In starting and running my own advertising company, I had to do a lot of selling. This took on many forms, from face to face, direct selling to over-the-phone cold calling. While I experienced a lot of success using the first model, nothing was worse that the second. Cold calling quickly became the bane of my existence, as it was something I had to do that never (not once) brought me a single sale or lead. There is a certain problem one runs into when cold calling for a new company: No one has ever heard of you. As a result, when you start asking about a potential client’s advertising methods, they get suspicious. They know you are trying to sell them something, but because they have no knowledge of your company they become weary about what you are really trying to do. Are you actually there to help, or are you just trying to sell them something they don’t need?
One of the biggest problems is the matter of perspective: from my perspective I truly was trying to help them promote their business. But to them, it likely felt like I was trying to sell them something that they just didn’t need because it was a brand new concept that they likely had never heard of. I can honestly say that I dreaded cold calling because when I would do it, it was nothing but rejection after rejection. You can’t sell something to someone when they have no knowledge of the product at all. It was a very discouraging practice in principle, and every time I did it I found myself despising it more and more. Of the thousands of cold calls I made, I never once made a successful sale. Maybe I just wasn’t very good at it, but I think it was more likely that cold calling just wasn’t right for that industry.
BoweryJE22
Keep your head up Logan! I am not a fan of cold calling either. It does not seem like a very effective way to win people over. I am sure that it has been successful in certain businesses and under certain settings but it is a very difficult thing to do.
Cold Calling is like getting sun burned on your first day of vacation in Florida (not that I’m speaking from personal experience here or anything). It sucks in the moment, but can eventually even out into an awesome tan – or leads, if we’re reverting to sales for a moment here. If I remember right, Mattson talked a lot about cold calling and how with each rejection you are getting yourself one call closer to an actual lead. However, I do agree with your point about industry norms – I guess that ties right back into trust too.
And you are better at cold calling than you give yourself credit for – between you and Peter, we had 21 signed pledges and $2 committed to Penny Discovery in just three hours!
My fiance is working for a company that has him cold calling contract manufacturers. He gets so drained so quickly because of all the rejections. But, as he’s learning, that act of prospecting gives him a lead and helps him build up a stronger clientele-base. It’s hard work, but worth it for the weeding out process.