COLD CALLING -Your best method to get past the receptionist ???

[Mattonella Tile Studio]

Can you imagine if you were the director of a company and you took every call that asked for you either by asking for "The company director, the key decision maker or by your first name?
The phone would have to be surgically removed from your ear, and you'd never get anything done.

That was the main reason we went TPS. I didn't have time to concentrate on forums

 

[Roundbuildersuk]

Our business cold calls for a living. We have a team of telephone canvassers who successfully book appointments for our customers. Telephone canvassing can be daunting for those who do not have experience in this area. I can also be difficult for those who do know the best ways to get to speak to the decision makers of a business. Be aware of TPS fines though - if you ring a company who has opted out of sales & marketing calls!

 

[Tim R-T-C]

I worked in cold calling for a while and half of the leads just seemed to have a company director as the contact name (who in most companies was absolutely the last person to speak to about insurance issues). Most amusing though were charities where the directors were often just board members and probably in the office about once a year for the AGM, so asking for them would get us nowhere!

 

[noidea]

I worked in cold calling for a while and half of the leads just seemed to have a company director as the contact name (who in most companies was absolutely the last person to speak to about insurance issues). Most amusing though were charities where the directors were often just board members and probably in the office about once a year for the AGM, so asking for them would get us nowhere!

I think people need to try harder to get contacts in a company other then the company register! (obviously the directors can be useful sometimes but depends on the query)

 

[Tim R-T-C]

I think people need to try harder to get contacts in a company other then the company register! (obviously the directors can be useful sometimes but depends on the query)

I think we brought cheap data!

 

[davidakerr]

Not all people who "cold call" are sales people. I think these people who say "no" to a cold call before they know what the call is about could be disrespecting their company and could in fact perhaps cost their company hundreds, maybe thousands of pounds per year. OK I know a lot of these calls are a waste of time but I would like to think I have the courtesy to at least listen to what is being said before deciding what course of action to take. People have to make a living as well, and if someone calls me I will at least listen, after all I may have to call someone I have never met to discuss a business solution, a problem or whatever and if they are "at a meeting" I may very well move on to a competitor in their field and offer them the chance to "do business" with me.

To the OP - dont panic if they wont take your call, it could be their loss if you have something useful to offer but that's the point you must get over to the people you are calling.

 

[Thirty Three]

A big thanks to everyone who has contributed to date

;O)

 

[noidea]

A big thanks to everyone who has contributed to date

;O)

You are welcome!

 

[office man]

I do ALOT of this, my job involves taking a catalogue into a reception and then following up with a phone call, some tactics that work for me include the following;

ALWAYS be polite, when i say polite i mean nice friendly, smile and be courteous - what i don't mean i 'trying to be their best friend' - like the over friendly sales videos you used to see straight from the 80's. I think this sales persona is one of the easiest mistakes to make when trying to sell to people - be yourself NOT someone else, it stands out a mile when you try to be all 'I'm nice, buy from me!!!!!'

When i take a catalogue in i always ask for a comp slip so that i can follow my visit up, i then ask for the correct persons name so that the catalogue (and my call) are directed to the correct person - this also gets you around the TPS issue - if you have been given the information about who to speak with BY the company then you have been given instruction to call.

Try to make every call different and personal, by this i mean some thing simple like; 'deal with ***** next door to you and i was wondering if i could pass our prices on to any neighbouring offices whilst we are coming your way' or 'i spoke with Mary on reception last week and she seemed to think our services might be of use to you' or even something you know about that company from a press release, new article etc - anything that makes you say something bespoke to each call.
This is also a great way to keep YOU on your toes and helps to break the monotony of 20 sales calls at a time.

Actually tell them that you don't want to do the 'hard sell' - tell them your couldn't do it if you tried - this often lets their guard down. Tell them all you wish to do is ask **** if you can send some prices, offer a catalogue, ask who they deal with, see if they are in the market or the holy grail MAKE AN APPOINTMENT!

Ask for a NO - this one always gets objections from sales people but i find it works, tell then that you don't want to waste their time and yours if they are not interested, ask them if what you are offering is something they buy or use and ask if they are interested in simply comparing your offer - almost ALL say that they would compare or at least look at what you are offering (providing it's of some use) if its not of some use then you shouldn't be calling them anyway.

Hope these tips help someone

 

[Rhyl Lightworks]

I would like to rephrase the original question - how to you train a receptionist to filter out all cold calls?

Barrie

 

[office man]

I would like to rephrase the original question - how to you train a receptionist to filter out all cold calls?

