Cold Calling: Dealing with "You can email me and I'll make sure they get it"

[UKSBD]

When cold calling sometimes you will need to speak to the CEO of small organisations.

If the CEO has a gatekeeper to stop you being able to contact them, it probably means there is somebody else within the company who you are better speaking to.

Find out who that person is and contact them

 

[Newchodge]

I give every salesman the time of day, unless they start off with 'How are you today, I hope you had a fantastic weekend etc.,

The downside of Gatekeeping is the complete shut out of worthy offerings. Had a guy cold call in person just yesterday who was selling same name brand inks that we use, at 30% less than we are currently paying.

We don't use enough to make it worthwhile but if we did, he wouldn't have got past you and both parties suffer.

But how much of your time is wasted before the one interesting offer?

 

[Mark T Jones]

That just sounds rude,

TBH it sounds like someone has read the book but hasn't actually done it

90% 'pass rate'. Utter nonsense- starting with the fact that the decision maker will often not be there or will be genuinely tied up.

Any competent call-taker will handle that approach easily.

 

[fisicx]

90% 'pass rate'. Utter nonsense- starting with the fact that the decision maker will often not be there or will be genuinely tied up.

Consider also that @YuriyZaletskyy is a software reseller in the Ukraine. If his approach worked he wouldn’t need to be asking for help on UKBF with his website, he would already be getting loads of leads.

 

[NickZ]

On the basis that you waste my time I'll waste yours........

For unsolicited emails from UK based companies I reply with this..........see below...........and I think it's working? Particularly good to save every email received over several weeks and send the same reply at the most inconvenient of times, 4.58 pm, lunchtime, weekends, middle of the night etc.,?

People with Emails not connected to a phone won't really see that till they open their mail box.

Emails are a communication medium and there to communicate. Phone calls are a disturbance where you need to write up most points in a follow up. People forget and the mind changes stuff we say later on.

I have friend which never get any email due to their panic receiving an unsolicited mail. IMHO they lose.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

But how much of your time is wasted before the one interesting offer?

About as much time as I waste reading threads on here? or some folk waste at networking meetings.

I've learnt a lot from this forum, some of which has been of no use but has enabled me to guide others, look at things differently and make more valued judgements.
I work to the principle of 'Listen to everyone and work it out for yourself'...

The worst thing Gatekeepers do is prevent Reps from getting through the door. The very people who are visiting your competitors and as such have a finger on the pulse of the very business you are in. It was a sales Rep that spilt the beans about a competitor closing that enabled a former employer of mine to make an early move to buy the much bigger premises.

 

[WaveJumper]

A good friend doesn't ever accept calls, texts or emails from anyone external to his business. His staff deal with everything. If they need his input they will brief him and he will then make contact if needed.

Move on and try someone else or do as they suggest and send an email.

I’m late to this but that’s just why you have a good team and especially a PA around you I would never have got anything done otherwise. And to this day if your not in my contacts sorry your calls get ignored and your email goes in the bin and all get blocked

 

[Mark T Jones]

Let's accept that nobody spends their day hoping to be cold called.some will be more extreme in avoidance than others. Personally I tend to give them a chance but give them short thrift if they or their offering are rubbish.

Let's also accept that cold calling can be a very effective way of generating business. Some of my longest, most fruitful client relationships have resulted from cold calls.

In common with all marketing, its about targeting and giving them a reason to engage (plus a dignified exit)

 

[YuriyZaletskyy]

would already be getting loads of leads

cold calling is exhaustive, and website polishing seems to be much easier.

decision maker will often not be there or will be genuinely tied up

That is true. Decision makers of my ICP in 99.6% of situations are on the meeting, or not in the office. Out of 120 dials, I got 1 - 2 decisions makers. That ratio is quite small, as outcome I had to stop cold calling.

 

[fisicx]

That is true. Decision makers of my ICP in 99.6% of situations are on the meeting, or not in the office. Out of 120 dials, I got 1 - 2 decisions makers. That ratio is quite small, as outcome I had to stop cold calling.

You said you had a 99% success rate.

 

[YuriyZaletskyy]

You said you had a 99% success rate.

Check my message please one more time. Literally I've said ( copy/pasted for convenience ) :

That gives me around 90% of pass rate.

And when I say pass rate, I mean bypassing secretary.
Success rate or made deals means two ingredients: bypass secretary and convincing decision maker. Convincing a decision maker is another part, which wasn't part of initial request.

 

[japancool]

And when I say pass rate, I mean bypassing secretary.

So in 120 calls, you got a decision maker 1-2 times, someone useless 106-107 times, and didn't get past the secretary 12 times.

 

[YuriyZaletskyy]

So in 120 calls, you got a decision maker 1-2 times, someone useless 106-107 times, and didn't get past the secretary 12 times.

