Last week while in the office I got a cold call from a “Lead Generation” company. Seeing that I make about 50 cold calls a day and this is my bread and butter, I am usually very nice to struggling telephone sales people. This started wrong, and went terrible south, fast, and then proceeded to get worst.
Here is what happened and how to do it better.
Me: This is Jeremy!
Caller: Hey Jeremy, what’s up, this is Jimmy from ABC Lead Generation...
Me: Mmmm, Ok, How can I help you?
Caller: I got an email from one of my colleagues stating that you don’t have any need for outsourcing your lead generations any time soon; I wanted to follow up to make sure I understand everything.
Me: Mmmm, Sure... (although I don’t know what else there is to talk about).
Caller: So, as I understand it, your company doesn’t do any lead generation and your sales reps wait for info requests from your website - is that right?
Me: No, that is not right, I do what you do, only better.
Caller: I doubt that!
Me: Thanks for calling!
About five minutes later I receive an email from him with a brochure, no text and his signature - that is it! I didn’t read the brochure!
So, let’s look at how bad this call really was!
First, never use “What’s up!” We are not friends, I don’t know you and it sends the message you are trying to be too informal and friendly. Secondly, the caller started by reaffirming that I have no interest. Restating this negativity only further turns me off. Thirdly, if I make a joke at your expense, go with it , DON”T try to defend yourself, you are only going to offend me (which he did!).
Cold calling has a very negative imagine. No one likes doing it, no one likes to interrupt their days’ activities to answer the phone and be sold on something they probable don’t need. That is why real cold calling is not about selling . It is about making connections and starting relationships that may or may not result in a sale.
The first 10 seconds of any call makes or breaks it, based on a simple formula: No one will ever buy anything from you if they don’t trust you, and they won’t trust you if they don’t listen to you and they won’t listen to you if they don’t like you! Getting some one to like you in the first 10 seconds has to be the goal of a cold call not to sell your product.
Using “what’s up” doesn’t send the right message, which is “I am smart, aggressive and busy just like you - I don’t want to waist your time, nor mine.” Making sure you understand that there is no need waists people’s time. Defending yourself after a small and harmless joke reinforces the stereotype that the rest of use professionals in the industry are trying to reverse and just PROVES MY POINT.
Here is what happened and how to do it better.
Me: This is Jeremy!
Caller: Hey Jeremy, what’s up, this is Jimmy from ABC Lead Generation...
Me: Mmmm, Ok, How can I help you?
Caller: I got an email from one of my colleagues stating that you don’t have any need for outsourcing your lead generations any time soon; I wanted to follow up to make sure I understand everything.
Me: Mmmm, Sure... (although I don’t know what else there is to talk about).
Caller: So, as I understand it, your company doesn’t do any lead generation and your sales reps wait for info requests from your website - is that right?
Me: No, that is not right, I do what you do, only better.
Caller: I doubt that!
Me: Thanks for calling!
About five minutes later I receive an email from him with a brochure, no text and his signature - that is it! I didn’t read the brochure!
So, let’s look at how bad this call really was!
First, never use “What’s up!” We are not friends, I don’t know you and it sends the message you are trying to be too informal and friendly. Secondly, the caller started by reaffirming that I have no interest. Restating this negativity only further turns me off. Thirdly, if I make a joke at your expense, go with it , DON”T try to defend yourself, you are only going to offend me (which he did!).
Cold calling has a very negative imagine. No one likes doing it, no one likes to interrupt their days’ activities to answer the phone and be sold on something they probable don’t need. That is why real cold calling is not about selling . It is about making connections and starting relationships that may or may not result in a sale.
The first 10 seconds of any call makes or breaks it, based on a simple formula: No one will ever buy anything from you if they don’t trust you, and they won’t trust you if they don’t listen to you and they won’t listen to you if they don’t like you! Getting some one to like you in the first 10 seconds has to be the goal of a cold call not to sell your product.
Using “what’s up” doesn’t send the right message, which is “I am smart, aggressive and busy just like you - I don’t want to waist your time, nor mine.” Making sure you understand that there is no need waists people’s time. Defending yourself after a small and harmless joke reinforces the stereotype that the rest of use professionals in the industry are trying to reverse and just PROVES MY POINT.
If a call does go bad, DON”T send an unsolicited email with no text, this just shows that you are regurgitating the material that your marking team worked hours to develop and unable to communicate the value of your company yourself.
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Wow, this is classic! It seems like the world has become lazy. Most people seem to think just showing up is good enough. Not true - especially in sales! 1000 bad calls like this will never equal the results from 10 well prepared cold call. On the positive side, it's clowns like this that make the real professionals look good. Thanks for sharing!
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