already know what SEO is or at least have a website. You have to have some common grounds. The market has already been established. Someone has already laid the groundwork for you. They sold these business owners a website. You can build on this by going in and selling these owners a system for building their business.

Then once you've sold a few then identify others who have websites and make them the same offer. The more you do this the easier it becomes.

But don't stop at just offering them SEO services. If all you have to offer your clients is SEO services then you're cheating both your clients and yourself of additional profits. Expand your services.

My firm offers our clients video banners, television and radio commercials, branding, creation of sales letters, network and cable media buying, press releases and a host of other services. Additional services that all small business clients use.

The point is, identify what your REAL fears are. Problem solve those fears. Go after a market that is already familiar with what you have to offer. Offer them what they want. Then let them bu it.

HINT: Quit trying to sell SEO. Despite what you hear from the gurus not one person out there wants SEO. Instead sell them what they want. They all want RESULTS.

Find out want they really want. Step into your customers shoes and ask:

1. What do I want?
2. What is my biggest worry?
3. Why would I want this?

Now you have answered these questions add them to your pitch and you are well on your way!

Pitch to lots and lots of people there are only three responses you will get:

1. Yes
2. Maybe
3. No

Forget the Maybe and No's and just move on to the next business. It sounds obvious but the more people you speak to the more you will sell. Don't get hung up or worried about those people that don't want your service and don't take it personally.

The more people you talk to the more your confidence will grow and you will be able to answer questions more easily. Believe me once you start you will soon get into the flow of it.

It is the worrying about starting that is stopping you and that is just silly!

Good luck.

The one thing you need to come to reality with is YOU WILL FAIL. They will say no, fuck off, get a real job, etc. Don't let this get to you and don't take it personally. They get calls all day, every day from people trying to sell them things. Just politely say, "have a nice day, sir/ma'am" and call up your next business.

Making a script is the probably worst thing you could do. It's just asking for you to trip over your words. They will ask a question in a different way than you wrote down and instinctively you will want to read it right off your paper and try to correct it on the fly only to stutter and lose their interest.

You should already know everything about what you're trying to sell, after all, it's your product you're selling. If you must, write down keywords to each question you expect to be asked and reply with what you want to tell them.

Always make sure to sound confident in your product and yourself. You need to make them think they can't be successful without you.

If they seem busy on the phone or not very responsive ask them if it would be easier to speak over email or if they would like to call back at a later time. Either way get their email address and send them over specifics, especially if they're going to call back. That way they know about what you're trying to sell them and can ask more in-depth questions to push them over the fence and buy.

Meeting up in person is also a huge plus in the buyer's eye, especially if it's lunch or dinner on you.

Lifted this from Jill Konrath's Selling To Big Companies:

"Dear Seller,

I only have a few minutes, but I understand you're interested in what you can do to capture my attention and entice me to want to set up a meeting with you.

Let me say this loud and clear right now - you have no idea what my day is like. You may think you do, but you're missing the boat. Until you understand this, my advice to you makes no sense.

I got into the office early this morning so I could have some uninterrupted time to work on a major project - something I can't seem to squeeze into the normal business day, which is filled with back-to-back meetings.

But, by 9 a.m. all my good intentions were dashed. My boss asked me to drop everything to get her some up-to-date information on a major reorganization initiative. Product development informed me that our new offering won't be available for the upcoming tradeshow. Sales is already in an uproar because they have customers waiting for it. Then HR tells me that one of my key employees has been accused of cyber-stalking.

Starting to get the picture? Welcome to my world of everyday chaos where, hard as I try to make progress, I keep slipping behind. Right now, I have at least 59 hours of work piled on my desk, needing my attention. I have no idea when I'll get it all done.

Did I mention my how many emails I get daily? Over 100. Everyone copies me in on everything. It drives me crazy. Then, add to that at least 30 phone calls - many from vendors who want to set up a meeting with me. And the pile of junk mail I get each day is ridiculous.

In short, I have way too much to do, ever-increasing expectations, impossible deadlines and constant interruptions from people wanting my time or attention.

