90 Day Cold Calling Challenge

[Everyman]

Uuuu maaan. Rep transferred. I smell a lot of difficult action here. I especially like it because

I had to read the whole thread in one go (fortunately stumbled upon it when it's still short) and I think it will go far if you continue. Keeping fingers crossed for you.

I am calling plumbers, by the way

These guys are pretty difficult to talk for beginners (I am too a beginner).

You're a young entrepreneur and you're costing us money

Some people have bad days. Some are annoyed by random people calling them all the time. It is what it is. It's not personal. I hope you know this.

P.S. One guy asked me if the website I was offering was for free which was a bit funny. But I guess I wasn't really coming off as important, so I need to sound more assertive.

Well, you can ask these type of people if they offer their service for free, and under what circumstances etc. etc.

It's Monday again - which means I'm back at it!

Why are you limiting yourself to Mon - Fri? Do you have Sat - Sun fully booked? I am asking because weekends are perfectly normal days to call too.

1) Because someboday 2000 years ago named a day, doesn't make the day better or worse...

2) You have (I am guessing) studied the 90 day challenge concept, which stems from AA meetings. There are no days off. You don't stop going for the first 90 days.

Even if your reached metric suffers, then you can adjust and stop, if you see it makes sense or not...

And you can tweak calling hours. So call at 6AM (too early? maybe), or 8PM (too late? maybe). T. Ferris claimed he called before 8AM so the gatekeepers are not there yet (usually salaried 9-5 people), but the owner/manager works 24/7, sometimes...

The reach rate is still quite low.

Have you checked industry statistics? Maybe your numbers are actually better, than low. They are probably average, but again nothing to worry as pick up rates are just pick up rates - how many times you don't pick up a call? And from an unknown number? Etc...

Anyway you are doing really great job. You have inspired me a lot. I need to start doing what you are doing. I have some projects to finish, but actually 90 day cold call challenge has been in my head for a couple of weeks now.

 

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[Crazy GG]

Day 15 Summary

Dials: 25
Reached: 7 (28%)
Leads: 2 (0%)

Okay, so after travelling back to UK for 2 months, I am back at it.

First thing I want to say is that after 3 weeks straight cold calling, the call anxiety is almost gone. Even though it is a good thing, it has one negative - right now I don't get excited anymore just by doing the calls anymore - I need some kind of result and when I don't get it - it feels like I haven't achieved anything.

So today I got 2 weak leads - both of the business owners said they are not looking for a website but I managed to keep them on the phone and get their email for future and agreed to call in couple of months to see if they would be interested then (essentially growing my existing database of leads). Probably won't lead to a sale in the near future but I'm in it for the long game (even though I really need sales now!)

Next week I think I will be going to 40 calls/day. If I can't control how the calls go, at least I can control my effort!

Have a great weekend people!

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 16 Summary

Dials: 40
Reached: 9 (22.5%)
Leads: 0 (0%)

Do you remember when I said that the call anxiety was pretty much gone? Well, it came back Because of it, I wasn't very confident on the phone and gave up too early after the first "No(s)"

I have realized that a big part of sales success is how you deal with initial resistance from the people you talk to. Most people fear hearing NO as they interpret it as rejection and to be honest - it's one of my big problems as well. As soon as I hear "no", "not interested" or anything related, my brain gets hijacked, any script goes through the window and I start babbling nonsense.

I need to practice staying in conversations with resistance involved and I need to stick to my script.

How do you guys deal with initial sales resistance?

 

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[Crazy GG]

Day 18 Summary

Dials: 40
Reached: 8 (20%)
Leads: 2 (25%)
Prospects: 2 (100%)

Many takeaways today:

1) You need to be confident with your script. I didn't like my script but was too lazy to change it, and it backfired a lot - I was stumbling over my words and it wasn't resonating at all with the person on the other line. I think it's better you have a medium script but you're confident with it rather than the "perfect script" and you don't like saying it.

2) Sales is just about keeping going. Sometimes I would call 8 people straight and none would pick up when I would start to think like it's a waste of time when suddenly I landed on a solid prospect who is looking to get a new site. A lot of times nowadays I don't feel like doing the freakin calls but this forum is a great thing for accountability so I just push through and get over it.

3) It's important to not complicate things. Right now I have 2-3 different ways to overcome the same objection written down and during the call I get very confused about how to answer which leads me to come off very unconvincing. I think I will just try to learn a few but learn them well.