1-2 times reached to decision maker.
106-107 times decision maker wasn't in the office/was in the meeting. It's not useless, DM wasn't in the office.
Besides secretary, we have also auto responder, which influence statistics as well, but we didn't build any numbers

 

[japancool]

It's not useless, DM wasn't in the office.

So if the DM is out of the office 99.6% of the time, and you're counting times when the DM was out in your pass rate, your pass rate should be HIGHER than 99.6%.

 

[YuriyZaletskyy]

Take a look on the formula:

qty of times secretary attempts to connect
Pass rate = -------------------------------------------------------------- * 100%
qty of times secretary says send email/I will not/etc.

Pass rate doesn't take into account DM is out of the office. That is separate statistics

 

[japancool]

So, let me get this straight. 90% of the time, the secretary attempts to contact the DM for you. And 99.6% of the time, the DM is out of the office.

Has it ever occurred to you that the DM might actually be in the office and tells the secretary "I don't know a 'Yuriyy', I don't want to talk to him, get rid of him"?

 

[Newchodge]

106-107 times decision maker wasn't in the office/was in the meeting.

How do you know that? Are you aware that gatekeepers use that as an excuse?

 

[fisicx]

It's not useless, DM wasn't in the office.

No, The gatekeeper just told you the DM wasn't in the office. Standard response to a cold caller.

 

[YuriyZaletskyy]

How do you know that? Are you aware that gatekeepers use that as an excuse?

Valid point. I don't claim to be 100% correct, but conclusions are based on the following:

1. Judging by myself. My calendar is very much booked. So every time someone will try to rich me, their success rate will be the similar.
2. I'm aware, that my ICP decision makers are really busy.
3. I hear that secretary transfers my call, and quite often, after 30 seconds I hear either secretary, or something like: "you trying to rich so and so, he is not in the office"
4. Indeed, some percentage should be treated as an excuse, and not as points 1 - 3, but I can't draw a clear line on that.

 

[Newchodge]

Valid point. I don't claim to be 100% correct, but conclusions are based on the following:

1. Judging by myself. My calendar is very much booked. So every time someone will try to rich me, their success rate will be the similar.
2. I'm aware, that my ICP decision makers are really busy.
3. I hear that secretary transfers my call, and quite often, after 30 seconds I hear either secretary, or something like: "you trying to rich so and so, he is not in the office"
4. Indeed, some percentage should be treated as an excuse, and not as points 1 - 3, but I can't draw a clear line on that.

That is just a pile of BS.

 

[YuriyZaletskyy]

That is just a pile of BS.

Hm,
to believe in that or not, it's up to you.

 

[fisicx]

1. Judging by myself. My calendar is very much booked.

This is all very confusing. You claimed cold calling had a poor ROI so you wanted to focus on the website. But you now say your calendar is full which suggests you are getting lots of leads.

Unfortunately your credibility on UKBF is now in question. Not helped that your business isn’t what you initially suggested.

 

[YuriyZaletskyy]

cold calling had a poor ROI so you wanted to focus on the website

did I claim ever in any way, that we use only one sales channel? Did I say that only cold calling exclusively, and nothing more?

I just described that cold calling as a sales channel didn't perform well Also I shared numbers. But for other sales channels, which are productive and efficient, and which keep me busy I didn't say a word. And reason why I didn't say a word is topic. Topic is bypassing secretary.
We had hypothesis, that cold calling may be efficient. We hired some people and tested validity of that hypothesis, and when seen poor ROI, we stopped doing that.
But it doesn't mean, that we are completely on cold calling. We have other sales channels, which include:
1. Events and expos attending
2. Webinars
3. SMM
4. Cold calling
5. Website

So far, the most efficient is: events attending. That is the biggest source of income, which keeps my calendar busy. But I don't want to build a business solely on one sales channel, regardless of it's efficiency.

 

[cjd]

We had so many people complaining about sales calls that we made a free tool as a joke for our customer to use - it made the press at the time.

Voipfone 166 Anti Telesales Tool

Sick of Cold Callers? We have a cure. Next time you get a double glazing call and you need to find a way out of it, just say, "one moment sir, I have another...

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[Noke]

When cold calling sometimes you will need to speak to the CEO of small organisations.

However, you come across their gatekeeper who tells you that "whatever it is...you can email me and I'll make sure they get it".

Difficult one because if you say "I'd rather send it direct thank you very much" you've now fallen out with the gate keeper which is probably not a great idea.

My gut feeling is that this response must be handled with grace and charm.

How do you deal with gatekeepers like this?

Usually, I ask them "What information do you want us to send?", then I continue to ask to talk with the CEO, then I go on to say that there is only so much you can fit in an email. If they still insist on me sending it over email, I just do that, but I have barely had people answer those emails.

 

[Fagin2021]

Let's accept that nobody spends their day hoping to be cold called.some will be more extreme in avoidance than others. Personally I tend to give them a chance but give them short thrift if they or their offering are rubbish.

Let's also accept that cold calling can be a very effective way of generating business. Some of my longest, most fruitful client relationships have resulted from cold calls.