Barrie

tell the recpetionist to make a decision on the phone there and then, reward her if she makes a decision that adds value to the company from the call or saves the company money.

 

[cjd]

I would like to rephrase the original question - how to you train a receptionist to filter out all cold calls?

Barrie

I tell mine that anybody that really knows me - or I that I wouldn't mind calling me - has my direct number. (Which they are forbidden to give out).

Anybody else is probably selling something and they tell them to email to a junk address which gets scanned every so often.

Very occasionally they'll be genuine (which is usually obvious) - even then they check with me to see if it's ok to put them through.

 

[BusinessIdeas]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested to know what is your best method, technique or line you use when cold calling a company and you come across the tough receptionist who is very resillient about putting you through or providing details of who the decision makers are???

The very best way is to make the receptionist feel important. Tell them the truth and be natural. " I'm trying to promote/sell my product and I dont know who to contact within your organisation, could you help me with this please?"
Often they will love this approach and try to help all they can

 

[davidakerr]

cjd........................I presume you sell Voip and other telecommunication products. How do you do this to a company that won't speak to you on the 'phone if you cold call them or don't you cold call at all?

 

[cjd]

cjd........................I presume you sell Voip and other telecommunication products. How do you do this to a company that won't speak to you on the 'phone if you cold call them or don't you cold call at all?

We currently don't use telesales. This is not a theistic thing - if I was in a business were telesales worked and was a cost effective form of marketing, I would use it even though I don't like it personally.

On the other side of the question, why do you think a telesales guy should be able to talk to a CEO just by calling the company's general number and saying he wants to?

 

[Ashley_Price]

if I was in a business were telesales worked and was a cost effective form of marketing, I would use it even though I don't like it personally.

Why not do letter campaign followed up with a phone call?

We did this back in June and got... nothing! Then three weeks ago one of the people we had followed up phoned us as they "remembered [us] from somewhere" and since then we've had over £300 of business (paid for the letter campaign and follow up calls twice over) with the potential for an ongoing contract!

Now, the only way I think this person remembered us was because of the letter and follow up, as we don't advertise in any local papers or in the Yellow or Thompsons.

 

[blackandwhite1986]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested to know what is your best method, technique or line you use when cold calling a company and you come across the tough receptionist who is very resillient about putting you through or providing details of who the decision makers are???

Make sure you do your research. The web, trade magazines etc are all there to be utilsed and to make sure you are targeting the right potential customers. In doing so you are not wasting your time or the person on the other end of the phone.

Be honest and polite and make sure you know your product/service inside out so you can answer on the spot. Explain what you are trying to achieve in calling and if he/she could put you through. If they say no ask if you could have the relevant persons name and when would be more convenient to make contact again. The key is to not be overly pushy and know when to back off. Remember you are incuring on their time.

You will come across receptionists that are rude. Never ever get in an arguement as even though you have done nothing wrong your companies name will be mud and you will have blown an opportunity. A sense of humour is a must in cold calling.

I am talking with regards to B2B calling. Whoever said earlier that it is unprofessional in my opinion is wrong. I am a firm believer that "people buy from people". E-mail or fax, for example, offers another option in opening lines of communication but can sometimes lack the immeadiacy of the spoken word. Furthermore, training in terms of product knowledge and conduct is paramount.

And most important of all....Do not try flirting as it is just tacky and you come over like finchy out of The Office.

 

[ttyrant]

I get young 20-something blokes being flirty on a regular basis in advertising. They must think that women are so naiive and gullible that just being flirty (sometimes bordering on down right pervy) will get them a sale.

They want to know how old I am, what I do on a weekend, what I look like etc etc. Sometimes I think they have dialled the wrong number and was in fact after an adult chat line!- no joke. It never ceases to amaze me the lengths people will go to.
Even some sales women go overboard, trying to push the "empowered woman in business" angle, tarring me with their feministic brush. To be honest, all I want is someone who doesn't beat around the bush, gives you the facts and the price and who doesn't skirt around questions they just don't want to answer.

 

[telemax]

We currently don't use telesales. This is not a theistic thing - if I was in a business were telesales worked and was a cost effective form of marketing, I would use it even though I don't like it personally.

On the other side of the question, why do you think a telesales guy should be able to talk to a CEO just by calling the company's general number and saying he wants to?

