Stay up-to-date via RSS!

For most people, cold calling ranks right up there with root canals on the pleasure scale. That is, down the stairs, past the sub-basement, and so far down that you can actually hear the screams of former evil do-ers. Interestingly enough, right next to that is digging post holes in the sun-baked hard clay earth with a post hole digger because you are too cheap to rent the big power corkscrew thing that professionals use to dig holes because, well…it’s only three holes and how hard can it be? After a day of digging, compare notes with the root canal guy and you’ll both be barely moving testaments to pain and death wishes.

Show up the next day to dig holes and it will only get worse. Your hands, already raw from yesterday’s abuse, will tighten in agony. However, if you keep showing up something happens. Your hands develop calluses to protect themselves. The point here is not for me to have a chance to complain again about the whole post hole thing, but that in some cases (not the root canal, though) doing something painful and unpleasant enough times can actually lead to it becoming less unpleasant. Don’t get me wrong, slamming two poles with metal chunks on the ends into the ground over and over again will never be fun, but it will get better. Which brings us back to cold calling.

I Suck

One of the main issues people have with cold calling is that somewhere inside they know that they HATE to be the person on the other end of that call. The truth is, it wasn’t always that way. Once upon a time the supply manager of a company could expect an occasional call from a competitor of the company he bought office supplies from. This call was generally pleasant and often helpful. Then, things changed.

There is a great Saturday Night Live sketch about a talk show. The topic is: “People Who Ruined It for Everybody.” On the show is the guy who started killing hitchhikers, the woman who started tampering with Halloween candy, and I don’t remember who the third guy was. For our purposes, the third guy is the guy who started calling everybody whether they needed his product or not and then wouldn’t listen to them when they said no.

Take our supply manager, for example. Back in the day he got calls from the other office supply companies in the area, probably two or three of them. Those supply companies only called the supply manager and they only called every quarter or so. No big deal. Then Mr. Jerkin became an office supply salesman. Mr. Jerkin decided that he wouldn’t just call the supply manager, but he would also call his boss, and his boss, and his boss. Not only that, he figured the accounting manager needed office supplies and who cares if the company has a policy that only the supply manager can buy office supplies. And, you know, just because that flower shop doesn’t have a desk or copier in the whole building doesn’t mean they shouldn’t hear about great office supply deals too!

Cold calling is the father of Spam (the assistant is the original spam filter). Instead of doing research and making sure his calls actually had the potential to be helpful to the people he called, Mr. Jerkin ran down Selfish Boulevard without any thought for the people he was calling. Just like a helpful unsolicited email is welcome, a helpful unsolicited call can be welcome too.

Unfortunately Mr. Jerkin made some sales. Some of the sales were because if you throw a hundred darts chances are one of them will hit, and other sales were from people who just bought something so he would go away (which is like feeding a stray dog.) Some people took notice and asked Mr. Jerkin for his secrets. As guys like Mr. Jerkin got promoted these tactics became standard policy.

I Don’t Suck

Ok, here is the deal. Just like in college, the things you learned in undergraduate school are not the things you should be using now that you are a professional. In Physics 101 you learned that F = ma (force = mass X acceleration). That is true, but if you try and launch rockets with that, please launch them over unpopulated areas, because out in the real world there are things like friction, and wind, and air resistance, and heat expansion, and…

Back in Cold Calling 101 you learned: everyone is a prospect, never hang up until the person has said no at least three times (or God, forbid, more), use a script so you know exactly what to say, and make 300 dials per day. These techniques might get you some sales, but they won’t get you great clients. They teach this junk because it is easier than teaching someone how to actually make an intelligent call. If you are cold calling according to the above plan, you are cannon fodder, my friend. Start looking for better opportunities.

Professional Calling

Here in graduate school it’s time to learn the professional techniques:
1) No means No (you’ve heard this somewhere else, and it’s true in calling too.)
2) Only call people who you want as clients AND who might want to be your clients if they knew about you.
3) Do not use a script! Have a CONVERSATION with the people you call. Hear what they are saying so you know what they need.
4) Don’t try and get around the assistant. Ask for voicemail. If he won’t even do that, call after hours and leave voicemail. If someone is determined not to talk to you then calling isn’t the way to reach them.

