Cold Calling

[Fagin2021]

Is it me getting old and crabby or is the quality of the cold call getting worse? Cold calling by telephone is a dog of a task so I’ve always tried to be polite and give a bit of time to anyone making a reasonable stab at it but the numbers that do so are flagging.

Particularly irksome are the callers who start with “and how are you today Sir?” My standard response is “very busy and in a bad mood” just to see how they cope with it.

Perhaps it’s because with so many other communication channels, the cold call has had its day?

 

[Clinton]

I used to get calls like that. I've tried to sell them time shares, I've told them about my grandmother's incontinence problems and asked them to suggest solutions, I got one of them to sing my baby to sleep.

You've got to find something useful for them to do.

I'm an atheist but on one occasion I said that we were just about to sit down for family prayers. And he didn't seem to want to go. So I made him repeat the Lord's prayer after me. And he did! When we got to the end I prayed for him and all his loved ones to have a long life, wished the blessings of a thousand camels would fall upon his head, told him that Jesus loved him ...and I hung up.

Nowadays I don't get cold calls any more. I think my answerphone does, I don't know, I don't listen to the messages. Also, I make it a habit to never pick up my home phone, or my business phone for that matter, and life has become worth living again.

That's the best way to deal with them - don't pick up the phone! Record a good answerphone message to tell them to email you to book a call. If you call my business number you'll get a message saying that I never pick up the phone but also saying that if you're a salesman you should try my number again tomorrow.

 

[HostOX]

Usually all the cold calls I get their number gets reported on the smart phone system they seem to use on samsung and then blocked, regardless of what they are selling it is irritating.

I believe it has had its day, too many cold callers scamming people and most people don't need the call and can find anything they need on the phone or computer.

 

[japancool]

Particularly irksome are the callers who start with “and how are you today Sir?”

It's not just cold callers who do that. Customer services reps nowadays try to be solicitous, whereas I just want to get on and get my problem solved, and don't particularly care to engage in pointless pleasantries.

Banks are particularly guilty.

 

[Mr D]

True, I switched the ansaphone off over a week ago, zero cold calls since on that phone.
Now if I can just stop the texts from British gas to my work phone....

 

[WaveJumper]

Cold calling had it's day a long time ago, what I find irritating now is all the cheesy emails I get from the banks telling me how they are here for me that is of course until you try to call them and when you do get through the business manager can not see you for 4 weeks.

 

[MBE2017]

Cold calling had it's day a long time ago

Apart from word of mouth, or a client approaching you on their own, cold calling is still the number one business generator IMO.

 

[Mr D]

Cold calling had it's day a long time ago, what I find irritating now is all the cheesy emails I get from the banks telling me how they are here for me that is of course until you try to call them and when you do get through the business manager can not see you for 4 weeks.

To be honest seeing a business manager is so 20th century.
I have a phone - if I need to speak to someone then I can speak to them on the phone.
No reason these days to see a manager.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Memories. I've cold called till my fingers and feet are sore. A soul destroying occupation but great when you get a decent order. Selling advertising for a national paper I called a bloke who was on holiday in Spain with an offer he couldn't refuse. He had to send his missus from poolside to their room to get a credit card while he called a courier in South London to pick up copy and get it to East London. About £2k's worth sold and sorted in just over an hour!

Anyone who done it then was half mad, anybody doing it now must be completely mad!

 

[Deleted member 335660]

Is it me getting old and crabby or is the quality of the cold call getting worse? Cold calling by telephone is a dog of a task so I’ve always tried to be polite and give a bit of time to anyone making a reasonable stab at it but the numbers that do so are flagging.

Particularly irksome are the callers who start with “and how are you today Sir?” My standard response is “very busy and in a bad mood” just to see how they cope with it.

Perhaps it’s because with so many other communication channels, the cold call has had its day?

No your Not getting old and crabby.

Cold calling people in their homes has never ever been easy. All my experience was calling businesses.

When telephones were new it may have been easier as people looked forward to getting a call. Now most telephones are clipped to people’s ears. So even if it’s nit received at a most inconvenient time, it appears invasive.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Particularly irksome are the callers who start with “and how are you today Sir?”

Just a quick call...
Just a courtesy call...

 

[Mark T Jones]

There is a huge spike in the number of scam or shabby calls, so on average the standard has plummeted

There are still some good professional ones though. The problem is that, whilst I'm hits accommodating to decent cold calls, I tend to get a bit abrupt when they come behind 2 idiots

 

[simon field]

If they don’t ask the question ‘are you busy right now?’ and assume I’m not, then they won’t make it to the next phase, so whatever they’re selling it’ll not be to me!

