How to approach cold calling to get positive responses

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Original Message Added : 4 Sep 2012

I know there is a lot of negative thoughts surrounding cold calling, especially in this forum.

Sadly in some roles cold calling is a must and I want to know from real people if there are any ways to approach from cold calling that would get a positive responce and not be viewed as an inconvenience.

If I was to cold call you how would you like to be spoken to? Conversation started with? How would you like me to introduce myself?

Regards,

Torin

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	Paul Alan Wilcock from The Blue Cube
Location :	Birmingham
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Reply : 4 Sep 2012

Hi I do understand that cold calling is required but it is the pushing unnecessary ones that ruin it for such as yourself, to be fair if I want a service I will generally look for it myself in my local area as i prefer to use local people if possible. I must get around 10 calls a day with people selling all sorts of services and to be frank it gets a bit annoying when you are trying to work. I do not think there is any way you can put your opening line to make it any better, it just depends if that person is interested. Sorry!

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	Amanda Shepherd from Finningley Scaffolding Ltd
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Reply : 4 Sep 2012

Thanks for your feedback.

I am looking for all positive and negative. What if it is a service I am not charging for? Any further ideas?

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	Paul Alan Wilcock from The Blue Cube
Location :	Birmingham
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Reply : 4 Sep 2012

Cold Callers are only doing their job and trying to make money, same as everyone else. But sometimes there are exceptions to the rule.

I recieved a call on my mobile within days of creating a page on Free Index advertising my cleaning service. I was over the moon that it had worked and was recieving responses.

However the guy on the phone offered to add my service to an 'emergency service' magazine which would be posted out to over 200,000 homes in the TS postcode. Wow, I would be the only cleaning service in the directory and all for a fee of £145. He picked me because I was at the top of the list alphabetically...I know of other services that would have been before me.

I'm sure this is a scam, has anyone else has had an experience with the 'Emergency Service' magazine?

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	Caroline Obrien from Daisy Cleaning Services
Location :	Stockton-on-tees
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Reply : 4 Sep 2012

The emergency services magazine is a scam, take a wide birth.

As for cold calling, I sometimes take them at work and have taken up offers. Be breif to the point and leave a contact with a follow up email and leave it at that.

Take some time to ensure the business you are targetting will be able to benefit from your service. Check they are not registered with the Telephone prefernce service otherwise you could be reported.

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	David Holt from JR Wristbands
Location :	Castleford
Joined :	04 September 2012
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Reply : 5 Sep 2012

All feedback is fantastic.

I offer a free website audit to just give people feedback on their websites. In my head the only objection I can see is they don't have time. It's free and there is no obligation, but i get alot of no's and am finding it hard to get this point across without being blunt and that obviously damages the company image.

Any Ideas?

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	Paul Alan Wilcock from The Blue Cube
Location :	Birmingham
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Reply : 6 Sep 2012

Personally I prefer cold callers to be quick and to the point. What are you offering and how much will it cost me. If I'm interested I'll ask you to email me details.

Most annoying things are:

If I'm busy: "But it only takes 2 minutes"

Opening line: " I'm not calling to sell" before eventually trying to sell

Dishonesty: " I'm calling from google about your adword campaign", We're the only authorised resellers of facebook advertising" etc

constant call backs

As a point I found the guys I've spoke to at blue cube to be good. Quick telephone audit of website, then a full proposal via e-mail of what they can do and for how much. I will be looking to progress my seo with them but need to find the time to get back to them.

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	Edmund Magdziarek from EJM Investigations
Location :	Preston
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Reply : 6 Sep 2012

Thanks Edmund,

Rather happy considering that was my phone call. I believe Paul has spoken to you recently anyway so that's fantastic to hear we are doing it to the best we can for you.

Regards,

Torin

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	Paul Alan Wilcock from The Blue Cube
Location :	Birmingham
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Reply : 12 Sep 2012

Try doing warm calling instead.

You have to have something like a form on your website, or another website or info from somewhere. Get people to give you there phone number with regards to the service you offer, then ring them back aboutn a week later saying "I'm ringing in reponse to the form you filled out on xx-xx-xx MOST people will actually talk to you because they rember filling in the form and they know you are not lieing.

Lots of companies use this line without the person EVER filling out the form. Thats when it dosent work.

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	Mal Kutub
Location :	London
Joined :	10 September 2012
Posts :	1 ( 0)

Reply : 12 Sep 2012

That isn't cold calling, it is following a lead. Cold calling is a type of marketing to aproach potential clients through just knowing their number and company name in some cases. What you are describing is inbound marketing, cold calling is outbound marketing.

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	Paul Alan Wilcock from The Blue Cube
Location :	Birmingham
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Reply : 29 Oct 2012

Nobody likes to receive a cold call, most cold callers don't like doing it either! This method is fast becoming obsolete due to saturation and scam campaigns but sometimes it is the only way to find new customers since referrals can be too few and far between, especially in a new business.

As someone who often receives and sometimes has to perform the odd cold call, I always follow an etiquette of being courteous and straight to the point:

Sum up exactly what you're offering in less than 20 words and be prepared to back up your credibility with a website link. Be prepared to give a ballpark price figure on the spot (Not always simple). If they're busy or not interested, don't argue with them! As a last ditch effort, ask if they'd mind an email instead and thank them for their time.

If you exasperate or offend them by arguing, countering all of their blocks or objections and drive them to slam the phone down on you, all you are doing is muddying the waters and galvanising hundreds of potential customers against future business.

Cold calling in itself isn't such a bad thing if done tentatively... But bad cold callers can cause a lot of damage not only to their business's image, but to their whole sector!

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	Ben Wong from Timberpad
Location :	Norwich
Joined :	28 September 2012
About :	New business development
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Posts :	2 ( 0)

Reply : 3 Mar 2013

I hate the cold callers who try and be matey with me and use my name every 10 seconds and try and tell me the way I think. We're talking on the phone so it's obvious they're talking to me and I really don't think they care how I am. As they've only been talking to me for a few seconds it's highly unlikely they can read my mind.

I'd rather they state what they want to sell and then I can tell them if I'm interested or not. I'm unlikely to make a decision on the phone so would prefer information to be emailed to me so I can read it at leisure.

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	Sharon Stiles from Sharon Stiles Hypnotherapy NLP and CBT
Location :	Bristol
Joined :	18 April 2007
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Posts :	11 ( 2)

Reply : 2 Apr 2013

Cold calling is always an interruption and there's not much you can change about that other than to make the call professional, targeted and interesting.

Be professional by making sure that you follow the law regarding unsolicited sales calls and always check business and consumers numbers with either tps (consumer) or ctps (businesses). Generally speaking those businesses that are irritated by sales calls are usually on the CTPS so it's a great way to avoid them and speak with other professional people instead :)

Have something valueable and interesting to say and do your homework before the call. Why are you introducing your services to them in particular? What's special about you? What offers are you running if any?

There's other advice over at my blog but I'm happy to answer questions or give some advice here if I can :)

Good luck

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	Maxine Welford from Maxxy Marketing
Location :	Huntingdon
Joined :	04 July 2009
About :	Telemarketing and Marketing Support for Accountants and Professionals
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Posts :	2 ( 0)

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