Time is my most precious commodity and I protect it at all costs. I live with the status quo as long as I can - even if I'm not happy. Why? Because change creates more work and eats up my time.

Which gets us back to you. In your well-intentioned but misguided attempts turn me into a "prospect," you fail woefully to capture my attention. I'm going to be really blunt here: I could care less about your product, service, solution or your company.

I'm not one bit interested in your unique methodologies, extraordinary differentiators or one-stop shopping. Your self-serving pablum, while designed to lure me into your clutches, has the exact opposite impact.

It's trash talk! I quickly scan your emails or letters looking for those offensive words and phrases that glorify your offering or your firm.

The minute they jump out at me, you're gone. Zapped from my inbox or tossed into the trashcan. When you talk like that in your voicemails, I delete you immediately. Delete, delete, delete.

That's the most expeditious way to handle bothersome telemarketers. Use those same words on the phone with me and I'll quickly raise an objection you can't address.

I'm a master at sniffing out trash talk and deleting it. I have work to do and refuse to waste even one iota of my time on something that's irrelevant or self-promotional.

You need to know though that I'm not always like this. Occasionally a savvy marketer or seller captures my attention, gets me to raise my hand asking for more information and even entices me to request a meeting.

What are they doing? They're completely focused on my business and the impact they can have on it. That's what's relevant to me - not their offering.

I'm always interested in ways to shorten time to market, speed up our sales cycles and reduce our supply chain costs. Notice that this is business talk, not marketing speak!

When you get even more specific and tell me how much impact, now you're really talking my language. I guarantee that if you mention you've helped organizations similar to mine increase sales conversion rates by 39% in just 3 months, I'll be on the phone to you in no time flat.

Do you have any good information or fresh insights about the challenges my company is facing? How about how other companies are addressing these issues? If so, I'm interested in that too.

That's the good stuff. It stems from a focus on the difference you can make for my company, instead of how you're different from every one else. When you emphasize that, I'm interested.

But you can't rope me in with the good stuff, then slip back into that trash talk. If so, you're gonzo as fast as I can hit the delete button.

I pay attention in about 5 second increments, too. I don't have time for fluff. If it's relevant info, you've got me; start meandering and I hit delete.

Get the picture? I hope so, because I'm late for a meeting and while I've been writing this, the phone's been ringing off the hook.

Hope this helps!

Your Prospective Customer"



and when you are done reading and Understanding that head over here...

transam7410 said:

good day,

i am absolutely terrified to cold call business owners selling my seo service. how did you guys deal with the initial fear? thanks for your time.

Click to expand...

Lots of interesting advice coming from a simple question that obviously affects us all.

Tell me about your SEO service. If you are the real deal I may hire you to do a test on one of my sites and then we can go from there.

Here's a tip if you are really good at what you do.

There are business owners that are not going to sleep well tonight wishing someone like you would give them a call and tell them what they need to hear to so they can move forward with their business.

Are you going to let another night go by knowing you have what it takes to help them and just rob them of what they could be promoting to their clients only if you performed your SEO service for them?

That should motivate you to get over your fear and take action to contact the business owners who need help!

Why cold call? Are there still people that own a horse and carriage? [The Amish do, I know.] I can't help you without knowing more about your business, etc, but you need to build relationships with people in your target. Network and then let people know your offer, offer some free work for a few people with a lot of followers/customers/etc and ask for some referred work/whatever. Obviously I can't say more without knowing more, but don't stick to wasting people's [and your own] time.

I'm sure in some cases cold calling may be effective, but it's also effective to ride a horse and carriage versus a car. That sort of thing is usually for things that you would rarely do. Like get married in a carriage.

People seem to stick to old methods, because of tradition. Why not do what's effective? One instance of pro bono work is far better than calling people all day and getting potential customers pissed off. Do what works.

One thing you'll find helpful is to come up with a system, not a script that you read verbatim because that's tacky, but an outlined system you use for your calls. It keeps you focused and if it's good it will increase your closing ratio. A system can be distributed to phone salespeople you hire so you don't have to just hope and pray that they're good. The other advantage to newbies is that if they get a no it's easier knowing that the prospect said no to the system, not the salesperson.

