I have first hand experience with cold calling, with and without cold calling scripts!! For a period of ten years – all through the 90’s – I worked for several insurance companies selling health and life insurance to small business people and self-employed people. We would get some leads but mostly we were to get on the phone [had to find our own lists by the way!!] and cold call small business people and self-employed people. Talk about hang-ups and pissed off people. The last thing anyone wanted to do was talk to an insurance person!!
How many times have you heard it said “Hearing a ‘No’ is good, because that means you are one step closer to getting a yes!”?? Well that sucks! Like a friend of mine once said ‘the guy who said that that is a good thing is the same guy who stuck his hand in light socket as a baby and cried when his mommy pulled him away’!!!
I well remember one particular Monday when I had a guy hang up on me. I was having a typical Monday when I had more on my plate than I could accomplish! I was going through my list of leads to call, and had an info card to call this small business in a neighboring town. Now mind you, this guy had filled out a card and wanted someone to get in touch with him. Anyway, when I got him on the phone and introduced myself, he went off on a tirade for about two minutes about how he doesn’t want to talk to anyone about insurance, and how he hates insurance people…etc, etc. and hung up the phone before I could say anything! Like I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t really having the best of days. So what did I do? I picked up the phone and called this guy back! When he answered the phone, I again mentioned who I was, and then said “Listen buddy, no one hangs up on me!!” and I hung up the phone before he had a chance to say anything! Man, I was super charged then!!
I don’t recommend that tactic at all, and the only reason I mention it is that sometimes even people who say they want info on something don’t always expect a call. I truly believe that he was expecting something in the mail, but he did include his phone number on the info card! Oh, the frustration of cold calling!
I have bought lists from list companies that “guaranteed” their lists to be real time lists of people that were ready to get into a MLM type of business. This one particular time that comes to mind was when I purchased 100 real time leads, all within a certain zip code about 45 mile radius from my home. Man, I was stoked! I got on the phone with my cold calling scripts in front of me. I just knew that with the type of business that I had and with the can’t lose script I had in front of me, that at least 40 - 50 were going to say “Yes, send me the info”, and at least 10 of those would sign up for my “You gotta get in now it’s the bottom floor opportunity of once in a lifetime” business!! After about 4 hours of calling I was totally frustrated! Imagine that, I had been lied to by the lead company! I had hang ups, “you’ve got to be kidding”, “I never said I was interested in any MLM” responses. Guess what, out of the 100 supposedly hot real time leads, I ended up with only 1 person that was interested enough to meet, so I set an appointment.
Being totally bummed, but with a forced smile on my face, I went to meet this one person that was ready to sign the dotted line for my ‘you can’t go wrong signing up today’ business! I had definitely pre-qualified this one!! By the time I reached my appointment, I was in the right frame of mind and had a positive attitude. Needless to say, after about an hour presentation at McDonalds, I still had a back fat “0” for all my efforts and money spent. She didn’t have any money, or so she said after having assured me on the phone that she had the investment amount needed for my MLM opportunity. I’m not saying that the opportunity was bad, it wasn’t. It had a lot to offer and a good compensation plan.
I know what you’re thinking…. “Paul, you didn’t screen them enough or get enough good quality information.” Did you forget that I did cold calling leads for insurance for 10 years!?!?! To say the least, I was pissed! I had by this time worn out my warm market, my friends walked the other direction when they saw me coming. My phone number was blocked on all my ‘what-used-to-be- friends’ phones!
I was FRUSTRATED and ready for something different! I was tired of being humiliated! I felt like it was a total waste of time looking ‘under the rocks’ for uninterested potential prospects. I wanted to spend my time doing more productive things – like signing up clients and answering questions for potential clients. I wanted to find a way to have people call me instead of me calling them! Was there such an animal?
Getting on the internet, I began a frantic search for a program that would get people to call me. I found a lot of links and info for PPC [Pay Per Click] ads, but I didn’t have a lot of money, and at that time I didn’t understand SEO [Search Engine Optimization], much less able to spell it! I needed a program that gave me simple 1, 2, 3 steps. There just had to be one such program somewhere…
Well, believe it or not, after much diligent searching, I did find such a program. They offered if I followed there tips I would have people calling me in a short time. I had found Mike Dillard’s Magnetic Sponsoring course. I did some more research, and found very little if anything negative about the course. I thought I was in heaven! I immediately ordered his Magnetic Sponsoring and Building on a Budget courses, and not only read it, but studied it, and then applied it. Now what I had to offer was attractive to my prospective clients. Attractive enough to get them to call me! I was not pushing my company on people, but I was – well I don’t want to tell you too much!
My days of cold calling are over – unless of course I want to suffer that pain and frustration again. I now have potential leads calling me, instead of me calling them! I didn’t need any more cold calling scripts with those sleazy ineffective ‘sales tricks’ to get people to say yes. Wow, what a relief. I can now focus on building my business. It put me in the position of an expert, instead of a desperate peddler.
The nice thing about Mike Dillard’s courses is that you can apply them to any business you are in – whether its MLM, online network marketing, a brick and mortar business, it doesn’t matter. If you really apply yourself, and apply the methods he proscribes, you to will have people calling you instead of you cold calling them!
You too can learn what I learned, and you too can start having people call you today!
To your success!!