Cold Calling Plan

Ok, here is the cold calling plan for business majors.

Cliff Notes Version:
1) Build your list.
2) Make 10 to 20 calls per day
3) Call One – Introduce self; ask for chance to do business
4) Call Two – Ask if there is formal process for reviewing new business partners
5) Call Three – Self Invite
6) Call Four – Extend Invite
7) Call Five – “Five is Right Out!”

First, build your list. Your list comes from your own research. Buying lead lists is dumb. If you have extra money that you would like to get rid without getting any value in return, email me and I’ll send you whatever size box you need to mail it to me. Start with your business journal web site. Here in Denver it’s the Denver Business Journal. There is something like that in every major city. They all have a “book of lists” that usually you can get parts of online. If you need more, buy it, or head to the library and photocopy the pages you need. Look for companies that might need what you offer. Call the main number and ask for “the person who handles your widgets.” When they tell you who it is get a direct number. If they won’t give you one, call after hours and see if the voicemail system offers you a chance to look them up by name. It will probably tell you their extension.

A quick word about messages: Always leave a message. It is one of the differences between a professional contacting another professional, and a dial monkey calling number 213. People always worry about what to say in their message. Got an elevator pitch? The length of a voicemail message is about the same as an elevator ride.

Don’t try and call 300 people a day. Unless you are brand new to the business and you must get tons of new clients right away, limit your cold calling to just 10 or 20 a day. After all, if you are calling only the people you can provide value to, your list won’t be that long anyway. Part of the big numbers of cold calling is that dozens or even hundreds of your calls are throw aways because there is no chance those people will become clients. If you are new, then feel free to go with a bigger number. Since you don’t have clients, you will have more time to research new prospects and therefore should be able to generate a bigger list. Once you start getting clients you will be taking care of them and won’t have so much time for calling.

Fewer calls reduces the pain of cold calling and ensures that you won’t sound like a robot when making your 382nd call. Sitting down and looking at tic sheet with 300 marks on it makes you want to see if the highest windows open…just out of curiosity. Sitting down with 15 numbers shouldn’t be tough.

The Calls

Some people are tone deaf. They just can’t hear certain sounds. Cold Callers are no deaf. They can’t hear the word no. I don’t know what it is like in the mass marketing call centers where they sell Time Magazine subscriptions, but I know that if you call another professional and ignore him when he says no, you can kiss your sale good-bye, along with his respect. You aren’t calling little old ladies about T.V. Guide. Act like it.

So, what should a cold call be like?

• 1st Call — When you call be polite, friendly, and tell them what you do. Then ask if they could use that service. Most likely they will say no. Ask them (without sounding like you didn’t hear them say no) if it is something the never need or if they just don’t need it now. If they just don’t need it now ask,

“Would you mind if I sent you my business card and a one-pager? Do me a favor and throw my card in your Rolodex or whatever you use and that way you have it if you need widgets.”

Don’t bother asking if you can follow up. Time your follow ups to your product’s sales cycle. If they aren’t buying now but might be next month, call next month. If you sell full-sized nuclear reactors a call once a year is probably sufficient. (Oh, and the Justice Department is on line 2.)

• 2nd Call – If you got a favorable reaction to your first call then just call back and talk to them. Remind them you called before and see where it leads. If you did not get a favorable reaction to your first call then it’s time for a new track. This time, ask if their company has a formal process for reviewing new vendors. If they say yes, then get the details and apply. Chances are they will say no. Then ask how do they review vendors. Chances are they will say something like, “Well, I handle that but…” In which case you say, “Ok, is there a way I can setup a time to meet with you so you can review our company…” They may also say, “Oh, actually Bob does that.” If so get Bob’s number. See, using the undergraduate method would have you getting hung up on every week and never even knowing you are calling the wrong guy.