If you are honest and upfront on the phone right from the beginning of the call you can often get names and email addresses of CEO's. Quite often you can get to speak to PA's who are normally extremely helpful and will forward on emails. It's surprising how often you get an answer straight from the director of a large company

 

[wecandobiz]

If you are honest and upfront on the phone right from the beginning of the call you can often get names and email addresses of CEO's. Quite often you can get to speak to PA's who are normally extremely helpful and will forward on emails. It's surprising how often you get an answer straight from the director of a large company

Even better, know who you are talking to before you call. It saves so much time and makes the call so much easier having a name and some idea of that person's challenges before you call them. It's never going to be a good call for anyone if you have to make stuff up on the fly as you get connected to someone random.

By the way, people should never assume that the person calling them is a twenty something clueless twit with nothing more than an outgoing personality. I make cold calls into people I want to speak with as an MD with 20 odd years in the industry I serve. It can happen that I am more qualified to speak on a subject than the person I'm calling!

IH

 

[cjd]

If you are honest and upfront on the phone right from the beginning of the call you can often get names and email addresses of CEO's. Quite often you can get to speak to PA's who are normally extremely helpful and will forward on emails. It's surprising how often you get an answer straight from the director of a large company

I'm sure you do; my question was was why should you expect to?

 

[BusinessIdeas]

I'm sure you do; my question was was why should you expect to?

Did someone say that they expect to?
Its a numbers game, sometimes you do sometimes you dont. I cold call b2c all the time, and this is also a numbers game - you dont and shouldn't expect to succeed every time. I would be extremely surprised if anyone did expect to be put through or succeed on every call. I love cold calling by the way and I rarely if ever experience rudeness.

 

[davidakerr]

cjd.....Methinks you have a massive chip on your shoulder. Why do you assume that everyone who makes a cold call is from a call centre. I have trained people to be professional in their outlook; in their sales manner; in dealing with ceo's; sales managers or receptionists. It is professional to seek an appointment instead of just breezing in to an office/shop etc and asking for the decision maker. Professional people do their homework and should know whom they wish to speak to before picking up the phone. Politeness costs nothing and sometimes you learn a lot more just by listening instead of running of at the mouth just for the sake of it.

 

[cjd]

cjd.....Methinks you have a massive chip on your shoulder. Why do you assume that everyone who makes a cold call is from a call centre. I have trained people to be professional in their outlook; in their sales manner; in dealing with ceo's; sales managers or receptionists. It is professional to seek an appointment instead of just breezing in to an office/shop etc and asking for the decision maker. Professional people do their homework and should know whom they wish to speak to before picking up the phone. Politeness costs nothing and sometimes you learn a lot more just by listening instead of running of at the mouth just for the sake of it.

Did someone say that they expect to? Its a numbers game, sometimes you do sometimes you dont. I cold call b2c all the time, and this is also a numbers game - you dont and shouldn't expect to succeed every time. I would be extremely surprised if anyone did expect to be put through or succeed on every call. I love cold calling by the way and I rarely if ever experience rudeness.

Two comments from the companies that call people they don't know, from lists they buy from third parties, attempting to sell things they don't own for other people who pay them to do it.

You have a right to perform your trade and good luck to you.

But please don't fool yourself into thinking that people want to take your calls - this thread is about how you trick them into it.

 

[telemax]

Any one who tries to "trick " people isn't going to get very far. Most of my clients are small companies trying to get into large multinationals. They aren't always fortunate enough to be able to spend 1000's on Advertising, SEO campaigns etc, so cold calling is the only way to be heard. They could always sit down waiting for the phone to ring but sadly that is the death of many a small business.

 

[xujing]

I google the company and find out names of directors etc, then ask for them.

What kind business are you doing? And what usually happen when you call them?

 

[Rhyl Lightworks]

They aren't always fortunate enough to be able to spend 1000's on Advertising, SEO campaigns etc, so cold calling is the only way to be heard.

An email costs virtually nothing, and, taking into account staff time, a leaflet by post probably costs less than a cold call. Personally I will spend a few seconds reading an email or post, but will reject all cold calls on principle. I still dispose of the vast majority of emails or posts, but I will follow up the occasional one that interests me. What gives a cold caller the right to jam up my phone lines and demand my immediate attention there and then?

Barrie

 

[office man]

It is professional to seek an appointment instead of just breezing in to an office/shop etc and asking for the decision make.

It is PROFESSIONAL to visit... oh sorry Er breeze into a company and ask for the correct contact and then attempt to make an appointment actually.

business in NEVER, EVER black and white

 

[Ian Gannon AKA Mr Mobile]

Cold calling is the hardest part of the job. BUT if I am prospecting to someone, I want to find out about your business. The business world simply works by someone developing a product you currently use and making it better, or introducing a new product that you've never heard of. Stick your head in the sand if you don't want this to happen to your business.