Crazy GG

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 19 Summary

Dials: 40
Reached: 15 (46%)
Leads: 3 (20%)
Prospects: 1 (33%)

So before today I made an objection document on google docs where I record the most typical objections as suggested on this thread and practice them before every calling session. I think it definitely helped and I will continue doing this in the future.

Today was pretty good, nice reach rate and got to talk to some decision-makers. Similarly to yesterday, one or two leads I got today initially were not interested but I managed them to keep them on the phone and get their email to send them more info.

One guy who is looking to get a website is not able to pay much, but I offered to just create a one page site for him for around 350 pounds to just get that first sale and I will talk to him next Monday.

Other than that, I feel like I am getting at least 1-2 consistent leads every day, so I need to start focusing on managing my pipeline and getting them closer to the sale.

Other than that, I have an interview tomorrow for a part time sales jobs so will see how that goes

Crazy GG

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 20 Summary - 33% of challenge complete

Dials: 40
Reached: 8 (20%)
Leads: 5 (62%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

Okay, it's the end of the week and I am really tired right now, but I just finished 200 dials this week! This has been the most I have ever done and I feel quite empty but I have a hope that this will pay off someday.

First things first - I need to make the calling list the day before because to do it first thing in the morning before calls kills a lot of momentum and I think it's better to do it the day before.

Today I got a lot of weak leads as they were not really interested but I managed to get their email and for them to take a look at it. I am not sure if it's good - on one hand I am trying to influence people even if they are not interested initially (which is part of sales) but I don't want to waste my time with people who won't buy. So it's a tricky line.

In the evening I have a ton of follow ups to do as this week I have built my pipeline up pretty good. Still no sales, but at this point I don't care anymore - I will just keep going until I get that frickin sale.

Crazy GG

 

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[The Abundant Man]

I've been jumping into a lot of cold calling recently as well. I went to a meetup in my area put up by a sales training company and they told us about pattern interrupting. everyone has an unconscious script they run when someone calls them.

I've been saying this: Hey persons name, I'm going to be honest with you, this is a sales call. Do you want to just hang up right now?

They usually laugh as say what do you have for me.

To make this work you have to make sure your tonality is on point and playful.

That's a good one. lol

At the end of my calls I always tell them, "Thanks for the call because you are the best person in the world."

 

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[todonelist]

At this point I am completely expecting NOT INTERESTED when I first pitch, and I focus on the second pitch to get their interest. You will rarely find a person be interested right away (after all I am a stranger selling websites)

I think this is a good way to rebuttal the quick "not interested" replies in order to win a couple more minutes.

Them: "not interested"
You: *small chuckle* You know what? I rarely find a person to be interested right away! I mean at this point I'm just a stranger selling websites but if you give me two minutes, I think I can peak your interest "

*said with a confident, light-hearted tonality.

 

[todonelist]

I edited out a couple bits of my opening pitch so please take a look and share honestly what you think. Please be as honest as possible!

Slow down a bit. You're zooming through your script and it seems to make you stumble a lot. The occasional "um" can create a natural feeling to the conversation but you're definitely saying it way too much. It makes the person on the other line feel as though you are not confident in your ability.

Have confidence in yourself and adopt a mindset that you truly have something that will help their business grow and it should started being heard through your confident tonality.

Lastly, always remember that business owners get contacted ALL the time by people selling them shit. Most of them are all talk and can't actually provide the company with any real value so it shows in their tonality and in the choice of words in their script. All business owners care about is: "Can this guy get me results or not?".

Also really good advice from @ManlyMansNegator

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 30 Summary - Halfway Through The Challenge

Dials: 20
Reached: 8 (40%)
Leads: 1 (12.5%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

First of all, I have come to halfway of the cold calling challenge. It's a bit confusing because the 90 days was meant to be the total time period (90 days = 3 months) and I am calling only on work days so there are 60 actual calling days. It's not that important but I am just explaining just in case anyone is confused.

And thank you so much to everyone who has been following and giving their advice - I really appreciate it.

About the calls

Today nothing much happened. I only had 1 interesting conversation but the guy doesn't seem to be a good lead as he didn't even want to give me his email and told me to text my details. But that's sales in a nutshell - some days just won't give you much.

However, I listened to my recordings and I am stumbling a lot less, so that's a win!