 

[SillyBill]

The quality overall has never been great but (anecdotally IME) the concentration of calls is coming from fewer and fewer sectors now suggesting its efficacy is reducing. Those calls regarding the same types of goods and products (talking energy supply etc.) automatically relegates them to having the phone put down. They all follow the same routine as well which is founded on the premise its perfectly okay to waste and not value 100 people's time if they can get 1 sucker on the line.

I would generally respond well to a call from a company owner or high level decision maker themselves for instance, as I have done myself on occasion when I really needed an introduction. These calls have obviously taken more investment, are typically highly considered (not scatter gun approach) before the phone is picked up and more effective as the sales patter/disingenuous sales techniques is reduced (which I have found most people appreciate)... and you are talking with someone who knows the product/service and industry inside out. I won't respond well to people making calls that are outsourced telecallers following pre-scripted routines; mostly low paid, low skilled and don't know much about what they are selling beyond a crib sheet. Or a sales rep fresh out of college, poorly trained and paid peanuts. Not their fault of course but such is life, hopefully they'll get out soon enough.

 

[UKSBD]

The unscrupulous callers and the scammers have ruined it.

I'm not going to carefully listen through 10 calls to pick out the one genuine one amongst the other nine.

 

[antropy]

Particularly irksome are the callers who start with “and how are you today Sir?” My standard response is “very busy and in a bad mood” just to see how they cope with it.

We have been getting a lot of "hello sir, my name is Rob, we can help you get to number one Google ranking". Then I ask if their name really is Rob and where are they based. They say India and no their name is not Rob. I then say ok so you have just lied within the first few seconds of our conversation and now you want me to work with you? Then they say "sorry sir have a good day". End of conversation. Happens quite often and can be quite amusing but I highly doubt whether they actually get any business from it? Alex

 

[antropy]

old calling is still the number one business generator

I would say more specifically targeted cold calling. If you just scattergun and call any random person or company then you will not get far but if you have identified a company or person you think could need your help and do your research, then you will have a much better chance of picking up the business. Calling 100 random people a day will not get you far... Alex

 

[japancool]

We have been getting a lot of "hello sir, my name is Rob, we can help you get to number one Google ranking". Then I ask if their name really is Rob and where are they based. They say India and no their name is not Rob. I then say ok so you have just lied within the first few seconds of our conversation and now you want me to work with you? Then they say "sorry sir have a good day". End of conversation. Happens quite often and can be quite amusing but I highly doubt whether they actually get any business from it? Alex

I had one claiming to be called "Oliver Spencer" with the thickest Indian accent you ever heard.

Who even falls for that?

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

The only calls I welcome are those from occasional suppliers for things like blue cleaning roll, brown tape, cardboard boxes etc.,

Struggling with a new supplier at the moment who in just 3 weeks has sent links to their website offers and help videos every day.

 

[MBE2017]

I would say more specifically targeted cold calling. If you just scattergun and call any random person or company then you will not get far but if you have identified a company or person you think could need your help and do your research, then you will have a much better chance of picking up the business. Calling 100 random people a day will not get you far... Alex

Once again, depends on your market, the more an item or service has mass appeal, the less targeted any approach has to be. This applies whether approaching in person or via telephone call, sms, email etc.

Mass market like mobiles, energy, insulation, food etc a scattergun approach can work very well.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Once again, depends on your market, the more an item or service has mass appeal, the less targeted any approach has to be. This applies whether approaching in person or via telephone call, sms, email etc.

Mass market like mobiles, energy, insulation, food etc a scattergun approach can work very well.

The fact remains that if your approach is specific & targeted (even if the target isn't directly relevant to he product) it is easier to gain empathy and therefore warm the approach

 

[MBE2017]

The fact remains that if your approach is specific & targeted (even if the target isn't directly relevant to he product) it is easier to gain empathy and therefore warm the approach

Obviously.

 

[SillyBill]

The only calls I welcome are those from occasional suppliers for things like blue cleaning roll, brown tape, cardboard boxes etc.,

Struggling with a new supplier at the moment who in just 3 weeks has sent links to their website offers and help videos every day.

There is a marketing sweet spot, sadly some otherwise good companies go into spam mode all too easily. It is a serious enough offence for a supplier to get canned from me, such a turn off when you are being aggressively marketed to.

