Monday, November 9, 2009

Cold Calling

If you think about it too much, cold calling seems like a complete waste of time. I mean, what are the chances of you walking into a business that just happens to be looking for something you’re offering? Unless you’re offering them a way to get rid of you, you’re not going to get a lot of takers.

Personally, I’ve visited over seventy businesses in one day, in a business park and over one hundred in a high rise. I’ve done most of my cold calling while working in telecommunications. Telecommunications is a mature industry; there aren’t a lot of businesses without access to high speed internet and none without phone service. Prices keep dropping, so there’s not much motivation to comparison shop. It seems like every day, there’s a new company selling service. The sales reps range from complete newbie amateurs to know it all pros. Next to selling photo copiers, I can’t think a harder service to sell door to door.

I’ve witnessed someone crumble my business card right in front of my eyes. I’ve had receptionists tell me that their companies weren’t interested, before they found out what I was offering.(1) I’ve been escorted out of buildings. There have been times when I wondered why I went to college if all I was going to do with my life was to schlep phone service. I’ve spent days drinking coffee, running errands, shopping at the mall that were as productive as entire days I’ve spent cold calling.
Every time I’m ready to give up on cold calling, I’ll get a call back or I’ll be Johnny on the spot, and a business I’m visiting will just happen to be looking for exactly what I’m selling.

My point is: you have to cold call, even if it’s just to keep you sane. What choice do you have? You can sit and stew at your desk, worrying about how you’re going to find your next sale or “waste” some time cold calling. I don’t know how many times, I’ve felt like my body was filled with toxic stress and then had that feeling disappear after just a few visits.

Here are some tips to help you on your way:

• Be insanely optimistic. Make yourself believe that if you leave a flier in an empty suite or tacked to a bulletin board, someone will call you back.

• If you don’t know which door to enter, look for the one with the “No Solicitation” sign on it. If a “No Solicitation” stops you, you’re in the wrong line of work.

• If you want to make some calls in a high rise, never let the security guards in the lobby see you carrying fliers and never get caught studying the tenant directory. Hit a few random floors and get out. Keep good records, so you know what floors to hit next time around. Never, ever, try to sell to the property manager’s office. You can go in and ask the PM how to market to the building’s tenants but you can’t offer them your services. Not unless you want to be walked out like a terminated employee. The PM might help you, probably won’t, but at least you tried. If they won’t help then all bets are off and hit the building guerilla style.

• Be brave. If you walk into a lobby with no receptionist, ring the bell to call someone up. If there’s no bell, walk into the office and ask someone for help. If the door is locked and there’s a door bell, ring it. Why? Because there aren’t many reps who will and you’ll separate yourself from your competitors.

• Be extremely polite. Always say, “Excuse me” and “Thank you”. Ask for the receptionist’s name and then say, “Thank you, Elizabeth” or “Bob”. Don’t let the door slam.

• Smile. No one can be mean to someone who’s smiling. Not unless they’re a cold hearted bastard. I cold call with a sales rep that works for me. I've noticed that the person he's speaking to tends to mimic his facial expression. If he smiles, they smile. If he's grim, they're grim.

• Be earnest. People appreciate someone who’s just trying to do a good job.

• Make it a habit. Once you get over the fear of cold calling, keep it up. If you stop, starting up again will be as hard as the first time.

• Be consistent. You should attempt to make twenty calls a day but make at least make ten. And do it every day. Pretend you’re preparing for a competition and your calls are your training.

• Try cold calling during the lunch hour and after five. During these times, the receptionist is off duty and you might be able to talk directly to a decision maker.

• If you need to go, the bathrooms on the first floors of office buildings are usually locked, but if you go up to the higher floors, they’ll be open.

• If you’re approaching a glass building, plan your entrance ahead of time. Nothing’s worse than being seen peering into windows, trying to determine which entrance to use. Everyone inside can see you. People in these buildings must be entertained all day by stumbling sales people.

One thing I think of whenever I’m struggling with and questioning the importance of cold calling: Where I live, there’s a small company that sells phone and internet services. They don’t advertise. It’s amazing how many businesses have their service. The only way they market their service is through sales people making cold calls. If cold calling didn’t work, this company wouldn’t exist.

(1) This has always been a stick in my crawl, receptionists getting too caught up in themselves. They’re paid to answer the phone and greet people and instead, they start thinking it’s their job to decide who their company should speak to. I don’t know how many times I’ve come to find that the companies with these types are paying way too much for their services.

1 comment:

  1. At first I thought this was going to be a negative blog and was going to be left with a bad feeling but at the end, it gave me hope.

    ReplyDelete