Truth is, with my industry, you need expertise to deliver the best product to make the end-user more money. That is my aim, to increase your profit (minimise loss, maximise gain) through mobile technology.

 

[RyanV49er]

So what's better, cold calling or emailling for an appointment?

I'm new here BTW, Hi!

 

[Ian Gannon AKA Mr Mobile]

Test it. No-one can tell you how to do something, I've learnt that with networking. Call 100 people, and e-mail 100 people, and see which you get a higher response from. Then, of those you don't get through to by either method, swap it.

Seems to work ok for me.

 

[RyanV49er]

Thanks for the help, and for the answer of "work it out for yourself"!

I'm trying both at the moment, but the only issue is, the service we sell is not instantly amrketable. I.e. It takes a bit of explaining before people understand (but is popular once they get it.), this is obviously detrimental for cold calling/emailing as people want an instant hook..

 

[Ian Gannon AKA Mr Mobile]

If everything was easy to sell, we'd all be driving ferrari's. Truth is, your an expert in your field because you enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it, you don't know it, because you won't wake up on a Saturday morning and think "What's new in the world of _____ today?"

As you've pointed out, the "work it out for yourself" approach works, because you may have a different result to me.

 

[blackandwhite1986]

i prefer cold calling when trying to find a contact/make an appointment and then a confirmation e-mail to follow up and confirm

 

[davidakerr]

cjd

that massive chip has sprouted into a tree. Your assumptions are about as accurate as some of your postings. You should endeavour to read postings before replying, that way you may learn something. Naturally of course you sell your product to people you know personally and probably knew from birth and of course the product you sell is manufactured by you from raw materials grown in this country...................do me favour and live in the 21st Century

 

[telemax]

So what's better, cold calling or emailling for an appointment?

I'm new here BTW, Hi!

Hi there

I tend to find it's a bit of both. Often I will speak to the person first, send them an email, and follow it up in a few days.

If the person is impossible to reach, I will leave a message on their voicemail and send them an email. It's amazing how often you get a reply that way

Jonathan

 

[cjd]

cjd

Naturally of course you sell your product to people you know personally and probably knew from birth and of course the product you sell is manufactured by you from raw materials grown in this country...................do me favour and live in the 21st Century

I think you're getting your knickers in a twist.

I have no problem at all with telesales as a marketing tool done correctly.

My only comment is that, it is a waste of time calling me because I won't take the call. I know that many, many others feel the same - that's why we have had over 60,000 calls sent to our anti-telesales extension 166 by our customers.

It's an occupational hazard of your line of work - the majority of people find telesales calls an intrusion and a waste of their time; no point denying it.

If there comes a time when I feel telesales may help my business - and it may well do sometime in the future - I would use it but our average sale is too low value to justify it above other more successful techniques at the moment.

For the record, we sell mostly by word of mouth and have never spent a penny on advertising or traditional marketing in the history of the company. Our income growth has averaged 11% per month over four years. Last year our turnover doubled.

We also have several telesales outfits using our service

 

[NuBlue]

My only comment is that, it is a waste of time calling me because I won't take the call. I know that many, many others feel the same - that's why we have had over 60,000 calls sent to our anti-telesales extension 166 by our customers.

We use Voipfone ourselves (and they're very good by the way) and have sometimes used the 166 extension when some cold caller is particularly annoying. Although I do feel a bit guilty using it!

It's not a personal thing as I have worked in call centres myself in a previous life. But anyone cold calling must understand that 90% of the people you call do not want what you are selling and on top of that are usualy busy doing something else and don't want to be bothered.

Personally when I want something I find the best supplier for it and contact them. I don't let someone I don't know talk me into wanting something over the phone and for that reason I have never bought anything from a cold call.

 

[steve23]

Hi all,

This thread made me think how funny life is.

Do you remember when you first started in 'business' - you have some cards and a phone number, and your over the moon when someone rings you, no matter what they want to talk about - because its your business!

How long does it take to get from that point to this thread I wonder?



All the best

Steve

 

[Mattonella Tile Studio]

Hi all,

This thread made me think how funny life is.

Do you remember when you first started in 'business' - you have some cards and a phone number, and your over the moon when someone rings you, no matter what they want to talk about - because its your business!

How long does it take to get from that point to this thread I wonder?



All the best

Steve

Too true. I used to love it when they asked for the business owner and I could lay claim to it. Now I just deny all knowledge.