My "favourite" suppliers are those that check in every now and again, occasionally market their wares (of course this is necessary and pretty effective if done selectively) but otherwise leave me alone to run my business. These are the companies you go to as first port-of-call whenever you have a need for something.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Yes I still like doing this and it still works
You dont need to be the robotic moron you just need to be yourself.
If you have something that you know will be of use to the potential customer and your proud of your company You are half way there

I do think that selling business to private customer on the phone is dead

 

[Deleted member 336242]

I am a carpet cleaner. I have cold-called property managers around my suburb for carpet cleaning for their end-of-tenancy properties. Also emailed them my prices. The success rate is about 1/20.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I am a carpet cleaner. I have cold-called property managers around my suburb for carpet cleaning for their end-of-tenancy properties. Also emailed them my prices. The success rate is about 1/20.

That would be about right but you have got the brand across to lots of people

 

[MBE2017]

I must be old fashioned, I still think cold calling works. It’s a hard, but reliable method, proven over the years, it just takes a lot more skill now, but, doesn’t everything?

End clients today have become very savvy overall, compared to clients in the 80/90s. With the internet, people can find reviews, testimonials, specifications and competitors pricing within a few seconds, but done well it helps overcome the initial inertia of the client.

 

[antropy]

The fact remains that if your approach is specific & targeted (even if the target isn't directly relevant to he product) it is easier to gain empathy and therefore warm the approach

I have called companies before where they have errors or issues on the site and had a mixed success rate. Some say thank you for pointing that out can you give us an estimate to fix it and go ahead, others say no thank you or I will get our current developer to do this. But this targeted approach has a lot more success than just calling random companies. Alex

 

[Red Wood]

If you provide a specific group of products to a specific industry cold calling is successful, but as said above, its got to be targeted, informative and tailored.

The success rate is low, but we have accounts that started from a cold call that have turned into high six figure spend.

My experience is only B2B however.

 

[antropy]

The success rate is low, but we have accounts that started from a cold call that have turned into high six figure spend.

We still have some of the first clients I got on board from cold calls over 10 years ago and their lifetime spend has certainly been worth it.

Paul.

 

[Mark T Jones]

If you provide a specific group of products to a specific industry cold calling is successful, but as said above, its got to be targeted, informative and tailored.

The success rate is low, but we have accounts that started from a cold call that have turned into high six figure spend.

My experience is only B2B however.

A big part of this is the process as a whole. Cold calling for instant sign-up is a tough and frankly dirty business.

Cold calling as part of a process is valuable in many ways. In fact I always advise start-ups to do some cold calling even if it doesn't fit their M.O. - it teaches you a lot about selling and about your customers.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Cold calling is all about good timing. If you are working for a boss who thinks it appropriate to call a Pub on Christmas Eve lunchtime to sell them advertising, clear your desk and leave. If your boss thinks it ok to cold call shopkeepers 10 minutes before opening, grab your bags and leave.
It obviously depends on what kind of business you are in but the time to make contact with eg., a new retailer is not when they look like opening, not when the signs go up, but when the outgoing business is closing, when the builders move in. Whilst that may sound obvious it never failed to surprise me how many sales reps wore blinkers.

 

[antropy]

Cold calling is all about good timing

100%, the majority of clients we have got from cold calling have been because we have called at the right place, right time. Others have an error or errors on the site and know about it yet will not do anything about it. Sometimes you just cannot help some people! Alex

 

[pkpolymers]

Cold calling is pretty effective if it's personalised and you've got a solution that's going to get the other person interested. It's worked for us. We were a new entrant and didn't care about profits for the first two years so our quotes were unparalleled as we were looking into getting regional market shares. Conversion was 97%.

 

[antropy]

Conversion was 97%.

So 97% of dials turned in to sales? However good your offer, and however targetted your list, I find that hard to believe.

Paul.

 

[Mark T Jones]

So 97% of dials turned in to sales? However good your offer, and however targetted your list, I find that hard to believe.

Paul.

It would be a stretch even if all had already agreed to do business!

 

[antropy]

We were a new entrant and didn't care about profits for the first two years

That makes no sense? Every company cares about profits as otherwise you would go bust... Alex

 

[pkpolymers]

That makes no sense? Every company cares about profits as otherwise you would go bust... Alex

Not if you have the capital to fund that expansion.

 

[Clinton]

That makes no sense? Every company cares about profits as otherwise you would go bust... Alex

Nah. I do what I fancy doing, I turn down everything else. That's it. When I look in the bank account there's always profit there!

I think @Mark T Jones does the same. As do several others.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Nah. I do what I fancy doing, I turn down everything else. That's it. When I look in the bank account there's always profit there!

I think @Mark T Jones does the same. As do several others.

Being serious, I think that's reverse engineering rather than not caring