One thing I noted for myself is to stop focusing on what I am saying but rather actually try to listen to the other person. Apparently that redirects your attention and it's actually easier to find what to say (I learned this in an improv class).

Today I have a lot of follow ups to do. I haven't had much success with follow ups so far (they either don't pick up or tell they haven't looked at it yet), so now when they say that, I am trying to get a specific time from them to call back and send them a calendar invite. When they don't respond to a calendar invite, I will call them 2 days before and ask to accept it.

Crazy GG

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 32 Summary

Dials: 20
Reached: 7 (35%)
Leads: 2 (28%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

Two more leads in the pipeline.

I think that in my initial calls I need to do more than just briefly talk to them and get their email - I need to get their interest way up.

Otherwise on the follow ups I cannot reach them and it's where I lose pretty much all my leads.

So after getting their email I think I should ask 1-2 questions about their business and what's most important for them.

Crazy GG

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 38 Summary

Dials: 20
Reached: 6 (30%)
Leads: 1 (16%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

I still have trouble following the script when they throw out objections (even the common ones) and from what I have found - I think it's a lack of preparation.

I put down to role play with myself this Saturday for a minimum of 1 hour to overcome this.

I will also try to do at least 1 recording a week and post it here so you guys can see my progression week by week.

Crazy GG

 

[Crazy GG]

I would kindly suggest changing tactics.

You've made a lot of calls, you understand the basics of cold calling, and you're not as anxious about actually making the calls.

Now it's time to move on and research your contacts before calling them. If you continue to call people who are one-man operations, you'll get the same reason for not wanting a website (they have all the business they need). They don't care about their reputation or displaying their work, because they don't need more work.

What is your true target market? This market is telling you that it doesn't have a need. Which one does? Start prospecting there. Once you do, you'll find a new list of objections, and these are the ones you truly need to overcome, but you won't find out what they are until you start calling the right people.

I think that the 90 day challenge has backfired a bit because I am more concerned about just making those 20 calls/day rather than researching and maybe making 5-10 calls/day.

I have started reaching out to more serious businesses through other channels (i.e. LinkedIn) and when this challenge is over and I don't have to hit my 20 calls/day, I will start to call less people but more targeted list of people.

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 43 Summary

Dials: 20
Reached: 9 (45%)
Leads: 1 (11%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

Same old story today - 2 people retired, 2 people dropped the phone, 3 friendly chats and a 1 interested lead.

I need to start thinking about AB testing and what things I could start testing in my sales approach.

Crazy GG

 

[Seth G.]

@Crazy GG

A family member of mine who owns a large 100M+ business avidly recommended "The Sales Playbook".

I'm only a couple of chapters in so far, but I can tell it's been useful already. Might be worth picking up a copy and seeing if anything in there will boost.

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 53 Summary

Dials: 20
Reached: 4 (20%)
Leads: 2 (50%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

My main problem now seems to be structuring the prospecting phone calls, so they actually pick up the phone on the follow up calls.

For example, none of the two people (leads from Day 50 and 51) picked up the phone yesterday which is when I agreed that I will call them.

What I did today with one of the people, I said "Before you go, I just want to ask you for one thing. I always appreciate brutal honesty, so if at any point you decide that you don't find my ideas valuable, just let me know straight up. Because what happens a lot of times that people try to be polite and either act too busy or not pick up the phone when I do call them. So please, no matter what, let me know your thoughts instead of politely rejecting me. Does that sound fair?"

By doing that I want to let them know that it's okay to say NO as I feel like sometimes they don't pick up because they think when they say no, I will not let them go or something.

One another way I could try is to really set a hard time and get their email and send them a calendar invitation but that hasn't worked in the past (they don't accept the invitation)

Finally, another solution might be keeping them on the phone for a little longer and get them more interested, so they actually want to pick up the phone next time. The problem with this is that a lot of times the business owners are very busy when I call them and so asking too many questions might actually do the opposite.

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 55 Summary

Dials: 20
Reached: 5 (20%)
Leads: 2 (20%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

Today's leads weren't really solid but I was taken aback by a guy whom I spoke and who said that hes taking some time off for now off work.

I asked why and he said to help his wife with the disease.

I said "That's fine, I will just get back to you when you get back to work and I wish your wife speedy recovery."

He said that she is not recovering...

That was brutal.

P.S. Next week is the last week of my challenge. I haven't decided yet what I will do after but hopefully I can at least make 1 more sale

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 56 Summary

Dials: 20
Reached: 9 (45%)
Leads: 1 (11%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

I cannot believe it's the last week of the challenge - time passes really quickly...

