Cold Calling Works

[Just Confused]

Cold calling is a "numbers" game. Not everyone can take the large percentage of rejection responses to collect the benefit of the smaller percentage of positive sales. For those that can embrace that rejection, it can be a very effective tool for sales. I did a stint as a stock broker (unsuccessfully) where we did it all the time. However, that was on the telephone and the success rate for me was very small and not enough to be successful, even though I did it religiously every day. This was in the pre-internet days.

On the other hand, selling roofing jobs by driving through an area and generating a customized estimate and photograph of the house on the spot with a laptop/printer/camera and dropping it in the mailbox was quite successful.

Now that that the Internet is available, I have a niche business where I sell a financial health service product. I paid a developer for a good attractive & informative website, then paid an SEO specialist to get it to the top of the search engines. Over 80% of my business is pre-sold before they call me and I don't do any cold calling with this business. It is not my primary income business so I guess I can afford to let it grow organically. I don't have to invest much time in it.

[ideas2earn]

I'm in the Insurance game, where almost all of our business comes from referrals (thankyou) and cold calling of some description. As a manager I don't make too many calls these days and when I do its to my counterpart in a bank or simialr corporation.

A friend of mine just started a window cleaning business and found the hardest part was going out and asking for business but his 1st four customers all came from a personal approach as opposed to a flyer or through his website. Without those 4 customers he may well have folded before he got his feet on the ground.

[Amir W.]

There is no question that cold calling works, and is also one of the most effective ways to get business. Most people tend to shy away from it because it's often not a fun thing to do, since you have to hear "No" often until you get a "Yes." But as they say, successful people became successful because they did the things that unsuccessful people didn't want to do.

the question becomes - should you do door-to-door canvassing? on the phone? e-mail marketing? You can reach thousands of people very quickly with e-mail and web marketing, but since it's less personal, the percentage of sales will be small. On the phone, you can call many more than you can visit in person, and you will sell a greater percentage than on the web because the contact is more personal. And of course it takes a lot longer to knock on doors - you will make contact with so many fewer people - but since it's such a personal connection, your closing percentage will be much higher.

All sales is about personal contact. Which method you choose will depend on your particular business model, but they all work.

-Amir

[SalesPractice]

There are pros and cons to cold calling and cold canvassing. Does it work? In my opinion that depends on the circumstances to include your skill level.

[Eric N]

So I was just hired into a small business as the director of sales. Thrown to the wolves here! It's a korean company that deal with korean customers. I have been cold calling for about 2 weeks now trying to get some american business. Because I sell office furniture and cubicles, I need to hit the company at the right time. Unfortuniately, the immediate results from cold calling have not been sucessfull. My main goal is to get the information to them so when they do need it, they have my company's information. Hopefully a few months down the road, all these calls will help my future sales

[MyEmployee]

I agree that cold calling works depending on the circumstances and strategy employed. If the companies being called are very targeted and that basic research has been made to qualify the lead and to get a picture of their needs prior to (or during) the call to be able to position the product or service we are selling... then we are giving these companies a favor by offering them our services.

We operate an offshore call center here in the Philippines for small businesses and our clients are happy with the results. We just don't lash out scripts but we start an interaction to see how we can help the companies we contact in behalf of our clients. One useful tool I use for sales training is Jeffrey Gitomer's materials.

Happy calling and more sales!

[spencer]

I've never had the nerve to do call calling, but I know that it can be a very powerful sales tool if employed properly.

[danielkanuck]

Cold calling isn't for the timid. I personally don't advise doing cold calling since there are better ways to promote and get clients to come to you. But if you prefer cold calling and don't mind the rejection, i say go for it. Just know that you can only make a certain amount of calls during the day... something that is non-existent as if you were to run a direct mail campaign. Good luck with cold calling.