One thing I've done with my salespeople before is to have a "no" contest. Simply put, the person who gets the most no's wins. They must do a full presentation, you can't count someone who won't take your call, and whoever gets the most in a week or a month gets some sort of prize. This way they win even if they don't get the business. Every single time I've done this I've had a spike in business. It motivates people to take action since the hardest part for most people is just picking up the phone. Of course they won't blow the call on purpose just for the sake of getting a no because the prize is nothing compared to their commission. It sounds simple and even a little childish, but it's worked like a charm every time. I usually reserve it for times when business is slow or moral is low for whatever reason so that it doesn't become old.

transam7410 said:

good day,

i am absolutely terrified to cold call business owners selling my seo service. how did you guys deal with the initial fear? thanks for your time.

Click to expand...

Why bother doing that? Do the work on their site, send an invoice through the post, if they dispute the charge take them to court. It's easy being a coward behind a computer.

"Why would anyone provide an seo service to a business, that the owner has not agreed to?" Judge rules in your favour. $$$$

This racket is bringing me in a sweet $4000-$5000 a week.

Or just imagine the business owner with their pants down when you go to see them, that will calm you down

At one time I was terrified to make cold calls.

It's basically sacking up and just doing it. Once you make a couple and realize it isn't that bad it's all downhill from there.

Bushwack said:

Why bother doing that? Do the work on their site, send an invoice through the post, if they dispute the charge take them to court. It's easy being a coward behind a computer.

"Why would anyone provide an seo service to a business, that the owner has not agreed to?" Judge rules in your favour. $$$$

This racket is bringing me in a sweet $4000-$5000 a week.

Or just imagine the business owner with their pants down when you go to see them, that will calm you down

Click to expand...

This has 0 relevance to the original post, and to be honest, what you're doing sounds like outright fraud.

In addition to that, you're not making $5k a week sending fraudulent invoices to random businesses. Who are you kidding?

Advice from someone who helps set up call centers:

1.) Script out your approach. Don't make it sound like you are reading it - but don't go "off the cuff" on every call either.

Make multiple physical or electronic copies of the script, 1 per call for the first few days.

2.) Take notes in the script when/where the person cut you off, asked questions, etc.

3.) At the end of every day note any commonalities from #2 above. Did everyone stop you at a certain point and hang up? Then adjust the script - keep tweaking and testing, just like online

4.) Anticipate common questions - and log ALL questions you are asked. Make a canned answer for each.

If you have a plan it is WAY easier - even if your plan sucks at first.

It is really this simple- at the end of the day, would you rather be comfortable and made nothing, or a little nervous and money in your pocket? Motivation enough?

There are several ways to over come the fear of cold calling. I have worked in telesales ever since I left uni ten years ago. I have worked in publishing sold an amazing amount of products over the telephone. I have worked with so called pros who were scared to pick up the phone for new business so dont worry its a common issue. The more new business you do the more your company will grow sounds like a simple enough statement but the amount of companies and individuals that dont is amazing thats why they hit the wall. Fear of phoning can only be over come in one simple way get on the phone every day. I do it every to promote what I do. There are some very simple methods have a script in mind either on a sheet of paper or in your mind. Have a list of objections to over come. Sales does not always come down to price so have a pitch about your company your credenials. Have a diary in front of you not on the computer but hard copy. The reason why I say this is my weak point is phoning people back. Take note of the number the phone call and the details. Discuss requirements complement their website try to find out personal information about the company. Also remember that you will not always get the sale in the first call so dont try to hassle them into a sale.
If you cant contact the decesion maker direct here is a trick. Sometimes the sec will ask you to post or email ask for contact name to address it to. Write the name in the diary call back in a week and ask for the contact name she will have forgotten who you are. Do not trash oposition only talk about your company and the benefits that you are able to offer. Hope that helps also use skype as in the uk its only four quid a month for unlimited calls. Also as I have been told many times its a numbers game make as many phone calls as you can. I have been in telesales 15 odd years, I have lasted on some very dodgy jobs and companies two week contracts etc I have seen better sales man come and go and the one simple reason I stayed hard work you only get what you put into it.