• 3rd Call – If you got nowhere with the first two calls it is time for a self-invite. In your personal life inviting yourself is bad manners. Is business, not so much. During this call, don’t ask for business, and don’t talk product. Say something like,

“Hi, my name is Bob, I’m with Bob’s Awesome Widgets, and I was wondering if I could get on your calendar in the next week or two for fifteen minutes just to see if what you guys do there is a good fit for our product. I’ll even bring coffee.”

The goal here is to turn from a cold call, “Hi, buy something” to a meeting request, “Hi, can I meet with you next Thursday.” Frankly, you haven’t been a pushy telemarketer since call one, but he may not see that, so this is your next move. If they have an assistant, don’t even ask for the prospect. Try, “Hi, this is Bob with Bob’s Awesome Widgets. I wanted to see if I can get on Dave’s calendar next week, how does he look?” If the assistant gets you on the schedule, you don’t have to worry about Dave saying no.

• 4th Call – If any of your previous three calls have met with success or even a friendly tone, try and pick that back up when you call. Remind them about your previous conversations (only the good ones) and see where it goes. If not, then its time for making an invitation. Acknowledge that the person hasn’t been interested in speaking with you before, and that is fine, but you have an event/seminar/whatever that you think they might be interested in. Something like,

“Hi, Dave, it’s Bob. I know we haven’t really been able to talk about Bob’s Awesome Widgets and I understand you are very busy. But, there is a small business seminar from the guys at Impressive Speakers next Thursday and I’ve got an extra ticket, but my partner can’t make it. I thought it might be a good way for you and me to meet face to face, while still making sure you are getting good use out of your time. No big thing, I can meet you there and I’ll bring Starbucks (or local brand coffee). What do you think?”

The hope here is that Dave thinks that it would be worth his time to attend the event. The fact that you will be there is just secondary. This way, Dave isn’t saying yes to you, he’s saying yes to a valuable training opportunity. Obviously, the only chance for success here is to pick an event that presents value to Dave. Also, since there may be some expense involved, make sure Dave is a high priority prospect. Otherwise, it’s time for “so long.”

If Dave shows no interest at this point it is time to end it. You aren’t asking the prom queen out, you are a professional and your time is valuable. Make sure Dave knows you are ending it,

“Ok, well, thanks for your time Dave. It seems like there just isn’t anything we can do for you right now. I don’t want to be a pest or anything, so if you do ever need anything, give me a call; otherwise maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”

It probably won’t matter, but it might prompt him to either suggest a future contact, “You know if you want to give me a call next November, that’s when we set the budget…” or he might ask for your contact info so he can keep it on file. If so, great, but either way do not move him back onto your calling list. A kiss on the cheek after getting dumped doesn’t mean you are getting back together.

• 5th Call – “The number of the calling shall be four. Thou shalt not count three, excepting that you then proceed to four. Five is Right Out!” — There is no fifth call. Bluer waters demand your attention. Get over there and fish.

You’ll find that if you shift your cold calling efforts to a method like this one you will actually get similar results to your multimillion dials technique. The reason is simple. With the standard Smile and Dial system you are inadvertently building up a list with hundreds or thousands of calls that are doomed to failure. Calling people who will never use your service wastes hundreds of dials. Continuing to call people who had no interest wastes even more dials. Honestly, have you ever said yes to anything after turning it down four times? Even worse, since traditional cold calling means never taking anyone off your list, every day you are building up more wasted dials. Your list could contain fifty people getting their fifteenth call in just weeks. Imagine how many of those will be on there after a few months.

Do It. Do it.

Now, get back to work. Today, build a list, no calls. Tomorrow call the 10 best prospects on that list and work your way up to 20 dials a day. In a month you’ll have a new client. If not, re-evaluate your lists and your calling technique. Remember, friendly and helpful, not scripted. If after two months you still don’t have any sales it is time to honestly evaluate whether calling is a viable strategy for your product. It isn’t the right strategy for all products. Can you imagine getting a cold call to buy a refrigerator? If cold calling isn’t right for your product, move on to the next strategies. After all, if your service and product are great, people will want them.

Good Luck.