In common with all marketing, its about targeting and giving them a reason to engage (plus a dignified exit)

I must be a weirdo because I actually like getting cold calls providing they are done politely and professionally. This works on me (it mightn't work on anyone else) ...

Caller: "Good morning Mr Dawson. This is (their name) from (their company name). Do you have a few moments to talk about (whatever they're selling)?"

If I say "Yes, go-ahead" then Caller: "Thank you. May I ask how you handle (subject matter) at the moment ?"

The point is that they've asked permission to take up my time and they've asked permission to ask me questions.

Right at the bottom of the pile is the smarmy opening line "How are you today Sir?" to which the inevitable reply is "Very busy and in a bad mood".

 

[Newchodge]

Usually, I ask them "What information do you want us to send?", then I continue to ask to talk with the CEO, then I go on to say that there is only so much you can fit in an email. If they still insist on me sending it over email, I just do that, but I have barely had people answer those emails.

If you continued to talk to me like that I would hang up.

 

[Newchodge]

I think the issue that many of those advocating cold calling appear not to get is that, however vitally important that call may be to you, it is of zero interest to me. and I don't care about you.

 

[columbo]

Usually, I ask them "What information do you want us to send?", then I continue to ask to talk with the CEO, then I go on to say that there is only so much you can fit in an email. If they still insist on me sending it over email, I just do that, but I have barely had people answer those emails.

The response I usually get to "What information do you want us to send" is usually.

"Just send us what you have"

And, unfortunately, for some if you press them further about "what should I send"

They'll just say:

"Just forget about it"

And then hang-up. It's kind of understandable. Nobody wants a complete stranger ringing them up putting them on the spot. Sales can be brutal.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

I think the issue that many of those advocating cold calling appear not to get is that, however vitally important that call may be to you, it is of zero interest to me. and I don't care about you.

How do you know that if you don't give salespeople the time of day.

I wasn't in the market for covid masks but was offered the chance to buy 20,000 of them prior to them becoming compulsory. I could have put the phone down.

 

[Newchodge]

How do you know that if you don't give salespeople the time of day.

I wasn't in the market for covid masks but was offered the chance to buy 20,000 of them prior to them becoming compulsory. I could have put the phone down.

We are obviously in very different businesses.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

How do you know that if you don't give salespeople the time of day.

Would've thought a well planned business would have everything in place and wouldn't need distractions from that plan...

Failure to plan is to plan to fail and all that stuff...

 

[fisicx]

How do you know that if you don't give salespeople the time of day.

If I need something I’m perfectly capable of finding a supplier on my own.

 

[AlanJ1]

If I need something I’m perfectly capable of finding a supplier on my own.

And what if it's something you didn't know you needed?

Tonnes of case studies from just myself selling products that you wouldn't think would work with the industry they were in but did once you started selling.

 

[fisicx]

And what if it's something you didn't know you needed.

It depends on the business. I can understand how it could work for retail or manufacturing. But I get calls offering business rates on my mobile or a new laptop. Last week someone offered me a load of cement (because I’d asked a question on another forum). Or this morning, cheaper insurance. It’s these sort of cold calls nobody wants.

 

[Fagin2021]

And what if it's something you didn't know you needed?

Listen squire, what your business really needs is a 2000 Megawatt GE-Hitachi Mark 5 Graphite-Moderated, Gas Cooled Nuclear Reactor. Buy two and the third is free!

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

If I need something I’m perfectly capable of finding a supplier on my own.

You think you are. The reality is your not

Still as relevant today as it was when first published in the 1920's


A man wakes up after sleeping
under an advertised blanket,
on an advertised mattress,
pulls off advertised pyjamas,
bathes in an advertised shower,
shaves with an advertised razor,
brushes his teeth with advertised toothpaste,
washes with advertised soap,
puts on advertised clothes,
drinks a cup of advertised coffee,
drives to work in an advertised car,
and then, refuses to advertise,
believing it doesn’t pay.
Later when business is poor,
he advertises it for sale.
Why?

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

We are obviously in very different businesses.

I don't see that the difference matters?

You will be contacted by people who offer services and products relevant to your market (plus some random chancers). I the same.....

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Would've thought a well planned business would have everything in place and wouldn't need distractions from that plan...

Failure to plan is to plan to fail and all that stuff...

If every business was well planned there would be no need for consultants and specialist services. I bet there's a few Barristers cold calling the Post Office

 

[Newchodge]

I don't see that the difference matters?

You will be contacted by people who offer services and products relevant to your market (plus some random chancers). I the same.....

There are very few services and products relevant to my market. Broadband, mobile phone, software. I would not change from my current suppliers unless I were dissatisfied. The chance of a cold call coinciding with the gap between my dissatisfaction and finding an alternative is vanishingly small. The chance of my receiving a cold call or spam email from someone offering something that has no relevance is the opposite of vanishingly small. So they are a waste of my time.