Met a slowlaner and corporate sheep today; made me angry & cry

**77startup** · Aug 19th, 2011, 02:22 PM

I think it's spam when it's unwanted and uninvited. I'm not saying don't do it, as I certainly would however don't make it to be something that it's not. Getting cursed out and threatened is just part of the business of cold calling.

In the end you'll have customers and that should make it all worth it.

**andviv** · Aug 20th, 2011, 08:02 PM

Funny, I agree with the last few comments. You are happily working and then get interrupted by a rude, careless caller offering me something I did not want. How do you want me to react? You are probably wasting my most precious asset, my time.

Of course this also shows you something else... you had 3-5 seconds to get his attention and a positive reaction and you blew it.

Have you thought of how to start the conversation so it is not aggressive and puts the call receiver in defensive mode? What is your rate of success when cold calling?

I know that, when I get a courteous call, I at least try to be nice. Most of the times. I know the caller wants to take my money, it is not about a gift or a lottery ticket I won that I did not even bought. I understand that. Can the caller answer the "what's in it for me" question in the first 5 seconds?

Based on what you describe I understand you can get them customers. Well, what if you put up or shut up? Tell him "I can deliver leads, but to prove it I will send you one for free, call me if you think this is valuable for your business. Do you want me to send you that lead by regular mail, email, or by calling you at this number again at this same time?"

By doing this you are removing risk, providing infinite return on their investment, and actually will get him to chase you for more business. Well, that is true if you can actually deliver.

Anyway, sorry if this message sounds a little harsh or negative, I am hungry so I better go grab a bite before I say something really bad.

Good luck!

**speedyexe** · Aug 21st, 2011, 05:22 AM

And of course these were the same people complaining that their pensions weren't enough. And when pressed, for how they are going to increased their income they all said ... and I quote: "I'll just go get another job, eat/spend less, go out less and ask for a raise!" The scariest part is that they said 'that' with a smile ....

Im living in Poland all my life so i can say something more about this:

First of all it cant be rat race or slowlane bcos in Poland we cant even save some money to start small business or startup most people gets money that are spending straightaway on bills and food - thats why its not slowlane bcos you cant even gather some money to startup I can say its more like survival.
But one i can say for sure if you will be sucessfull in Poland you will be bilionaire somwhere else(for ex. Warner Bros) (for ex. on summer last year (with slowlaner mindset) I was in dublin and iv got job in microsoft straight away bcos of my knowlege in shitty company in Poland that payed me 9 times smaller salary than microsoft!)

After my college im thinking about getting to Vancouver or Silicon Valley...

Honestly, there is a gold mine of opportunities there.

In some stage yes it is bcos here its absolutley nothing, and anything you start can be succesfull but you have to get startup money for this and you have to get money in another country ;/
You cant just quit polish salary job and start a business bcos you wont survive a week.
In march iv quited my damn job and since now its hard a lot.