I took a little time this weekend to think and I realized that I don't have a clear sales process i.e. I don't know where I want each call to go. So I took the time and broke down my sales process down to 4 steps:

1. Obtain lead (cold call)
2. Investigation stage (follow up call)
3. Proposal stage (send a proposal)
4. Close the sale (final call)

Now at least I have a clear map of how I picture the sale to go. So now I know that every time I cold call, my goal is to get to the investigation stage which I then want to take to the proposal stage and finally close.

I will also take time now to write down 3-5 key reasons why someone would want a website (apart from getting more customers), so I know clearly what to say to someone in each situation.

P.S. This Saturday I sent a proposal to one of my prospects and hopefully we can get at least 1 more sale this week.

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 59 Summary

Dials: 20
Reached: 5 (25%)
Leads: 1 (20%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

Same stats as yesterday.

Today I tried to imagine I am on the stage (performing) as I heard it's a good thing to imagine when you are doing cold calls (or sales in general).

It was funny as one guy even replied: "Who is that calling with so much energy?"

That was the highlight of my calls

Other than that, today is the last day of my challenge, so I will try to go all out on my last day!

 

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[Crazy GG]

Day 7 Summary

Dials: 20
Reached: 6 (30%)
Leads: 0 (0%)

After yesterday's unusually high reach rate, today I reached very low number of companies.

I thought a lot how I can adapt the opening line of the script to include something of value to the person picking up the phone which I felt I was missing in the previous days.

Since I am calling companies I find on one of the biggest online directories in UK and a lot of business I have talked to are not satisfied with it, I decided to go for that:

Hey, I was calling because I saw your company on Yell. I wanted to find out what kind of experience have you had with them?

I definitely didn't talk to enough people today to judge the effectiveness of this line but I myself feel a lot more confident using it, and I think the confidence is what matters most not the actual words so good enough for me.

I will now follow up with the companies that didn't pick up by email.

Still no sales, but I am trying to keep positive and look long-term.

Crazy GG

 

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[Vilox]

Hey, I was calling because I saw your company on Yell. I wanted to find out what kind of experience have you had with them?

Not sure where this conversations is supposed to go. Just tell them what you're about, but frame it in a way that's beneficial to them. Something along the lines of:

I help companies acquire and retain customers through the Internet vs. I build websites

Good job on keeping the streak going!

 

[Crazy GG]

Day 8 Summary

Dials: 25
Reached: 7 (28%)
Leads: 3 (42%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

Change of definitions

Before I talk about this day, I have realized one important thing - I won't get any sales just from the initial cold call - follow up is the key.

Therefore, I am changing the definitions (for the purposes of this thread) of lead and prospect:

A lead - someone who I have talked to, might be a good prospect and who is worth following up.
A prospect - someone who is a lead, and who has expressed an interest in what I am selling. Essentially what in days 1-7 was a lead - I will now refer to as a prospect.

About today

So couple of good and bad news today.

Bad news

The reach rate is still quite low. I am suspecting it's because I am calling businesses that are on the page 4-5 on yellow pages which means they might be one-man-bands or not exist anymore. However, that's a wild speculation and I might be wrong.

Good news

First off, I did 25 dials (most I have done in one time) and I did it without any breaks which means my concentration is getting better.

Second of all, I feel I am more confident on the phone and I definitely attribute it to picking up the phone every day.

Third of all, even though I didn't get any prospects today, I got

• A person who just told me to ring back
• A person who I managed to talk briefly and told me to call back
• A person with an 8 year old website

The last person is where I felt I could have done a lot more. He told me his website is 8 years old and is 100% satisfied with his current site, and I couldn't come up with good questions (something to prepare for future) so I left it as that.

I later put his test through a google mobile friendly test and it failed, so I will follow up with the business owner and try again.

Later today I will follow up with other plumbers from previous days.

Crazy GG

 

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[lowtek]

I will echo what others said. Don't hide from being a salesman. Don't deceive.

Don't blend in with other salesman, but don't try to get around it either.

 

[Dianne Cohen]

Sounds like a plan.

Do you have an ideal client type you are looking for?

And do you have an outline of what you are going to say when connected?

This might sound weird but have two pictures on your desk.

An average type of man and woman.

If a man answers talk to the male picture and if a woman vice versa.

Might just be me though. I like to 'see' who I am talking to.

Dan

I love the idea of talking to the pictures. Somehow it is less intimidating.

 

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[Stargazer]

If you like I can pm you my email or phone number. Sometimes a quick chat clarifies as it is in real time. Nothing dodgy, I wont be attempting to sell you anything (unless you have school age kids)

Dan

 

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[Everyman]

Watch this video. If you don't have time start from around 26', but you should watch the whole thing.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEwunIvRXlY


Excellent work btw! Keep it going!

Do you have any tips on how to prepare better lists without overspending too much time? Use Google instead of Yellow pages?

Reach out to @Vilox or just skim through his gold thread. He used a webscraping software. I think I used Webharvey (don't remember 100%) because it offered the best automation facilities, and I think the only one that offered 100% working automation - and after reaching out to them, the guy created a video with instructions on youtube especially for me.............

Their website sucks, but the software rocks!, and the customer service too. I tried one of the 'hip' webscraping tools and their customer service was appaling. But the website was nice... hehehe... I am a sucker for good customer service, even if their website transmits bad vibes and literally stinks...

1a. So use it to download your yelp / golden pages / any other business directory to Excel / dbase software / CRM and start scanning. Look for companies with bad websites. Omit those who don't have it at all for now.

1b. Go to upwork or any other site like this and ask someone to do it for you (shouldn't be expensive).

As you noticed, prepare the list the day before. Try to find the decision-maker before calling - or who is who - on linkedin (try finding plumbers on linkedin ), or any other directory. I use some kind of company registrar. UK should have it really nice. You will find it easily. There are companies that publish this type of data for $$, a lot of the info is free though. (The governments trade your personal info and financial data about your company, sell it companies just like that..... makes me wonder....)

So you now should have the company and the decision maker's name (owner maybe). I hope it helps for now.

 

[Amro]

Hi @Crazy GG

Well done so far. You are doing a great job by following through. I would advise you to do 5 things to improve your results which are:

• Use the AIDA sales structure in your salesscript
• Create two salesscripts called salesscript A and salesscript B
• Create an excellsheet and start testing both and document the results (250 calls pitch A and 250 calls pitch B and then evaluate the results to know what salesscript works best). After this you take the best one and start improving this one. Big changes mean big differences in results. Keep that in mind.
• Read the book Spin Selling from Neil Rackham (Best book on sales ever written)
• Don't forget to ask for the sale since you are cold calling to make the sale!

I hope this helps you a bit and please continue your way. Your well on your way to become succesfull in cold calling sales.

Regards,
Amro

 

[Merrick247]

Great thread, really admire your persistence. Just keep at it and that first sale will come!

 

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[Amro]

Day 22 Summary

Dials: 40
Reached: 16 (40%)
Leads: 2 (12.5%)
Prospects: 0 (0%)

Pretty average day in "the office" - most people not interested but did get couple of leads by staying persistent and getting their emails.

I feel like the thing I could improve is my vibe and energy - I am calling in the mornings and I am using a free space in uni where other people are walking by, and I guess those things make me a bit timid. But I also feel like these things come with momentum - since I haven't made any sales yet from calling, I don't feel as energetic, but I feel like when that first sale comes, I might be way more energetic and confident.

Crazy GG

P.S. This morning I had my first "official" sales call with a prospect which lasted an hour. The guy seemed very interested, a bit demanding but overall seems like a good prospect. I quoted him a price and he said he will sleep on it and get back to me tomorrow. I really hope this turns into a sale. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Hi,

When he calls you tommorow, don't let him go. He maybe needs to be pushed a bit. Some people just need to be guided. And if I were you I would not compromise your rate to get the deal. Your offering a worldclass service right? If not, do offer worldclass service and make him feel welcome and in good hands. Worldclass services cost premium prices. Offering low rates often means you get low services.

Well done so far. You're almost there. Your fist sale will be the gamechanger psychologically.

P.s. don't forget to let him know that his business is your best interest and your only satisfied if he grows his business through the website you created for him. Good luck!

Regards,
Amro

 

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[Amro]

Now I am onto the follow up calls. The potential sale didn't call me today, so I will call him myself and see what's going on.

Crazy GG

Hi @Crazy GG

When someone is a potential sale you should always call him/her instead of them calling you. Keep control and always try to call them back asap.

Your only 1 mm from your first sale.

Well done!

Regards,
Amro

 

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